River Denys netminder making most of AHL opportunity
August 25, 2024
Colten Ellis got a regular turn in net with the Springfield Thunderbirds in the final months of the season.
Lucas Armstrong/Springfield Thunderbirds Media
Colten Ellis says a season-ending hip surgery last year breathed new life into his pro hockey career.
Colten Ellis, who ended his junior career with the Charlottetown Islanders of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (photo at left), was clearly destined to be a goaltender from a very early age (photo at right). Contributed photos
The River Denys, Inverness County native is getting a regular turn between the pipes with the Springfield Thunderbirds after being called up in late January to the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the St. Louis Blues.
Selected 93rd overall by the Blues in the third round of the 2019 National Hockey League (NHL) entry draft, the 23-year-old goalie is getting his second taste of life in the AHL. But this time he’s putting up some pretty impressive numbers, and he credits the recovery time after the surgery in February, 2023 for helping him to refocus on his goal to someday make the NHL.
“Getting away from hockey for that long, just really helped me learn to love the game again,” Ellis explains. “Now I’m just focusing on trying to stop the puck, instead of worrying about how I look stopping it—not worrying about specific parts of my game and just trusting myself.”
“Being in a good mental state and being mentally tough is vital for this position,” he adds.
Following a stellar four-year run in the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), Ellis began his professional career in the 2021-22 season, splitting his time between the East Coast Hockey League’s (ECHL) Worcester Railers and the Thunderbirds. That first stint with the Thunderbirds saw him play in just seven games, registering a lackluster goals-against average (GAA) of 3.93, with a .880 save percentage.
After toiling for the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers in 2022- 23, he faced some adversity to open the 2023-24 campaign, suffering a concussion at the Blues’ NHL training camp. When he returned to action, this time with the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, he stormed out of the gate, posting a 12-5-2 record, a GAA of 2.45 and a save percentage of .923. That included a five- game stint in December where he won all five games on his way to being named Goaltender of the Month in the ECHL.
When Thunderbirds netminder Vadim Zherenko went down with an injury in January, Ellis got the call-up to the AHL club and picked up where he had left off with Orlando. In the 13 games he had played for Springfield at press time, he was sporting a 2.86 GAA and a .926 save percentage.
When Zherenko returned from his injury, the club rotated through three goaltenders for a couple of weeks, before veteran Malcolm Subban was traded by the Blues organization in March to the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL, where he finished the season. That opened the door for Ellis to get in more games as he and Zherenko shared the net during the final weeks of the season.
“I honestly didn’t expect anything to happen prior to the March 8 NHL trade deadline, and when it did, it opened the door for me to play out the rest of the season here. I’m grateful for the opportunity,” Ellis says, adding that Subban deserves a lot of credit for helping him make the adjustment from the ECHL to the AHL.
“I think Malcolm really helped me when I came up,” he explains. “I can’t say enough about him. He was really good for me.”
“He’s played almost 100 games in the NHL. For somebody of his stature to be so easy and approachable and willing to help me out, it was awesome.”
(Photos, from left): Colten Ellis, left, was joined by his brother Matt as they took part in a Cape Breton Screaming Eagles hockey camp; Ellis backstopped the Cape Breton West Islanders to a TELUS Cup victory in 1917; Ellis was called up to the Springfield Thunderbirds of the AHL in January. Photos at left and centre contributed; photo at right courtesy Lucas Armstrong/Springfield Thunderbirds Media
Ellis says the AHL game is so much faster than what he experienced in the ECHL.
“The plays develop so much quicker,” he says. “Obviously, guys are more skilled, and bigger and stronger. The decision making comes quicker and it comes crisper.”
“There’s a lot of one-touch passes. The big difference is how quick the guys are able to make the right decisions.”
Making history
Ellis gained acclaim on the national level in 2017, when he backstopped the Cape Breton West Islanders to the gold medal at the TELUS Cup, as they became the first team from Atlantic Canada to win the Canadian Midget Championships.
He then moved on to the QMJHL, where he played 153 career games with Cape Breton, Rimouski, and Charlottetown, going 103-31-4 with 18 shutouts, a 2.31 GAA and a save percentage of .912.
In his final junior season in Charlottetown, he tied the QMJHL record for most shutouts in a season with seven, a record he shared with five others including Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Roberto Luongo, before Rouyn Noranda’s William Rousseau notched his eighth shutout of the 2023-24 season in March to claim the record outright.
Despite so many highlights already in his hockey career, Ellis says he’ll have lots of time to look back on those accomplishments when his playing days are behind him. Right now, he has one focus, and that’s a career in the NHL.
“It’s nice to look back and be grateful for all the things that led me to get to where I am right now, but it’s tough when you’re still in the midst of things, and I’m still trying to get there,” he explains. “My end goal, obviously, is to make the jump and play in the NHL, and that brings a whole other realm of opportunities and goals on its own.”
“When I’m done playing, that will be something I’ll reflect on, but right now it’s just working towards that next goal and being hungry to get there.”
And as he continues his journey, he knows he has another Inverness County native on which he can call for advice, and that’s Stanley Cup champion and Hockey Hall of Famer Al MacInnis of Port Hood, who currently serves as a senior advisor to the general manager of the St. Louis Blues.
“He’s been really good right from when I was drafted,” Ellis notes. “It’s nice to have a familiar face every time I’m in St. Louis.”
“I’ll get a text from him here and there,” he adds. “I know that if I ever have any questions, he’s made it clear he’s willing to help. It’s awesome to have somebody in my corner like that.”
For now, Ellis says he feels like he’s on the right track to achieving his ultimate goal of making the NHL.
“Obviously, everyone has a different path to get to where they want to be,” he says. “Mine differs from the next guy.”
“Being 23 and playing this season in the AHL, it’s definitely where I want to be. I want to get my feet under me and get all these experiences playing in the AHL, and then, obviously, a new set of goals comes up.”