Ashton Sautner’s best gift of the year came after Christmas.
The Flin Flon-born defenceman was called up from the minors to join the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks as a seventh defenceman on Sunday, Dec. 27.
While he did not suit up when the Canucks played the LA Kings the following night, Sautner was given his own dressing room stall and took part in game-day and pre-game skates, according to the Vancouver Sun.
Sautner, 21, had hoped the Canucks would come calling but was surprised it happened just 19 games into his professional career.
“I am still in shock and just trying to take it all in right now,” the blueliner told the Sun. “But it’s unbelievable. I am so happy to just be up here, just to be part of it and soak it all in. It will make me a better player.
“Dream come true to be up here, be a part of it and get the experience.”
Sautner’s call-up was all the more surprising considering he was never drafted, having signed an entry-level contract with the Canucks last March.
As the Sun put it, he was “a project of sorts” for Vancouver.
Sautner spent four seasons with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings before moving onto the AHL’s Utica Comets, the Canucks’ farm team, this season.
In 19 games with the Comets, he has 8 points (3G, 5A) and a plus-1 rating.
His call-up came as Vancouver was without three of its top-six D-men due to injuries.
Assuming he remains with the Canucks, Sautner’s next chance to play with the Canucks will be Friday when they host the Anaheim Ducks.
Now standing 6-ft 1-in and weighing 195 lbs, Sautner was born in Flin Flon and raised in Creighton. He left Creighton in 2001 with his parents, mother Kim and father Blaine, then an assistant coach with the Flin Flon Bombers.
The last Flin Flon-born player to lace ’em up in the NHL was Reid Simpson. He played his final games in 2003-04.
