Eidsness Sioux-perb as WCHA rookie

North Dakota goalie Brad Eidsness received some well deserved pub this week from USCHO. All Eidsness Wants To Do Is Win

Don’t look for Eidsness’ name among the nation’s leaders in the statistical categories commonly used to measure a goaltender’s performance. Although he made the WCHA all-rookie team and challenged Minnesota-Duluth’s Alex Stalock for the league’s goaltending title, Eidsness’ .909 save percentage is 41st nationally and his 2.44 goals against average is 25th. A better indicator of Eidsness’ role in UND’s success is his winning percentage, which is .703 — tied for eighth nationally — and was a WCHA-best .731. As a freshman, Eidsness is already making his mark on UND’s record book. He has made 37 consecutive appearances, the most ever by a Sioux freshman. He’s two games shy of breaking the school record for consecutive starts by a freshman. Leading the WCHA with 24 wins overall, he joins Ed Belfour (1986-87) and Karl Goehring (1997-98) as just the third freshman goalie in UND history to win 20 games in a season. Eidsness’ temper and stick-throwing incidents during practice have also made an impression on his teammates. “That’s him competing and always wanting to get better,” Finley said. “In his mind, he can save every puck. Maybe after a few go by him, he might get a little upset at himself and expect more. There have been a lot of goaltenders with big-time tempers who have gone on to do good things. Hopefully, Eidsness is another one of them.” During a game, however, Eidsness doesn’t let his temper or emotions get the best of him. “I try to remain calm in the eye of the storm. If I let a bad goal in during a game, I just shrug it off,” he said. “In practice, sometimes things go a little bit different. I don’t like to let shots in, and sometimes I get a little angry. It’s something I’ve tried to keep out of games.”