When Trent Miner sat at his locker room stall after the best afternoon of his professional life, he really tried to keep his emotions in check.
He answered a bunch of questions from a horde of media members on Saturday afternoon, several more than once. He was polite and concise.
When he left Ball Arena after collecting the first NHL win and shutout in a 4-0 win for the Colorado Avalanche, he definitely had a chance to savor the moment.
“It was exciting,” Miner said. “Talking with my family and my friends and everyone reaching out. It was pretty special to hear from everyone. I’ve been here for quite a while, so to get to do this with this group … I was very fortunate to be a part of winning that game.”
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Miner's first NHL win, a 29-save shutout against the Columbus Blue Jackets came 26 days before his 25th birthday. It was also 2,395 days after the Avalanche selected him with the 202nd pick in the 2019 NHL draft.
Players who go 100 picks earlier than that in NHL drafts are more likely to never play in the NHL than to have their dream come true. The 202nd guy in any draft class is a significant long shot.
Scott Wedgewood went 84th in his draft, and it took him until his sixth post-draft season to reach the big leagues. Miner made it last year, but it took almost 14 months from his NHL debut before he got to celebrate backstopping his club to a win.
"It was unbelievable," Wedgewood said. "Super happy for him and everything that comes with it. When you're a kid, you're hoping for just one game in the NHL. You want to say I played one game. I made it. When you get the opportunity to play a couple and you don't win, it can hurt you mentally.
"He's had to come in in relief. He's played a couple back-to-backs. You start behind the eight ball with those opportunities. To see him get a clean start against a good team and he goes out there and wins us a hockey game does it in that fashion, it's super cool. You just couldn't be happier for him."
Wedgewood spent a large chunk of one season in the ECHL, but Miner has spent parts of three years in the league two rungs below the mountaintop. In his first three full seasons a pro, Miner played five, one and 18 games for the Colorado Eagles in the AHL.
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He wasn't waiting his turn in Loveland. He was desperate to prove he could play there, let alone 50 miles south in Denver.
That happened last year. Miner became the undisputed No. 1 goalie for the Eagles, leading them into the Calder Cup Playoffs. He made his NHL debut in relief and got his first NHL start, but the Avs lost 3-1 in Chicago.
Earlier this year, Miner was great in relief and helped Colorado rally from a 4-1 deficit to get a point, but lost in a shootout. His first start was solid, but not what he wanted.
Even this time up with the club, he's had to wait. Wedgewood played four straight games, including three in four nights, after Mackenzie Blackwood was injured.
"He's a relentless worker and he is a battler," Avs coach Jared Bednar said. "Goalies may be a little different, but there's a handful of players that come out of the ECHL and it takes them a while but then they're grinding in the American League. When they make their to the NHL, you can pretty much guarantee the guys that do that, they're battlers and they're going to give it everything they've got.
"He's tried to make the most of his opportunities. When you see a player develop and you know he's putting in all that work, it's a great feeling as an organization. We are certainly really happy for his development and what he was able to accomplish (Saturday)."
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The battle continues. Blackwood will be back soon. Ilya Nabokov's arrival is imminent. Miner has fought and clawed his way up to No. 3 on Colorado's depth chart, and there's another bareknuckle brawl in his near future for that spot.
Still, the kid from Brandon, Manitoba, who wanted to play one game in the NHL has not only done that, but proven he can do play at this level. He's happy, but not satisfied.
"For sure," Miner said. "When you get drafted by an organization and sign with them, and you've been with them for a couple of years, you just want to do it with that team. Everyone here has been so amazing to me that ... I'm just so lucky to be with this group and win with them (Saturday)."
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