‘“He doesn’t take a single second of practice for granted,” coach Lindy Ruff said Tuesday prior to Ellis’ season debut in the Sabres’ 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the First Niagara Center. “He is the consummate pro, from how hard he works, how hard he hard he trains and an unbelievable attitude. If you could take some of his attributes and if you could drop one or two on different players, it’d be a hell of player. It comes with the battle of him trying to stay in this league, too. It’s a determination that’s pretty impressive.”’