SHANE
CONNELLY
Wisconsin
Jr . | G | Cheltenham, Pa.
Connelly was a backup as a freshman when the Badgers
won the national championship in 2006. He'll have
a bigger say in their fate this year.
Key Statistics: Playing
the understudy role to 2006 Hobey finalist Brian Elliott,
Connelly was 4-1-2 in seven starts last season (with
three shutouts) and boasted a tiny 1.11 goals-against
average. His work included a 2-0 whitewash of eventual
national champ Michigan State on Thanksgiving weekend.
What He Does: Having
grown up 10 minutes from the hometown of another Quaker
State kid who played a little goal in Madison in advance
of a 15-season NHL career (Mike Richter), Connelly says
he’d definitely like to keep following that path.
But for now, he’s content to try and earn a second
NCAA championship ring – this time as the Badgers’
top goalie.
The Bigger Picture: Stop us if you’ve
heard this before, but Wisconsin goalie coach Bill Howard
(the Jedi master of WCHA goaltending) looks like he’s
produced a pretty good young netminder. Connelly came
to Wisconsin from the USHL as a prototypical butterfly
goalie, and then spent two seasons learning from both
Howard and Elliott. His game has evolved to include
better reading of the play, smarter control of rebounds,
and more staying on his skates. That’s a Howard-taught
method of conserving some of the energy that’s
otherwise expended via the constant knee drops so common
to the butterfly style. After a mixture of boredom (sitting
on the bench), pressure (being thrust into the starter’s
role when Elliott missed a month due to a knee injury)
and ecstasy (winning the Frozen in Milwaukee) as a freshman,
Connelly played a complimentary role last season. The
Badgers closed the season on an 8-3-2 run and just missed
an NCAA invite – a perceived injustice they’re
determined not to repeat.
Ex-Wisconsin forward Andrew Joudrey
on Connelly: "Shane’s big thing
is athleticism and being active in the net. He used
to react before the shot, but after working with Coach
Howard, we really saw him become a lot more patient,
more effective and more efficient. He’s learned
to wait for the shooter to make a move and to not over-move
or over-react. We played with a much more relaxed feeling
when Shane was back there last season.”
