RWC Report: Growing pains for McCollum

By Matthew Wuest – RedWingsCentral.com / March 2, 2010

Thomas McCollum is one of the brightest young goalies the Detroit Red Wings have had in ages, but you wouldn't know it right now.

The 21-year-old has had a rocky introduction to the pro ranks after a stellar Ontario Hockey League career, struggling with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League. He is 7-13-1 with a 3.59 goals-against average and a .873 save percentage and has just seven starts in the new year.

They're horrific numbers for a former first-round pick.

"Thomas would be the first to admit he hoped for a better year," said Griffins general manager Bob McNamara, a former pro goalie himself. "He's adapting, he's working hard, but he's a bit of a work in progress. He'll be fine, he's got a ton of ability, but it just hasn't gone the way he expected it to go."

Puck-stopping, overall, has been a "tough spot" for the Griffins, McNamara said. Daniel Larsson, a second-year AHLer, has also battled inconsistency, with a 2.95 GAA and a .902 save percentage in 41 starts.

The Griffins have slipped to the bottom of the North Division and are the third worst team in the AHL with a 25-33-4 record. Only one team, the Sprinfield Falcons, has allowed more goals than the Griffins' 213.

"It's been magnified by the fact both goalies have struggled," McNamara said. "Danny started to struggle and Thomas's starts became more important. He put a lot on his shoulders and it magnified the pressure."

McCollum, who is still eligible to be playing in the OHL this season, was selected in the first round (30th overall) in the 2008 draft. He was two-time OHL all-star with the Guelph Storm and Brampton Battalion and finished as runner-up for the league's goaltender-of-the-year award in 2008-09.

McNamara said the 6-foot-1, 210-pounder "has to be better," but doesn't think anybody should panic about the prized prospect.

"He battles hard in practice, he hates to lose and he hates to fish the puck out of the net," McNamara said. "That's why I believe he's not going to have a problem. He continually works to try and get himself better.

"There's a lot of fight in him and his work ethic and (competitive) level are what's going to give him an opportunity to play in the NHL."

NOTES: McNamara said Larsson "just needs to be more consistent" and that he's had some "great stretches" ... Defenseman Sergei Kolosov (Grand Rapids, AHL) represented Belarus at the Olympics. He had no points and a minus-2 in four games, while averaging 13:42 in ice time ... Forward Gustav Nyquist is in sole possession of the NCAA scoring lead with 54 points in 32 games.

Following is an up-to-date statistical report for skaters:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
A H L
Jan Mursak	Grand Rapids	AHL	61	20	12	32	36
Francis Pare	Grand Rapids	AHL	60	13	18	31	12
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	55	14	16	30	46
Cory Emmerton	Grand Rapids	AHL	59	9	19	28	16
Tomas Tatar	Grand Rapids	AHL	46	13	14	27	10
Logan Pyett	Grand Rapids	AHL	62	8	18	26	27
Jamie Tardif	Grand Rapids	AHL	60	13	11	24	65
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	55	3	21	24	53
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	56	8	11	19	25
Dick Axelsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	17	2	3	5	6
Travis Ehrhardt	Grand Rapids	AHL	37	0	5	5	32
Sergei Kolosov	Grand Rapids	AHL	48	1	3	4	17
Sebastien Piche	Grand Rapids	AHL	9	0	0	0	4
E C H L
Sebastien Piche	Toledo	ECHL	34	5	16	21	44
Travis Ehrhardt	Toledo	ECHL	3	1	1	2	0
S W E D E N
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SEL	49	5	12	17	40
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SEL	46	5	6	11	6
Dick Axelsson	Farjestad	SEL	10	5	4	9	20
Adam Almqvist	HV-71	SEL	24	2	6	8	10
Jesper Samuelsson	Timra	SEL	23	0	1	1	8
Johan Ryno	AIK	SWE-2	44	7	10	17	30
Jesper Samuelsson	Sundsvall	SWE-2	34	2	13	15	36
Adam Almqvist	HV-71	SWE-J20	15	5	29	34	14
C H L
Willie Coetzee	Red Deer	WHL	65	28	49	77	30
Brent Raedeke	Edmonton	WHL	66	21	29	50	91
Gleason Fournier	Rimouski	QMJHL	52	12	35	47	72
Mitchell Callahan	Kelowna	WHL	66	19	27	46	149
Andrej Nestrasil	Victoriaville	QMJHL	45	15	29	44	32
Landon Ferraro	Red Deer	WHL	46	15	27	42	49
Brian Lashoff	Kingston	OHL	52	6	20	26	67
Stephen Johnston	Belleville	OHL	31	10	8	18	33
N C A A
Gustav Nyquist	Maine	HE	32	17	37	54	14
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	32	15	25	40	56
Brian Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	31	5	13	18	43
Max Nicastro	Boston U.	HE	32	3	12	15	26
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud St.	WCHA	34	4	5	9	22
Julien Cayer	Clarkson	ECAC	22	2	3	5	18
U S H L
Nick Jensen	Green Bay	USHL	42	5	16	21	33

Following is an up-to-date statistical report for goaltenders:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	41	17-20-1	2.95	.902
Thomas McCollum	Toledo	ECHL	4	2-1-0	4.48	.864
	Grand Rapids	AHL	25	7-13-1	3.59	.873
Jordan Pearce	Toledo	ECHL	28	11-13-1	3.68	.889
	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	1-2-0	3.82	.875