November 5, 2009
Changing Course
Northern Michigan Improvises in Goal, Looking to Avoid More Early-Season Woes
by Courtney Lewis/CHN Reporter
Northern Michigan goaltender Brian Stewart is the returning two-year starter with pre-season accolades. But six games into the season, sophomore Reid Ellingson has played nearly as many minutes with better stats. It's a potentially troublesome situation for a team which, again, has had high hopes entering the season — something it's had the last few seasons only to stumble terribly early on.
Nevertheless, for now, head coach Walt Kyle said he’s confident Stewart will return to form, and having a second option in net can only be a good thing.
“Brian has come out of the gate a little bit slow,” Kyle said. “I’m not worried about him. He’s a very talented guy, and he will find his game. But I’ve been encouraged that Reid has been able to play as well as he has and shown that we have two guys who can help the team.”
Stewart, a senior, has started four games and been pulled from three of them. Ellingson has recorded the Wildcats’ lone win and has a 1.59 GAA and a .942 save percentage.
Ellingson is in his second stint with Northern Michigan. He appeared in nine games during his freshman year, and then played for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL last season. Kyle said the Cloquet, Minn. native saw that he was going to play behind Stewart and decided he’d benefit more from a season in the USHL and could save a year of eligibility.
“He got some games under his belt. The biggest thing we look at is he’s an older, more mature kid,” Kyle said. “He’s done a real good job for us.”
Stewart, who was named to the preseason All-CCHA first team, has allowed 16 goals for a 4.63 GAA and .853 save percentage. Kyle said Stewart’s not struggling with anything specific; he just hasn’t been sharp. He added that the team hasn’t played well in front of Stewart at times either.
Ellingson replaced Stewart against Miami last Friday and then got the start the next night.
Stewart was key during the Wildcats’ late-season surge and conference playoff run last season, and his starting role isn’t necessarily in jeopardy.
“I wouldn’t say it’s up for grabs,” Kyle said. “Right now Reid has been the better of the two. He has earned some opportunities. What that opportunity will turn into, I don’t know.
“I know Brian can be a guy that can single-handedly win games for us. So I’m not going to go away from Brian. He’ll get every opportunity to get his game back together.
“I’m not ready to declare anyone a No. 1 or No. 2. I think in the end Stewart will emerge, but Reid right now has proven that we can maybe be a two-headed monster.”
Kyle added that continuing to play both goalies all season is “absolutely” a possibility.
As a team, Northern Michigan has gotten off to a slow — and familiar — start. The Wildcats have fallen into a pattern the last couple years of being dreadful in the first half of the season and then rallying in time to be a dangerous team in the CCHA playoffs. The problem is, the bad starts have all but killed any NCAA hopes.
The other pattern has been a daunting schedule early on. This year, four of their six games have been against 2009 Frozen Four teams, including a conference-opening series against the current top-ranked team, Miami. The Wildcats lost both games to the RedHawks by one goal to fall to 1-4-1.
“Would we like to be better? Absolutely,” Kyle said. “Are we disappointed with our start? Absolutely. But you’ve got to evaluate things by quality of play. Against Miami last weekend, I think we played really well."
November doesn’t get much easier: at Ohio State, at Notre Dame, home against Nebraska-Omaha and then at Alaska.
The Wildcats are more experienced than they were the last couple seasons. They returned their top three scorers, including Mark Olver, who has a team-leading 10 points so far. And junior Erik Gustafsson, another preseason All-CCHA pick, anchors the defense.
Kyle’s hoping this more veteran team can avoid digging itself a hole in the first half. He said the Wildcats need to do a couple of things to turn the solid play of last weekend into better results.
“Continue to practice — to get quality minutes and grow and become a better team. Every day,” he said. “And the next thing is, we have, and I’m not going to get into names, but some individuals that we expect to have more impact on games. They have to find a way to step up and improve their play.”
