Baptiste ready to lead

For most of us, June 30 was just another day. But for Wolves forward Nick Baptiste, it was the culmination of a lot of hard work.

It was NHL Draft Day in Newark, New Jersey and, for Baptiste, it was almost as if the day was scripted just for him. Going into the draft ranked No. 61 by NHL Central Scouting, he was picked by the Buffalo Sabres in the third round, 69th overall.

Just a few months ago, being picked in the third round seemed like a pipe dream. After a so-so rookie campaign, the 2012-2013 season didn’t start off much better.

Most 16-year-olds spend their first year in junior hockey finding their way and make their mark in year two. For Baptiste, that just didn’t seem to be the case.

Until November, that is, when it seemed like a light switch went on.

It certainly helped that Baptiste was put on a line with Matt Campagna and Nathan Pancel, a line that became the Wolves’ go-to line.

But it also was true that Baptiste’s game went to a new level. He became the player the Wolves thought he could become when they picked him in the first round, sixth overall, in the 2011 OHL Priority Draft.

It was like Baptiste realized you have to work hard all the time and, as a result, his game got better each night. He started to use his size, speed and skill to his advantage. He went from just two goals in the first five or six weeks of the season to 21 by the time the year was done.

Baptiste thought his season was over when the Wolves were swept in the second round of the playoffs, but, at the team’s season ending banquet, he got the call from Hockey Canada to join the Under 18 team for the Ivan Hlinka tournament.

Baptiste scored three goals and added five assists in the finals to give Canada its first gold medal at the event since 2008.

Scouts have told me his performance at the U-18s was the final deciding factor in him moving from No. 105 at the mid-term rankings to No. 61 heading into the draft.

Baptiste was a can’t-miss prospect who just took a little longer to develop. He has become a well rounded two-way player, necessary qualities to become a good pro.

Baptiste went from an underachiever to the most underrated player in the OHL Eastern Conference Coaches Poll to a player the Buffalo Sabres were thrilled was still available in the third round.

While the Sabres were thrilled, you can bet the Wolves and their fans are ecstatic about the prospects of what Baptiste will bring to the team in the fall after getting some NHL training camp experience.

So, was June 30 just another day? Hardly.

Stew Kernan is the radio and television voice of the Sudbury Wolves, and the news director at EZ Rock and Q92.