ST. LOUIS – Colten Ellis is not mad. The former St. Louis Blues farmhand is nowhere near upset.
In fact, the goalie is grateful for his time, and the belief the Blues had in him and the time they devoted to develop him.
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So when the Blues had to make the decision, one general manager Doug Armstrong has said he did not want to make but ultimately felt he had no other choice, of putting the 25-year-old on waivers hoping to pass their No. 3 goalie on the depth chart through to assign him to Springfield of the American Hockey League, only to have the Buffalo Sabres – in need of goaltending due to injury issues at the time – jump in and snatch him on Oct. 5.
The Blues were left scrambling. The Sabres were banking on someone they felt, just like the Blues did, have promise.
But bottom line, it was going to be really difficult for the Whycocomagh, Nova Scotia native to push his way through the barrier in St. Louis with Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer ahead of him.
“When they told me I was going on waivers, I know that’s a process, I really didn’t know what to expect,” Ellis told The Hockey news on Monday morning. “It was my first year going through this process. I was actually back in Springfield moving into my apartment. I was there when I got the call from Doug. It’s a crazy business, you never know what’s going to happen. You’ve kind of got to be ready for everything. Thinking in the back of my mind, I knew there was a possibility, but didn’t necessarily think something was going to transpire like that.”
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Ellis got that call from Armstrong, one he said was comforting for both and one he appreciated.
“I had a really good conversation with him when he told me the news,” Ellis said. “He just wished me all the best. It was nice to kind of have that conversation with him. I’ve known him for however many years I was in the organization, right? It was cool to kind of talk to him about it and wish me the best and all that.”
And Ellis was off to Buffalo. For however long, nobody really knew, since Ukko Pekka-Luukkonen was on the mend at the time. But to the surprise of many, the Sabres have decided to keep three goalies rostered. They’ve liked Ellis that much.
Unfortunately, for the time being anyway, Ellis is recovering from a concussion sustained Dec. 9, when the Sabres’ eight-game winning streak began prior to facing the St. Louis Blues, against the Edmonton Oilers.
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“He’s played well,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said of Ellis. “It’s unfortunate what happened in the Edmonton game where he got knocked out of the game and went into the concussion protocol process. I think he’s given us that ability when we’ve had other goalies hurt or on the sideline. He’s given us that backup when needed to step up and win games.
“You’ve got to give our scouting staff and our management a lot of credit. I think they must have had him on the radar and I think that’s what good teams do. They identify those guys that get on waivers and when you need a guy like that, whether it’s a forward, a defenseman, your pro scouts, your management staff’s the ones that see these players all the time. They bank information on him.”
And for Ellis, who is 4-3-0 with a 3.25 goals-against average and .985 save percentage this season, this is where he wants to be; he wants to be in the NHL, and as much as he said he loved being in Springfield with great people and great teammates, this is every player’s ultimate goal, and if it wasn’t going to come here, he’s glad it has come somewhere.
“A hundred percent,” he said. “Whenever someone kind of takes a chance on you like that, I’m obviously super grateful to have the opportunity to be here. For them to show an interest in me and pick me up, it means a lot. Obviously this is where I want to be for sure.
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“I think the last couple years in Springfield really grew my game. Now I have a great foundation that I’m really confident in and really working closely with the goalie development guys and the goalie coaches in St. Louis really helped me get to this point. I did a lot of figuring out myself too and figuring out what makes me who I am as a goalie. I had a couple years in Springfield to figure that out and just keep building on things because you’re never done.”
Ellis made his NHL debut on Oct. 22 against the Detroit Red Wings, and he stopped 29 shots in a 4-2 win and won three of his first four starts.
It was a whirlwind of emotions but ones he was glad to experience.
“Yeah, absolutely. Not really knowing what to expect,” Ellis said. ‘I was never up in St. Louis during the regular season. I was up for one last year during the playoffs, but you’re not really a part of it. I didn’t really know what to expect, but everything here has been great. A really good group of guys around the room and everybody’s been really helpful to me being my first time going through all this. It’s been awesome.
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“Before the game, we were maybe a little emotional kind of just talking about it with my family and my fiance and all the people that helped me get to this point. It’s something I’ve always dreamed about and to be able to kind of live it and go through that whole experience. I had so many people here I got to share that with. It was amazing.”
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