After missing the first 25 games of the season, sophomore goaltender Sam Brittain, referred to by his teammates and fans as Great Brittain, returned to the Pioneer ranks on Jan. 28 and has played the last four consecutive games. Friday, Brittain recorded his second career shutout.

Brittain, a Canada native who played in Calgary before moving to DU, was out of the action for more than six months after having surgery on his ACL in June of 2011.

“I grew up in Calgary and started playing hockey when I was three years old and I started skating when I was 3 years old,” said Brittain. “Up until I was 12 years old, I was always a player, and then I was able to play goalie when my parents let me, then played junior hockey in Canmore [Alberta] and then came down here.”

During his freshman season, Brittain racked up almost 2,000 minutes in the goal in the 33 games before his injury.

“I hurt [my knee] in that game against North Dakota in the Final Five. I tore my ACL and decided not to get the surgery right away because of the chance to come back and play for a pretty good team this year and for the world juniors for Canada. But things got too bad, so I had to get the surgery in June,” said Brittain.

The recovery process was no short journey, with daily rehab since June. Brittain engaged in physical therapy every day and worked on regaining his strength and range of motion, but rebuilding his confidence was a huge part of the recovery process.

With DU ranked No. 14 in PairWise rankings and playing to stay in the top 16 for the NCAA tournament at the time of his return, Brittain came back to the ice at a key part of the season.

In his first game back, Brittain made 24 stops against Alaska Anchorage. In his second game against Colorado College, Brittain made 33 stops in the 0-2 loss. Brittain recorded 64 saves in his first back-to-back start of season in the team’s sweep of Minnesota last weekend. In his fifth game of the season, he played his second career shut out game, stopping 28 shots against Wisconsin and recorded 30 saves in the Pioneers’ 5-2 loss to the Badgers Saturday.

“You’ve got to make sure, like when I came back, that I was ready to play,” said Brittain. “It’s been challenging, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

In addition to team practices, Brittain has spent countless hours trying to make sure he is playing at the level he wants to be for this late in the season.

Head coach George Gwozdecky credits Brittain for his efforts to get back to the game.

“I don’t think we’ve been doing anything; he’s been doing all the work. Since the surgery, he’s been spending countless hours on a daily basis rehabbing, and that’s got nothing to do with us,” said Gwozdecky. “When he was cleared to participate in practice, he was doing extra work on the ice with David Lassonde, our goaltending coach, to get his rhythm back, his timing back. But you can only do so much in drills and in practice.”

Not only was Brittain missed in the goal, but in the locker room as well, according to Gwozdecky.

Brittain’s personality and team mentality was missed during the 25 games he was injured, and the team has welcomed him back happily.

 “He’s a personality in that locker room, he’s well-liked in that locker room and I think the guys are glad to have him back and healthy,” said Gwozdecky. “Certainly they have confidence in him because of his abilities in the goal, and I think they look at him as a big factor in our push that we are going to make this late in the season.”

Brittain is not only a student in the classroom pursuing his psychology degree, but also on the ice.

“He’s one of those guys who works very hard on his game. He’s a student of the game and has gotten better and better since he first arrived, and he’s got a great attitude,” said Gwozdecky. “I don’t think he’s ever shown anything but a team-first mentality, and I think that’s great. The guys love playing in front of him. I think that his selflessness is really appreciated by his team because he is a very good player, and I think they appreciate how he conducts himself and what he does to help his team win.”

Brittain has consistently been improving from the first period of the first game he played this season, and will continue to get better for the Pioneers this season and in his return next season.