Music: {allcanada} Ottawa's Elliott has the right stuff

Brian Elliott swatted aside the question like a loose puck in his crease.

Based on his play in various stints with the Ottawa Senators over parts of the past three seasons, the 25-year-old goalie has exhibited that he deserves an opportunity to become a bona fide No. 1 goalie in the NHL.

But does Elliott believe he could follow the paths blazed by Craig Anderson, Antti Niemi and Michael Leighton last year?

To recap, at age 28, Anderson made the most of his first opportunity as a starter and steered the young and restless Colorado Avalanche to a surprising playoff berth. Due to injuries to goaltenders above him in the Philadelphia Flyers' depth chart, Leighton, at age 28, backstopped his club to the Stanley Cup final.

The masked man staring at Leighton from the other end of the rink with the Chicago Blackhawks was an unknown 26-year-old commodity from Finland named Niemi, who now has a Stanley Cup ring.

"That's a big question," Elliott said. "Those guys took advantage of their opportunity. What it really comes down to in the NHL is a lot of people get the opportunity, but it's about taking advantage of it and rolling with it.

"That's always the plan and you just try to be prepared when you're in there."

'He is capable': Wamsley

Elliott appears to have the confidence of Senators head coach Cory Clouston these days because even though Pascal Leclaire has recovered from his groin injury, the 6-foot-3, 201-pound Elliott has remained the Senators' go-to guy.

But whether he takes a stranglehold on the Senators crease for a prolonged period is up to Elliott.

"He's shown that he is capable," Senators goalie coach Rick Wamsley said. "Brian plays behind a decent team. He doesn't have to be perfect. So he realizes that he just has to be decent himself. The older you are and the more mature you are, you understand the difference. I think he understands the difference."

Elliott understands. The success of goaltending is not just about technique, but also the psychology of the position.

"The mental part is huge," he said. "You have to stay loose. If you lose a game you can't get too down on yourself. There is always a next opportunity to get back in there to prove what you can do.

"As a goaltender you sometimes put all the blame on yourself. The media and the fans can also blame you. But as a goaltender you have to realize it's a team game. If your team is playing well in front of you and you're playing well than there is a good chance you're going to win."

Anderson, Niemi and Leighton all won last season. Scouts felt Anderson would rise from the Guelph Storm to an elite-level NHL starter. He didn't take advantage of early-career opportunities in Chicago and Florida. But he certainly made the most of his chance in Colorado.

"It was his time," Wamsley said. "He has skill, and he had learned enough lessons and he made the most of his opportunity [in Colorado]."

The other two chaps, Niemi and Leighton, played behind standout teams. Leighton had a stingy defence group that included Chris Pronger, Kimmo Timonen, Matt Carle and Braydon Coburn. Niemi simply played behind the league's most skilled team.

So the job of both netminders was not to lose games for their talented clubs. Both showed cracks in their games at times in the final, Leighton more so than his Chicago counterpart.

Wamsley pointed out that his best season was with the Montreal Canadiens, when he notched 27 wins in 1982-83 and played behind a defence that included Larry Robinson, Craig Ludwig and Rick Green.

Day-by-day philosophy

Elliott is an underdog story. The Senators selected him with the second last pick, 291st overall, in the 2002 NHL entry draft. He was worth the late pick because he has exhibited at every level enough improvement to take the next step.

At the University of Wisconsin, along with teammates Joe Pavelski, Adam Burish and Tom Gilbert, Elliott was a Hobey Baker finalist in his junior season and guided the Badgers to the 2005-06 NCAA championship.

Last season with the Senators, Elliott proved his worth with impressive separate nine-game and six-game victory strings late in year. He has been on a roll with Ottawa again recently to move his club back into contention for a playoff spot.

Elliott refuses to predict whether he will be the league's next big thing in goal. Instead, the native of Newmarket, Ont., remarks that he will continue to work hard and take advantage of the advice he receives from Wamsley and his off-season guru, Mike Valley, who also works with Minnesota Wild's Niklas Backstrom.

"I don't think of my past or my future," Elliott said. "The advice I get from my mentors is to take it day-by-day. You look at a goalie like Niklas Backstrom, there is no yesterday, there is no tomorrow. It's about today, working hard in practice and taking advantage of your coaching.

"It's about what I can do today to get better."