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Matt Ellis
Matt Ellis Sabres
Position Left wing
Shoots Left
Height
Weight
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
Teams Buffalo Sabres
Los Angeles Kings
Detroit Red Wings
Nationality Flag of Canada Canadian
Born (1981-08-31)August 31, 1981,
Welland, ON, CAN
NHL Draft Undrafted
Pro Career 2003 – present


Matt Ellis (born August 31, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. Not selected in an NHL Entry Draft, Ellis played in the NHL for the Detroit Red WingsLos Angeles Kings and the Buffalo Sabres.

Professional career[]

Minor league hockey[]

Ellis started play in the OHL with the Toronto St. Michael's Majors in 1998. He quickly learned the speed and style of the game, as he started producing goals and assists right away. Each year with the Majors saw Ellis improving his point totals, from 18 the first year, onto 35,45, and finishing with 38 goals and 51 assists for 89 total points in his final year with Toronto, helping them with the Central Division title.

The Detroit Red Wings came calling and signed Ellis as a free agent on May 10, 2002. He was sent to play on the Wings' farm team the Toledo Storm in the ECHL where he posted 59 points in the regular season and tacked on eight points in the Storms' short playoff run.

Reaching the AHL[]

In the following season, Ellis was quickly brought up to the AHL to join the Grand Rapids Griffins and tallied his first AHL point on October 24, 2003 with an assist on the game-winning goal versus the Utah Grizzlies. Ellis again took time to adjust to the faster pace but soon found his place with the team. Each year his point totals went up and in the 2005–06 season, Ellis was named captain; the youngest captain ever in Griffins' history. This gave him the needed confidence to continue his growth as a player, which Ellis summed up when he had this to say about his captaincy:

"It’s definitely a big factor. You can totally tell the difference when there’s a guy out there playing with confidence and when a guy’s unsure of himself. Being a fourth-year pro, it makes a huge difference. Each year, you come in with a little more confidence, and I’ve been fortunate enough to be surrounded by some great players and coaches who were there to give me a pat on the back or help me out and keep me motivated."

When asked about the chance to play for the Red Wings, Ellis said:

"I’m hoping. Grand Rapids is a great place to learn and develop, but I’d like to get my feet wet in Detroit – for sure."

Detroit Red Wings[]

Ellis made his NHL debut for the Detroit Red Wings on December 18, 2006 in a 4–3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Los Angeles Kings[]

Ellis was claimed off of waivers by the Los Angeles Kings on February 21, 2008. He scored his first goal with the Kings, an empty-net goal, on March 13, 2008 against the Nashville Predators at Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Buffalo Sabres[]

Shortly before the commencement of the 2008-09 season, on October 1, 2008, Ellis was claimed off of waivers from the Kings by the Buffalo Sabres. He played his first game with the latter on October 15 against the New York Rangers. On December 18, after injuries to several Buffalo forwards, Ellis was recalled from Buffalo's then-AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates, for the second time that season. In the subsequent off-season, on July 9, 2009, he resigned with the Sabres on a one-year contract.

On August 31, 2010, Ellis was re-signed to an additional one-year contract with Buffalo. To begin the following 2010-11 season, the Sabres placed Ellis on waivers, which he cleared on October 4, 2010. On July 19, 2011, in the off-season, Ellis signed a multi-year contract extension with the Sabres.

During the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, Ellis was again waived and was sent to the AHL's Rochester Americans after six games played with Buffalo. After 12 points in 35 games with the Americans, Ellis opted to remain with the Sabres organization, signing a two-year, two-way contract extension on July 3, 2013.

In the 2014-15 season, Ellis was recalled to the Sabres during the midpoint of the season, and on April 1, 2015, he scored his first goal of the campaign in a Buffalo victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

On July 9, 2015, Ellis signed a one-year contract with the Rochester Americans. Ellis announced his retirement at the end of the season. He immediately joined The Academy of Hockey, which like the Sabres and Americans is owned by Terrence Pegula, as a coach.

Awards and achievements[]

  • 2004–05: Matched a Grand Rapids Griffins record with four shorthanded goals giving him the nickname "shorty"
  • 2004–05: First player in Griffins history to score two shorthanded goals in a home game. (March 12, 2005 vs. Hamilton Bulldogs)
  • 2005–06: Named youngest captain in Grand Rapids Griffins' history

Career statistics[]

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1998–99 Toronto St. Michael's Majors OHL 47 10 8 18 6
1999–00 Toronto St. Michael's Majors OHL 59 15 20 35 20
2000–01 Toronto St. Michael's Majors OHL 68 21 24 45 19 18 4 8 12 6
2001–02 Toronto St. Michael's Majors OHL 66 38 51 89 20 15 8 6 14 6
2002–03 Toledo Storm ECHL 71 27 32 59 34 7 3 5 8 0
2003–04 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 64 5 10 15 23 4 0 0 0 2
2004–05 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 79 18 23 41 59
2005–06 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 74 20 28 48 61 16 4 1 5 20
2006–07 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 65 26 23 49 44 7 4 3 7 4
2006–07 Detroit Red Wings NHL 16 0 0 0 6
2007–08 Detroit Red Wings NHL 35 2 4 6 12
2007–08 Los Angeles Kings NHL 19 1 1 2 14
2008–09 Buffalo Sabres NHL 45 7 5 12 12
2008–09 Portland Pirates AHL 12 2 2 4 4
2009–10 Buffalo Sabres NHL 72 3 10 13 12 3 1 0 1 0
2010–11 Portland Pirates AHL 52 10 21 31 12 11 1 5 6 4
2010–11 Buffalo Sabres NHL 14 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
2011-12 Buffalo Sabres NHL 60 3 5 8 25
2012-13 Buffalo Sabres NHL 6 0 0 0 0
2012-13 Rochester Americans AHL 32 5 6 12 6 3 0 0 0 2
2013-14 Rochester Americans AHL 25 5 5 10 10
2013-14 Buffalo Sabres NHL 50 4 2 6 4
2014-15 Rochester Americans AHL 38 7 6 13 2
2014-15 Buffalo Sabres NHL 39 1 1 2 4
2015-16 Rochester Americans AHL 58 6 6 12 6
NHL totals 201 13 20 33 56 4 1 0 1 0

External links[]

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Matt Ellis. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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