Elliott’s excellent season key to Knights’ run

Austin Elliott, acquired by the London Knights early in the 2024-25 campaign, has brought experience — and a whole lot of winning — to the defending OHL champs. They’re hoping he can backstop them to a Memorial Cup.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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Austin Elliott just keeps winning games for the London Knights.

Coming over from the Western Hockey League, few — if any — could have anticipated what we would see from the Albertan-born goaltender.

And that success was immediate. He won his first 20 games as a Knight before finally recording his first OHL loss in February, more than four full months into the season. He’s since won 27 of 28 games, good for an overall winning percentage of 95.9%, if you’re curious.

Elliott says despite the cross country move, he felt comfortable in London from the get-go. 

“The year as a whole has been great, the boys are awesome, we have a real tight-knit group and everyone has made the transition really easy for me,” Elliott told Gameday London.

“I was super excited coming here. Even out west you hear about how great the London organization is and how good it is. You see how many players they graduate to the NHL.”

London was hoping they would get some experience, someone to provide mentorship to a young Aleksei Medvedev. Instead, they got one of the best single season performances by a goaltender in franchise history. Only five goalies have won more games in a single season than Elliott’s 32.

The veteran netminder is no stranger to winning. He earned 58 victories over two full seasons with the Saskatoon Blades, including three wins to start this season before his move to Ontario.

“The Blades team I was on last year also finished in first place. They were also a really strong team that didn’t give up a ton of chances,” Elliott said.

“So, it was a similar experience down the stretch. The travel here has been a bit nicer,” he added with a chuckle.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

Facing an overage player numbers crunch, Elliott was an odd man out in Saskatoon. He was made available to the OHL after clearing waivers out west.

That’s right, all 22 teams in the WHL took a look at Austin Elliott and didn’t think they could use him.

Well, a winning goaltender was just what London was looking for, and days after Elliott was claimed by the Barrie Colts, he was traded to London for two draft picks — a 14th and 5th round selection. It was a very low risk for a goaltender who won 32 of 33 games for the Knights this season.

London was in a similar situation last season when they traded for Michael Simpson early and went on to allow the fewest goals in the OHL en route to a league championship. After bringing in another overage netminder this time around, they allowed a league-low 180 goals, the fewest given up by a Knights team since 2012-13.

Those numbers obviously don’t happen without strong defense, as well as good goaltending depth, which the Knights have in Aleksei Medvedev. He won 22 games as a rookie, by far the most among first-year netminders.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

Medvedev says practicing with Elliott every day has made him better.

“He’s a great goalie partner. I’m really lucky to have him, just working with him every day and watching his habits. He’s a true professional, and I’ve been able to learn a lot from him.”

Along with Knights goaltending coach Dave Rook, Elliott has also been working with Pete Fry, a former goaltender who focuses on the mental side of the game.

He credits Fry for bolstering his mental fortitude.

“I really try to just stay in the moment,” said Elliott, who is set to attend UMass Lowell next fall, a NCAA club competing in Hockey East. “(Fry) has helped me a lot with the mental side of the game. He’s given me a lot of tools to deal with and handle different situations, and I think the mental side of things is one of the strongest parts of my game.”

While allowing the fewest goals against, London also scored the most. While the goal support can be beneficial, it can also mean some lengthy holdovers between scoring chances.

Elliott credits his strong focus with keeping him in the game.

“That’s part of the mental side, maybe visualizing a shot or situation if you do go a stretch without action. There’s some things I can do to keep engaged."

There’s been no issues with London’s top keeper staying engaged. And he’s given them a chance, not only to repeat as OHL champions, but to make a run at a Memorial Cup later this month.