Published: June 19, 2008 11:52 pm      

NHL DRAFT: Sanborn's McCollum is the center of attention

Maybe his newfound celebrity hasn’t overwhelmed Sanborn’s Tom McCollum — the highest-rated North American goaltender heading into tonight’s NHL Entry Draft — but the same can’t be said for his mother, Shelley.

“It’s a place we never thought we’d be, that’s for sure,” Shelley McCollum said. “It’s exciting because he’s going to get a shot at his dream. But it’s all happened so fast. We went to Anderson’s to get something to eat one day and people started pointing and talking about how Tom McCollum was there. I’ve even been getting things mailed to the house asking for autographs.

“He seems to be handling it well, but it’s all crazy to me.”

McCollum’s face might not be recognizable around town just yet, but it will be soon enough. A possible first-round pick in tonight’s draft, which begins at 7 p.m. on Versus, many expect McCollum to play one more season with the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm before hopping to the pro ranks. If McCollum doesn’t go in the first round, he’ll go quickly in the second.

It’s been a roller-coaster ride from his time as the Wheatfield Blades Jr. B goalie, to a third-team OHL all-star in his rookie year in Guelph, to his current status. Last summer, McCollum struggled at the World Juniors in Finland, then followed it up with a poor camp with the U.S. team in Lake Placid last summer. The lingering effects didn’t help the beginning of his second season with the Storm, but McCollum gained momentum as the season progressed and regained his spot atop the NHL Central Scouting service rankings.

“He got off to a semi-slow start, ” said Sabres Director of Amateur Scouting Kevin Devine. “I think it was working on his head. But after that, he was phenomenal. He had a good year. Every game I went to see him play after November he was very good.”

McCollum calls himself a butterfly goalie, and the book on him is that positioning is his biggest asset. A work ethic that won’t quit is also something that should entice scouts as well.

“I think Thomas is a first-round pick. I think he’s one of the top two goaltenders in the draft. I won’t tell you where we’ve got him, but we’ve got him highly rated,” Devine added. “With goaltenders, a lot of times it goes by the need of the organization. If they think they need a goaltender, they’ll go out and pick a goaltender over a guy they had ranked a little bit higher.”

For McCollum, the attention has been flattering, although he seems largely unfazed. On his trip from Guelph to the draft in Ottawa, NHL Network had a crew tag along for a package.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” he said. “I kind of like to keep things low-key, so it’s not too big a deal, but it’s all happening fast.”

The only three-time winner of the Canadian Hockey League’s Goaltender of the Week award this past season, McCollum knows this weekend will change the future, but not the present. He’ll likely return home to Sanborn soon after the draft, then will prepare for another season in Guelph with his billets.

The experience he’s gained in two OHL seasons and in a home that features adults of Swiss and Austrian origin have prepared him for anything thrown at him — on the ice and off.

“It’s funny because my teammate, Travis Gibbons, is the only Canadian in the house,” he said. “But it’s been great. And the second time around (in the OHL), playing in all the buildings again, that helped.”

In the end, all McCollum wants is a chance to play the sport he loves as his vocation.

“I don’t care where I go, I just want to get drafted,” he said. “Especially where I came from, it doesn’t matter where. I wouldn’t be bitter if I didn’t go in the first round.

“But the higher up I go, the more excited I’m sure I’ll be.”

Contact sports editor Tim Schmitt at 282-2311, ext. 2266.



THOMAS MCCOLLUM

• WHO: Top-rated North American goalie in tonight’s NHL Draft

• FROM: Sanborn, although he’s played the last two season with the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League

• TV: Draft is in Ottawa, starting on Versus at 7 p.m.