Biding his time riding the pine
Elliott playing second fiddle in Calgary after trade from Blues
CALGARY — Brian Elliott is the underdog again.
And if you’ve been following his NHL career, you already know the Calgary Flames puck-stopper has delivered some of his finest performances when cast in that role.
“I don’t think I’ve ever got away from that,” Elliott said. “The attitude I try to bring to the rink is that you have to work for everything you get in this league. That statement hasn’t disappointed me.
“It’s something that I haven’t changed — my outlook or attitude. I’m just kind of sticking to the game plan.”
Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan hasn’t revealed his goaltending game plan for the next two nights, but Monday’s matchup against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena seems like a logical spot for Elliott’s first start since late November.
And even if Chad Johnson gets a ninth consecutive call as Calgary aims to rebound from backto-back losses, the other masked man could be between the pipes 24 hours later for Tuesday’s tussle with the San Jose Sharks.
“You just have to be ready whenever (you’re) called upon,” Elliott said prior to departing Sunday. “Whenever it may be, I’ll be ready. It’s nothing different.”
He won’t say it, but Elliott’s stint at the Saddledome started differently. For the first time in his NHL career, the 31-year-old netminder from Newmarket, Ont., was the undisputed, go-to goalie.
That wasn’t really the case for Elliott during his days with the Ottawa Senators, the Colorado Avalanche or the St. Louis Blues.
Even en route to registering the NHL’s best save percentage last season, he split the workload in St. Louis with Jake Allen.
And even after posting that sparkling .930 mark, even after leading his squad to the semifinal stage of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Blues were willing to swap him to Calgary for a second-rounder in the 2016 NHL draft. Here, he was going to be the guy. Finally. It didn’t last long. For the past few weeks, he has done as much sitting as an Elf on the Shelf.
Elliott logged less than 19 minutes of mop-up work in Wednesday’s 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but his most recent start was back on Nov. 28 — a 2-1 overtime defeat against the New York Islanders.
That’s a long time to wait between assignments, especially when you’re anxious to improve a cringeworthy stat line that currently shows a 3-9-1 record, a 3.31 goalsagainst average and an .886 save percentage.
The Flames’ now-backup hasn’t celebrated a win since Oct. 28.
“When you watch him practise and you see a guy in practice work that hard and he has good habits on and off the ice, you know there are going to be ups and downs, but they are always going to come out on top,” said Flames captain Mark Giordano. “That’s the way I look at him. Looking forward to his next one, for sure.”
That next one could be Monday against the Desert Dogs or maybe Tuesday in San Jose.
Even if Elliott’s waiting game continues until Friday or even beyond the Christmas break, he’ll be ready. He’s an underdog again. During his career, that hasn’t been a bad thing.
“He has been in the underdog role a lot in his career and he has thrived in it,” Gulutzan said after Sunday’s practice. “Johnny (Johnson) has played really well, but we have two great goalies here and when (Elliott) comes in, he just needs to play the way he’s capable of playing and the way he’s played his whole career.”