“It was really upsetting at the time, and some really hard news to deal with,” Holland said. “Everything was perfect at the time and next thing I know, I’m done for the year. I got surgery and had to deal with it.”

Now, Holland has three assists in four games this season, and Chelios assisted on the game-winning goal in the 3-1 upset win against No. 18 Boston University Saturday night.

Head coach Tom Anastos said losing the pair last season was unfortunate, but both were allowed to be redshirted despite Chelios having three years under his belt.

“Early in practice, last year (Chelios) blew his shoulder out, and had season ending shoulder surgery,” Anastos said. “Holland had a recurring injury that he had before he came here and got that repaired in the off season. So both of those guys are back as red shirts, and in Dean’s case as a senior.”

In an odd way, Holland said sitting out all of last season can be a blessing in disguise.

“It’s not an experience you really want, but in the situation I was in, it was nice to see what it looks like from that standpoint,” he said. “There was nothing I could do but watch the game and learn from their mistakes. It was nice to be a student of the game.”

It’s not every day that a talented upperclassman such as Chelios is redshirted so late in his career.

He said it was crazy to think about getting a redshirt, but now that he’s healed, he feels better than ever.

“It was weird at first to think when they brought up redshirt right after I got injured,” Chelios said. “I knew it was going to be a long process, so to just keep with it consistently was my goal, and try to get back to where I was and exceed that.”

It normally takes three to four months to recover from such an injury, but the added time allowed both players to take it slow and make sure everything was on track.

What also helped the recovery process go smoother was the fact that they had each other to lean on when they needed an extra bit of motivation.

Both said it was good to have someone who understood the situation on a deeper level.

“I couldn’t imagine waking up in the morning like I did all year without someone to hang out with,” Chelios said. “Having Rhett, I was able to influence him and help him out too. It was good to have somebody else in the same boat.”

Anastos will be counting on both Holland and Chelios to contribute all year on both ends of the ice.

For Chelios, the forecast for the rest of the season is simple — get back to the winning ways of 2012 when they were four wins away from an NCAA Championship.

“We were expected to win when I got there and we’re trying to get that expectation back,” Chelios said, “I’ve been training harder than I ever have and I’m reenergized this year. Hopefully that hard work pays off and I can contribute to the team’s success.”