Before he signed with the Predators, Ingram got his start with the Mintos

“I really enjoyed my time up there. Still to this day, I live in my house here in Saskatoon and [then-Mintos] Wyatt Grant and Josh Roberts are living here with me,” Ingram said. “Even the friendships I made when I was up there are incredible, whether it’s my billet Sandy or whoever it is. I really liked my time in Prince Albert.”

His career only rose from there. Despite not being drafted in the WHL, Ingram earned a spot with the Kamloops Blazers in the WHL where he thrived. He was drafted in the third round by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2016, then won a silver medal with Team Canada at the World Juniors a year later.

Ingram was also on Team Canada’s 2017 team that finished with a silver medal at the Under-20 World Junior Hockey Championships, in a goaltending tandem with Carter Hart during his three successful years with the Kamloops Blazers in the WHL.

But it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows. He found that out last year, during his second full professional season. Ingram was playing on the Syracuse Crunch, the AHL-affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lighting who drafted him in the third round of the 2016 draft.

Despite earning his first AHL All-Star Game appearance while posting a .922 save percentage and 2.26 goals against average, Ingram was sent down to the ECHL and played with the Orlando Solar Bears.

He was later traded on June 14, 2019 to the Nashville Predators’ organization for virtually the lowest possible cost, a seventh-round pick three drafts into the future. That’s as close to ‘a player for a bag of pucks’ trade as you can legally get to in the NHL these days.

Both the Lightning and Ingram have stayed quiet on everything that went on behind the scenes, but according to Ken Campbell of the Hockey News, the Lightning “were not thrilled with Ingram’s work ethic and demoted him to send that message, one that ultimately soured the relationship between the two parties.”

In a year where he needed to re-establish himself, Ingram did just that. This year, he posted a .933 save percentage, 1.92 goals against average and 21 wins for the Admirals, good for third in every category among AHL goaltenders.

“When you get traded for something that little and a team basically says they don’t want you anymore, it kind of puts a chip on your shoulder. I felt like I had a lot to prove, even going into this year,” Ingram said. “I knew I could play at the American league level, but you still have to prove yourself. You’re not worth much after that happens. So, it’s really good, I’m really happy with how things went and I couldn’t thank Nashville enough for taking a chance on me there and obviously giving me a job for two more years.”

Ingram has yet to play in an NHL game yet but has been called up to the show as a backup. His latest came on Feb. 25, 2020 when Predators’ starting goaltender Pekka Rinne fell ill. Ingram was called up to be Juuse Saros’ backup, before getting sent back to Milwaukee—all in a 24-hour whirlwind.

“I love Milwaukee, it’s a really underrated city. It’s really not high on people’s tourism lists, but it’s a great place to play and a great place to live,” Ingram said. “It’s a fun little city, I live right downtown. There’s never any traffic or anything like that. I really love being there. It’s good, it’s more fun. Winning’s more fun than losing.”

They may be called the Admirals and are covered in cool-looking pirate paraphernalia, but Milwaukee is far from any ocean where pirates do their dirty work. Sure, it’s right beside Lake Michigan, but no pirate worth his peg leg would ever set sail on a lake.

So how did a team in the heart of America get its nautically themed name?

Back in 1973, the Milwaukee Wings were sold to a group of investors. One of those investors was appliance store owner Erwin J. Merar, who named the team after a popular appliance company.

“It’s a pretty cool story,” Ingram said. “We’re called the Admirals and we’ve got the pirate hat on our jerseys. But if you dial it back a little bit, it was a guy [Merar] ho owned an appliance store and called them ‘the Admirals’ because the Admiral line was his biggest selling line of appliances. It’s pretty cool.”

Right now like the rest of us, Ingram is waiting safely indoors to see what happens during the pandemic. Unlike the major junior hockey leagues, the AHL hasn’t cancelled their games yet. They are still in a wait-and-see posture like the NHL is.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW

by Jeff D'Andrea

Before he signed with the Predators, Ingram got his start with the Mintos

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