Hilton's Callahan an NHL 4th round pick

It was Day Two of the annual National Hockey League draft this year in Raleigh, North Carolina, but Hilton native Ryan Callahan and his family decided not to make the trip. Callahan was all but certain to be selected - ready to follow his dream of playing professional hockey. But, as the 77th ranked North American player out of 240, that selection was not supposed to come until the second day, which is a bit anti-climatic and would involve sitting around for hours on Day One.

Instead, "about 9:10 Sunday morning, my agent, Steve Bartlett, called me to say that I had been taken in the fourth round by the New York Rangers," said Callahan by phone at the Rangers rookie camp in Calgary. "It's a great organization and I was lucky enough to be able to follow this through."

After one week of the Rangers rookie camp, it's off to Fargo, North Dakota for the U.S. World Junior Team tryouts for a week. Then, back to Calgary for the final week of rookie camp ... "I think I get to spend a week home in late August before starting pre-season training in Guelph.

That's in the Ontario Hockey League where Callahan scored 36 goals and added 32 assists in 68 games last season - more than doubling his offensive output from the previous season. His Guelph Storm won the OHL title last season with Callahan getting 21 playoff points before dropping three straight games in the Memorial Cup playoffs.

Callahan played on the varsity team at Hilton for one year as an eighth-grader under head coach John Farnham before moving on to the Junior Amerks and the Buffalo Lightning. After being named Storm's Rookie-of-the-Year two seasons ago, he will be starting his third season in the OHL and his second year trying to squeeze in Communication and other classes at the University of Guelph while playing a 60+ game regular season. His parents, Mike and Donna, make regular trips throughout Ontario, Canada and parts of the U.S. catching their son play as many games as possible.

"I felt more comfortable last season and got a lot more ice time. A few points in the first few games helped my confidence," said the 20-year-old. "Now I'm trying to make a good first impression in rookie camp and have my name stick in their mind along with getting used to everything and everybody. This year is another year in Junior in Guelph and next year is open if I want to turn pro. It would be nice if that could happen."