“I’m just happy to be where I am right now.”
Those words from Colton Point and when you look at the year that the North Bay native had, it’s hard to argue with his logic.
The goalie played 33 games with Colgate University in the NCAA led to a .944 save percentage, resulting in him being mentioned in Hobey Baker talk, being named one of the school’s Athletes of the Year, as well as being named to the second team All-American team.
Oh yeah, he suited up for Canada at the World Juniors in late December, helping Canada win gold.
Yet with all the accolades and success, Point felt that he owed something to the City of North Bay, so he decided to show off his Team Canada goaltending equipment, gold medal, sign some pictures and mingle with the locals at Chippewa Secondary School in exchange for a donation to the North Bay Food Bank.
“I feel North Bay as a city was a big factor in my success in hockey and in life. I feel that now that I have had success, I should be giving back to the community that helped raised me to the level that I am,” Point said Saturday afternoon.
The journey isn’t over for Colton however. The goaltender was drafted by the Dallas Stars in 2016 128th overall but is unsigned with the team. As an NCAA player, he has another year to sign with the club that drafted him. He will be heading down to Dallas later this month.
“We speak once every two weeks usually,” said Point.
“They were excited with how my season went, but there’s always room for improvement. We’re just trying to work on stuff off the ice and getting better there, and even the pros of 15 years are still working on their craft.”
There is definitely work ahead for the young goaltender who cut his teeth on local rinks, but one can’t help but look at where he is today and see that a lot of the work is already paying off.
For Colton Point, the sky is the limit.
