Rookies help Blades steamroll Broncos in 60th home opener
Sep 22, 2024
Blades score eight unanswered goals against Broncos en route to a 9-3 win
Throughout a regular season, it’s not unsual to have one goalie play the majority of games.
The Blades on the other hand took the opposite route, running with two number one goalies the entire year.
Both Austin Elliott and Ethan Chadwick split time between the pipes with Elliott getting the slight edge, playing three more games over the course of the season.
“They’ve both had phenomenal years. They’ve grown immensely,” Blades Head Coach Brennan Sonne said about his duo.
But it can be an awkward position for a goalie, because if you’re playing well you like to continue being put in the net.
“It’s a little difficult, but at the end of the day I love seeing Austin put up a good performance after good performance. But at the same time if I’m feeling like I’m in a groove, then I want to get right back in the net and follow up that good performance and show the coaches I can play just as good,” Chadwick said about always staying ready.
Elliott adds it also was able to provide a little bit of competition between the two of them.
“We really pushed each other all year. I mean if one guy had a good game then the other wants to follow that up and have a good game themselves,” he said.
At the beginning of the season, Sonne knew that he had two really good goalies and figured why not give them equal playing time and it worked out.
“Their both starters, they truly are. (I’m) proud of them sticking together, you don’t win in this league without great goaltending. So, to get 48 wins (on the season) that’s a huge credit to them,” Sonne said.
Having that split time was as able to take some of the pressure off the two after a historic season from Nolan Maier last year.
“There’s really no filling Nolan Maier’s shoes, I mean he did some incredible stuff here. We both tried our best at least to fill those shoes,” Elliott said.
It’s a big task to be tapped as the number one goalie for a team so taking some of the pressure off has helped as Elliott is a rookie and Chadwick is only in his second year.
“It’s allowed me to gain more experience in this league,” Chadwick said.
He went on to add that they both learned pretty quickly that it would work for the whole season early on, which allowed them to focus on their games and stay fresh.
Sonne said both of them stepped up to the challenge and he’s proud of how they’ve grown as players and individuals.
The two had almost identical stats throughout the regular season and although Elliott had the edge in games during the regular season, Chadwick has been leaned on a little bit more throughout the playoffs.