Elliott Takes On New Challenges in Final Junior Season
WENATCHEE, Wash. – The climb continues for Wenatchee Wild forward Sam Elliott.
After two years in the British Columbia Hockey League, Elliott stepped up a notch this past season and earned his chance in the Western Hockey League with the Wild, and will climb again next season when he joins the NCAA Division I ranks at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
Known to his teammates as “Selly,” the climb has been steady for Elliott ever since he began playing at four years old. He says he can’t remember a time when he wasn’t on the ice – after all, his dad, Scott, operates an ice rink in Surrey, British Columbia.
“We were always around the rink growing up, me and my sister both, and we both play now,” said Elliott. “We were always there, so the game was always very familiar from a young age.”
Elliott spent one year in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League as a 13-year-old, playing for Delta Hockey Academy’s U15 AAA team, but soon found a home with the nearby Valley West Giants, part of British Columbia’s provincial AAA circuit. The 2019-20 season was a good one, with 40 points in 30 B.C. Elite Hockey League games. A Western Hockey League draft-day call, though, never came…nor did the 2020-21 season, thanks to ongoing COVID restrictions in British Columbia. He was finally able to hop back on the ice in the fall of 2021, but had jumped up to the Giants’ U18 team – the adjustment period took all of three games, with two goals and an assist in a road game against the Cariboo Cougars in Prince George. He ended that first U18 season with 18 points, before seeing his production jump to 46 points the next year, also wearing a letter as the Giants’ alternate captain.
Then, the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles came calling – the first season was a memorable one not just for Elliott, but the Surrey hockey community as a whole – after winning just two playoff series in a decade since their 2013 BCHL Fred Page Cup championship, the 2023-24 Eagles made a run for the ages to bring the Surrey community another Cup. He would appear in 22 of Surrey’s 24 playoff games, with only the first-round series against Cowichan Valley decided in fewer than six games. The eventual game-winner in the clincher against Penticton went through Elliott, who nearly scored the deciding goal himself before Liam Tanner jammed in a rebound just off the goal line.
“Every round was so much fun,” said Elliott. “We had our first three rounds on [Vancouver Island], so we were always traveling a day early. The fans were so loud and electric, they were amazing. I remember coming home after we won – there was a big lineup of fans waiting outside our rink for us, so that’s just how it was in Surrey. They were great, and they were nice, and they cared a lot, and they followed along. There was a big travel pack that saw our games.”
Though he netted just 12 points in his 46 games that season with Surrey, it was enough to earn the team’s Scott Gomez Rookie of the Year Award. Handing the trophy to Elliott was none other than Gomez himself, who had played for the Eagles on his way to a 17-year pro career with two Stanley Cup titles. He returned to Surrey as an assistant coach with the Eagles during the 2023-24 season before taking over as head coach the following year.
“His goal was coming back and teaching us,” said Elliott. “I remember in our playoff run, he would always say, ‘We came for one.’ When you’re on the road, if you can grab two wins in an away barn, that’s great, but you’re definitely going for one, and that really stuck with me. That was such a great motto that he had. He taught us so much, even when he wasn’t the head coach his first year.”
The 2024-25 season almost ended as soon as it began. Elliott suffered an injury in the opening game of the season, and missed the first four months. When he returned to the lineup at Prince George, he scored in the opening minute of the third period, netting the game-winner. He would go on to score 16 points in just 21 games, plus five more in a five-game opening-round playoff series against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, and earn the Eagles’ Athletic Courage Award.
A Valley West connection led to Elliott’s next call, when Giants coach Riley Emmerson reached out and suggested that the Wild were interested in bringing him on board. After corresponding with Emmerson, also a British Columbia scout for Wenatchee, and Wild general manager Bliss Littler, Elliott officially signed with the club last June.
It took only two games to score his first point on September 27 this past season against Everett, but what followed was a statement – a two-goal, two-assist outburst October 12 against the Seattle Thunderbirds, helping Wenatchee break into the win column with a 7-3 decision.
Then, the injury bug bit – Elliott missed six games in mid-November, and appeared in only three games between mid-December and the end of January. After scoring in Wenatchee’s overtime win November 1 against the Saskatoon Blades, it took until February 28 for Elliott to return to the scoring column, in a 6-2 drubbing of the Kelowna Rockets.
“Injuries are tough, we all know that, but the guys were there for me however I was playing,” said Elliott. “We had such a good crew of guys. It was easy to just take your mind off the game. The guys really helped me out, and getting back on the score sheet was nice.”
In the end, Elliott wrapped up his final season of junior hockey with 16 points, including five goals, in 45 games. He did it amid not just the challenge of stepping onto the ice in a new league at a new level, but doing so away from home for the first time. This past season was his first season billeting with a host family, after living at home throughout his time with Valley West and Delta, and his two BCHL seasons with Surrey.
“It was easy. My billets made it easy for me,” said Elliott. “They were great, and [Tobias Tvrznik] and I had a good time. That took my mind off of being away from home, which was nice.”
He’ll be further again from home in his next stop – Elliott announced his NCAA Division I commitment with the Nanooks shortly after the end of the season. He’ll join an Alaska team coming off a 15-win season that includes a United Collegiate Hockey Cup championship, a de facto “conference championship” tournament played among the five independent NCAA Division I hockey institutions. The Nanooks have sent 12 players to the National Hockey League in their history, including three Stanley Cup champions – one of the three is a recent Olympic silver medalist, St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko.
He says he’ll aim for a business degree while with the Nanooks, and as much as he enjoys the outdoors, Fairbanks will feel even more like home as Sam Elliott continues the climb in his hockey career.
