Matt Ellison (born December 8, 1983) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Drafted in the

2002 NHL Entry Draft __NOTOC__ The 2002 NHL Entry Draft was the 40th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 and 23, 2002 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Two hundred and ninety-one players were drafted in total: 35 from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL); ...

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL), Ellison played for the Blackhawks minor teams with two stints in the NHL, before being traded in 2005 to the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

. After being traded to the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

in 2007, Ellison played one season for the Predators AHL team before moving to play in Europe in 2008. Ellison most notably played abroad in the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL).

Playing career

Ellison began his career with the

Cowichan Valley Capitals The Cowichan Valley Capitals are a Junior "A" ice hockey team based in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Island Division in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at Cowichan Community Cen ...

, a junior hockey team that is a part of the

BCHL The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league from British Columbia under Hockey Canada and BC Hockey. Founded in Vernon in 1961, the BCHL now includes 18 teams. From 1993 to 2021, the league was a member of the Can ...

, in 1999–00. In his rookie season he was selected as the club's Co-Rookie of the Year. He played there for three years and received several honors including the Capital's Three Star Award winner and MVP, and led the team in scoring with 66 points in 2000–01 and again with 117 points in 2001–02. He was then drafted by the

in the fourth round (128th overall) of the

. He proceeded to play with the

Red Deer Rebels The Red Deer Rebels are a Western Hockey League junior ice hockey team based in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. The Rebels play at the Peavey Mart Centrium. History A "Name the Team" contest ran in Red Deer from October 7 to 17, 1991. The top t ...

of the WHL during the 2002–03 season before joining the

Norfolk Admirals Norfolk Admirals has been the name of two professional ice hockey franchises: * Norfolk Admirals (AHL), a team which played in the American Hockey League from 2000 to 2015 *Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) The Norfolk Admirals are a professional ice hock ...

for the 2003–04 season of the AHL. He played two seasons with the

and was promoted to the Blackhawks to start the 2005–06 season. Matt Ellison (Torpedo) attacks SKA

On December 5, 2005, he was traded to the

for

Patrick Sharp Patrick Sharp (born December 27, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks and Dallas Stars. After his retirement as a pla ...

and

Éric Meloche Éric Meloche (born May 1, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers. He is the son of former player Gilles Meloche. Playing ...

. He spent most of his time in Philadelphia playing for the

Philadelphia Phantoms The Philadelphia Phantoms were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1996 to 2009. The club was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and played most of its home games at the Spectrum (arena), Spectrum ...

and was traded to the

on June 4, 2007, for future considerations. On July 4, 2008, Ellison signed a one-year contract in Latvia with the

Dinamo Riga Dinamo Riga ( lv, Rīgas Dinamo) is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It is a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. The club is affiliated with HK Zemgale/LLU. The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 as a successor of ...

of the

. Ellison scored 39 points in 55 games, placing second with Riga in scoring for 2008–09. On August 4, 2009, he then signed a contract with fellow KHL team, HC MVD. After three successful seasons with

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (russian: Торпедо Нижний Новгород) is a professional ice hockey club in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League. The team's home arena is Trade ...

, Ellison left the KHL and signed a one-year contract with

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

club, EHC Biel of the NLA on June 26, 2013. Ellison subsequently left Biel and returned to the KHL to play for Zagreb in the 2013–14 season. In 2014, Ellison signed a two-year contract with

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

ian club,

HC Dinamo Minsk Hockey Club Dinamo Minsk (russian: Дина́мо-Минск; be, Дынама-Мінск, ''Dynama-Minsk'') is an ice hockey team based in Minsk, Belarus. They are members of the Tarasov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League. Dinamo has qu ...

, starting from the 2014–15 season. After three prolific seasons with Minsk, leading the club in scoring in his final two, Ellison left as a free agent to sign a lucrative two-year contract with larger Russian club, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, on June 7, 2017.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellison, Matt 1983 births Living people Canadian ice hockey centres Chicago Blackhawks draft picks Chicago Blackhawks players Cowichan Valley Capitals players Dinamo Riga players EHC Biel players Ice hockey people from British Columbia HC Dinamo Minsk players HC MVD players KHL Medveščak Zagreb players Metallurg Magnitogorsk players Milwaukee Admirals players Norfolk Admirals players People from Duncan, British Columbia Philadelphia Flyers players Philadelphia Phantoms players Red Deer Rebels players Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Belarus Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Croatia Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Latvia Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland