How Self Advocacy Brought Collin Mackenzie An NCAA Commitment

Yesterday, Ottawa 67's overage goaltender Collin Mackenzie announced his commitment to play NCAA hockey for the Rochester Institute of Technology next season.

"It's a great spot and a great school with a fantastic history to their program," said Mackenzie. "It's pretty surreal, I'm  not sure I have fully processed it yet." 

With the announcement, he became the latest in a long list of overage players signing on with NCAA teams. However, Mackenzie's circumstances are unique. 

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To fully understand the story, you have to go back to last summer when Mackenzie found himself without offers to attend NHL camps. Instead of sitting back and waiting to see what would happen he took a bold step and reached out to NHL teams to tell them he was available. 

"I was like you know what, I'm going to try reaching out myself," said Mackenzie. "I'm not going to rely on anyone to help me out with that."

A little while later his efforts bore results. He was away at a cottage on Canada Day weekend when he awoke to a call from the Washington Capitals who wanted to offer him a spot at their camp. 

It was a lesson that stayed with him going into his final OHL season.

"I had that experience of reaching out to teams myself and it worked out so that's what I did this time around too," said Mackenzie. 

In this second instance, advocating for himself paid off again, as RIT responded to his message and eventually sent scouts out to see him play. After watching him there was only one step left.

"They had a meeting with me and gave me an offer," said Mackenzie. "I decided not to overthink it and just go with it."

In the Elora, Ont. native, the Tigers gain a goaltender with over 100 games of OHL experience with a career 3.02 goals-against average and a .898 save percentage. 

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During the 2022-23 season, he won OHL Best GAA (1.88) and OHL Best Save Percentage (.928) on the way to taking home the Dave Pinkney Trophy for OHL's Lowest Team GAA. 

With 49 wins in his career, he is two shy of tying former teammate Max Donoso for tenth-most in franchise history.

He will be taking a business degree at RIT while he continues to develop on the ice. 

"For me, this is another stepping stone," said Mackenzie. "My end goal is to get to pro hockey one day, and this is going to be great for my development moving forward."