Two Cape Breton hockey players represent Canada at Spengler Cup

Colten Ellis grew up near the base of Whycocomagh Mountain in Cape Breton, and now he’s one of Canada's goaltenders at the Spengler Cup near the Swiss Alps in Davos, Switzerland.

“It was unbelievable to get the call when he told me he was heading over here. It was surreal, actually," said Brian Ellis, Colten Ellis’s father.

The younger Ellis, a 24-year-old native of River Denys, N.S., plays for the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League. He got the start in Canada's opening game at the Spengler Cup.

Ellis made 25 saves in a 6-2 win over host HC Davos in front of their raucous home crowd, all while family and friends cheered him on back home in Cape Breton.

"It was pretty cool, and I don't think I really anticipated how many people would be following along," Ellis said. "Until after the game, when all of the messages and seeing people posting that they were watching.”

For Gerard Shaw of Glace Bay, N.S., the trip to Switzerland has already been worth it. He got to see his son Logan Shaw score Canada's fourth goal in the opening day win.

"After he scored, my phone sort of blew up," the older Shaw said.

The fact two Cape Bretoners are representing their country on the world stage makes the experience even more special.

"It's probably highly unlikely, looking at where we're from and the path that these guys have to take to get to where they're going," Gerard Shaw said.

For Logan Shaw, who has played pro hockey for more than a decade and is currently the captain of the American Hockey League's Toronto Marlies, playing for Canada at age 32 ranks as a late-career highlight of sorts.

“What I'd say to minor hockey players is the path can be long and arduous at times, but don't quit," his father said.

Neither Shaw nor Ellis got a chance to play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship when they were teenagers. To don the maple leaf as grown men, with their families there to enjoy it all with them, is pretty special.

"It's awesome. My dad's here. My uncle Wendell is here. My girlfriend Hannah, her father and her uncle," said Colten Ellis.

"It's hard to put into words what this is about, and it's amazing. The atmosphere is amazing around this tournament," Brian Ellis said.

To top off the Maritime connections, the team's head coach - Gerard Gallant - is from Summerside, P.E.I.

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