Apparently, Wisconsin career third stringer/practice goalie Jeff Henderson has been signed by the American Hockey Leagues Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild Affiliate).Forgive me for saying this, but I almost fell off my chair when I heard the news. Of course, no offense intended to Jeff, but the closest hes come to seeing ANY game action at the University of Wisconsin was when Brian Elliott went down with an injury during the 2006 National Championship season and Shane Connelly was forced into action.
Keep in mind that this is only an amateur tryout offer I would expect that Henderson is only in Houston for a short time. More often than not, in this scenario Houston was in dire need of a goalie to basically sit on the bench in an emergency situation. With the Aero's strong connection to Wisconsin (Troy Ward is the assistant), all it took was one phone call to his old boss to get Henderson to Rockford to sit on the bench tonight against the Ice Hogs.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Minnesota Wild starting goaltender, Niklas Backstrom is bothered by "lower body soreness" after he stopped 37 shots in a 3-2 loss last night to Calgary. Anton Khudobin, was re-called on loan from the Aeros to the Wild in case of emergency as the Wild finish up a 4 game road trip tonight in Edmonton.
Regardless, this is a great opportunity for a kid who hasn't received a lot of recognition while he's been with the Badgers. Henderson and fellow practice goalie Ryan Jeffery practiced with the team every day for 4 seasons knowing they would never see a second of ice time. It's nice to see that good things happen when you put in the work. Congrats Jeff, enjoy every minute of it.
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