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Mississauga Steelheads

Draft Stories: Nathan Bastian

April 10, 2015 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Mississauga Steelheads News Release


The 2015 OHL Priority Selection is just a day away and we know at this point that it can be an exciting day full of nerves and pleasant surprises.

So far in our series, we've spoken to a few of the Steelheads former first round picks, but we wanted to dive a bit deeper and shed some light on the draft experience of someone who was taken outside of the first few rounds. Contrary to popular belief, those outside of the limelight, perhaps with fewer expectations, can really shine. Nathan Bastian has emerged as an important piece of Mississauga's offense in his first full season with the club. A former seventh round pick, Nathan is a proverbial "diamond in the rough."

"I was pretty nervous going into draft day, I just wanted to get drafted, didn't matter where or what round," Bastian noted. "I was pretty confident, but at the same time draft day can be pretty unpredictable and I didn't know what to expect."

Even with a quiet confidence, Bastian entered his draft day with the same emotions as many draftees, experiencing the ebbs and flows all the same. "I woke up way too early and couldn't get back to sleep. After I was drafted I missed the phone call from (James) Boyd I was so excited."

Nathan was able to share the excitement with his former Jr. Rangers teammate and fellow Kitchener native Stephen Gibson, as the two of them were taken in the seventh round by Mississauga in 2013. "I was drafted two picks after Gibby. We were on Xbox together and we couldn't believe it."

Nathan found success in his midget year with that Kitchener Jr. Rangers team. He cites his exposure to crucial games as having helped improve his ability to stand out. "I had a pretty good midget year, I was overall happy with it. I'm pretty sure what got me drafted was how well my line played in the big games in playoffs." He continued to speculate that he may have gone later than he did, "I was surprised I was taken in the 7th. I thought that if I was going to be picked it would be somewhere between (rounds) 10-15."

In many ways, Bastian enjoyed being a seventh-rounder, it allowed him the opportunity to slide under the radar and develop his game at his own pace. "I liked being a later pick, I found that there wasn't really any pressure at all. Nobody expected me to make the team or anything so going into camp I really didn't have anything to lose." When left to his own devices, Nathan has taken the reins and become a bona fide scoring threat and a well-rounded forward. His sophomore season can act as a catapult for his game to continue to progress, "It seems like I have gotten a lot better, but I still feel like I have a lot to prove in the league."

The 2015 OHL Priority Selection is presented by State Farm on Saturday, April 11th and the Steelheads hold the fourth overall selection. Nathan and the Trout will be watching closely, and you can too, by following along on Twitter using #OHLDraft or with the 2015 OHL Priority Selection show at www.ontariohockeyleague.com!

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from April 10, 2015


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