Walleye lose goalie McCollum

1/11/2011

The Toledo Walleye's fluctuating roster has been affected by another promotion to the American Hockey League.

Goaltender Thomas McCollum was recalled to Grand Rapids, Mich., on Monday. The move was necessitated when the Detroit Red Wings recalled one of its goaltenders, Joey MacDonald, from Grand Rapids to replace the injured Chris Osgood.

McCollum, 21, began this season with the Griffins, going 5-10-2 with one shutout. He had a 3.11 GAA in 17 appearances. But McCollum, a former Red Wings' No. 1 draft choice, was reassigned to Toledo on Dec. 23. In five games with the Walleye, McCollum has a 3-1-0 record with one shutout, and a 2.55 GAA.

The Walleye's No. 1 goalie is now Joe Palmer. The Ohio State graduate is 4-7-0 with a 3.46 GAA in 11 games with Toledo.

The team is still without the services of forwards Evan Rankin and Adam Keefe, who also were called up to Grand Rapids last week. Forwards Scooter Smith and Mike Hedden are on the injured reserve list.

The Walleye also lost one of their top defensemen, Sebastien Piche, to an earlier call up to Grand Rapids. One of the team's top forwards, Peter Leblanc, was called up to Rockford of the AHL earlier this season.

-- Mark Monroe