Worth noting at season's end is that Fighting Sioux sophomore goalie Brad Eidsness in on track to be one of North Dakota's all-time best goalies, especially if he plays four years. He's already made a name for himself in the UND record books.
For the second straight season, Eidsness tied his fourth-place record for most wins in a season by a UND goalie (24). His goals against average this season was 2.11, which ranks him fifth in UND's record book, with only Karl Goehring, Phil Lamoureux, Jordan Parise and Bob Peters above him.
Eidsness' .914 save percentage ties him with Lamoureux for the ninth best season ever by a Sioux goalie. His three shutouts this season tie him for seventh with Lamoureux, Ed Belfour, Goehring and Lefty Curran. His 41 games played this season is second only to Lamoureux's 42 in 07-08.
In career stats, after two years, Eidsness is already tied for seventh with 82 games games played. He's in sixth place with 48 career wins. He needs only five more wins to pass Jon Casey and Toby Kvalevog, eight more to pass Parise and 13 more to pass Lamoureux in second place. If he stays four years, he could potentially pass Goehring for all-time number of wins (80).
Eidsness' current career winning percentage of .667 ranks ninth and his 2.34 career goals against average ranks third behind Lamoureux and Parise. More impressively, his .910 career save percentage ranks fourth in the Sioux record book, tied with Casey and behind Goehring (.918), Lamoureux (.920) and Parise (.921)
What more could you expect from a sophomore goalie? Yes, Eidsness has given up some soft and untimely goals, but what goalie hasn't? Besides being very durable his first two seasons, he's also improved significantly. His save percentage went from .906 his rookie season to .914 this year and his goals against average from 2.56 to 2.11. It will be interesting to see if he can be even better in 2010-2011.
My greatest concern about UND's goaltending for next season is that Aaron Dell needs to develop into a reliable backup who can spell Eidsness on occasion and substitute for him should it become necessary.
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3 comments:
Let's be candid: The fella seems to have trouble with the big games - both last year and this year.
It's nice of you to fluff him up though!
He's gotta try to keep nerves out of his game in big situations.
Sorry, Charlie, but the stats don't lie. Eidsness was good as a freshman and he improved as a sophomore. He should be even better as a junior, which is when Lamoureux really came into his own. Many teams would love to be in UND's position when it comes to goaltending.
Last year, I'd agree that Eidsness was a disappointment in the post-season. This year, he was 5-2 in playoff games. And anyone who thought the Sioux were going to beat Yale by scoring only two goals is simply delusional. Eidsness wasn't the problem in that game.
Eidsness has trouble with big games? Really? You give him no credit for UND's sweeps of Colorado College and UMD, big games that enabled the Sioux to secure home ice and move up to fourth in the WCHA? And he had nothing to do with ending Minnesota's season and helping UND win the Broadmoor?
I don't need to "fluff up" Eidsness because the stats, his record and his performance this season speak for themselves.
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