OHL North Bay Battalion

Development Camp Awaits Amadio

July 4, 2014 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - Mike Amadio is going to get an up-close look at how the Stanley Cup champions conduct their business.

The Los Angeles Kings selected Amadio, a centre with the Ontario Hockey League' s North Bay Battalion, in the third round of the National Hockey League Draft last Saturday. Los Angeles won its second Cup title in three years in June, defeating the New York Rangers in five games.

Amadio, set to leave Sunday for the Kings' development camp at the club' s practice facility in El Segundo, Calif., was one of two Battalion players chosen in the draft, tabbed six picks after the Colorado Avalanche took defenceman Kyle Wood.

"The Kings are a great organization, and that shows with two Stanley Cups in three years," Amadio said recently via telephone after returning to his Sault Ste. Marie home from Philadelphia.

"It' s going to be a really good experience going there to see how they do things and how their program works. I' ll be interested in what they have to say as far as how I can improve my game."

Amadio's selection brought an end to a nerve-wracking time at the Wells Fargo Center, home of the Philadelphia Flyers.

"It was tough sitting there with my family watching all the guys go before me and wondering when my name would be called. It's just a waiting process. You never know where or when you' re going to go."

The Kings were one of the teams which interviewed Amadio at the NHL fitness combine at Toronto in May.

"They said they were interested, so when their pick came around in the third I was hoping they'd pick me. It was a dream come true for me to hear my name called. You always dream of being an NHL player, so getting drafted was an unbelievable experience. I was really happy for Wood. It was great to see him go that high.

"The Kings told me they liked my game and they liked that I was responsible in my own end. They saw potential in my offensive game too."

Amadio scored 12 goals and earned 26 assists for 38 points in 64 games in his second season with the Battalion. He contributed nine points, including four goals, in 22 playoff games.

"I knew as we got deeper in the playoffs that there would be a ton of scouts watching all the guys who could be drafted. We were all kind of under a microscope, and it was a little nerve-wracking knowing all the teams were watching."

Said Battalion coach Stan Butler: "He had a really good season for us. For a lot of the season we expected him to play against the best centres in the league as a 17-year-old and, until we moved Nick Paul to centre, that was putting him in a tough spot. He had to play tough minutes. One thing about his points, they were all earned."

A second-round pick of the Brampton Battalion in the 2012 OHL Priority Selection, Amadio figures to be one of North Bay's offensive leaders next season in the wake of the loss of overage forwards Barclay Goodrow, Matt MacLeod and Ben Thomson.

"I definitely have to step my game up a level with those guys gone," said Amadio. "They carried us last season, and I need to step into one of those roles for the Battalion."

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