by Ryan Smith | AHL On The Beat
A case can be made that goaltenders have the most unpredictable development path of any position in any professional sport.
Take the vastly different cases of a pair of young netminders in the St. Louis Blues organization as an example.
Joel Hofer arrived on the pro scene full-time with the 2021-22 Springfield Thunderbirds, a team that went on a magical run to the Calder Cup Finals, winning their first seven postseason games in the process. Hofer earned international viral fame by becoming the first goalie in AHL postseason history to physically shoot and score a goal.
His development further advanced the next season, when he was named an AHL Second Team All-Star after winning a Thunderbirds team record 27 games. Before he had even reached 90 appearances in the Springfield goal crease, Hofer had risen to full-time NHL status, where he has remained in St. Louis since the start of the 2023-24 season.
However, as NHL teams and general managers can attest, you cannot put all your eggs into one prospect’s basket. A year after selecting Hofer in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Draft, Doug Armstrong used his third-round pick in 2019 on another goaltender – one with a distinctly different background and physical makeup: Colten Ellis.
Early returns on the Ellis selection were, in a word, astonishing. During the COVID-shortened 2020-21 QMJHL season with the Charlottetown Islanders, Ellis put up a season among the best in recent CHL memory. He won 23 of 24 starts, posting seven shutouts in the process and a microscopic 1.78 goals-against average.
Upon turning pro, however, Ellis learned – as just about every goaltender does – that such lofty and gaudy statistics do not always translate.
“In junior hockey, there’s a lot of skill, but when you’re transitioning to pro hockey, the game just comes so much quicker,” Ellis said. “Guys are able to make plays quicker and they are bigger, stronger, and faster. That was the biggest adjustment for me, learning to play at a speed where plays develop so quickly, coupled with there being a lot of broken plays.”
Despite some expected growing pains, Ellis was able to earn 16 wins in 40 combined appearances as a rookie with the T-Birds and the ECHL’s Worcester Railers. He picked up his first AHL win in his debut at Bridgeport with a 28-save performance on Nov. 6, 2021.
For Ellis, his sophomore campaign would bring about the first major bout of adversity in his career. With Springfield’s goaltending set between Hofer and Vadim Zherenko, and Worcester utilizing their New York Islanders affiliation to fill out their netminding, Ellis had to find a new home with ECHL Tulsa. For the first time in his career, Ellis saw his save percentage dip below .900, and his goals against average had risen to 3.46.
The biggest blow, however, came in the form of a hip injury that required surgery early in 2023, ending his season early and putting his career at an important crossroads with just one year remaining on his entry-level contract. Unable to play, Ellis discovered the age-old tale that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
“Being away from hockey for so long really made me miss it,” Ellis recounted. “I think I kind of lost that (passion) a little bit in my first year and a half as a pro. I was off the ice for three or four months of that spring and going into the summer, and it made me realize how much I love hockey, and I think that reignited the fire in me to want to be a pro hockey player and hone in on all the aspects that make me a good professional. I dialed in on what makes me who I am.”
Ellis, unlike many goaltending prospects of the era, is not a towering presence, standing just 6-foot-1. The 24-year-old is not naive to the changing landscape of the position, though.
“[Being a smaller goalie] wasn’t really talked about until maybe the last couple of years,” he said. “I didn’t see myself as a smaller guy. I play a different style of game than [Zherenko] would play, different than Hofer, and different than [Jordan Binnington]. It’s about realizing what your game is and trusting the people who are helping you get better.”
Ellis has no shortage of great resources to lean on, from his longtime goaltending mentor Scott Gouthro to Blues goaltending coach Dave Alexander, and most notably, Thunderbirds goaltending coach and Blues goaltending development coach Dan Stewart.
“Stew has been great for me,” Ellis said. “One of his best attributes is that he’s very tailored to who he’s coaching. It’s not a one-size-fits-all method. He’s good at zoning in on what makes me the best version of myself, and he’s able to throw in suggestions or work on certain components of my game, and we build off of that.”
That partnership, combined with a resurgent passion for the position, has propelled Ellis not just in his personal development, but among his peers. Dating back to the 2023-24 season, Ellis has posted a .916 save percentage over his last 25 AHL appearances, including a stellar .924 mark during his stint in Springfield last season. Had he played enough minutes to qualify for statistical leadership categories, Ellis would have finished in the top-five in save percentage through the whole league and second among rookies.
Perhaps most promisingly, though, Ellis has discovered that joy for the game usually correlates with success.
“You’re playing the best when you’re having the most fun. A big message has been to play where your feet are at and don’t get ahead of yourself trying to play at the next level. Take care of where you’re at, and enjoy that process.”