The North Bay Battalion is off to a great start. The team has only lost 3 times during regulation play in 11 games and part of their success is due to the contribution they've received from number 3.
Kyle Wood, who was a third round draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche has been experiencing a great start to this season compared to his last.
The 6'5", 217 pound blueliner has accumulated 4 goals this season already, compared to the 2 goals he scored all of last season.
Wood acknowledged the rough start he had last year due to a training camp injury, but was thrilled with how everything worked out.
“Going into main camp last year, I was really excited. Coach wanted me to become one of the top players for our team,” said Wood
“It was definitely heart breaking getting injured and realizing that you're going to be missing the first half of the season. But then coming back and having a long playoff run definitely helped my stock in the NHL draft and got me to where we're at at. It was definitely a great year for me, my teammates and the city of North Bay,” said Wood prior to Battalion practice Tuesday.
The good news did not stop there for the Battalion defenceman.
Wood along with Nick Paul were 2 of the 32 players in the OHL who were selected to play against the Russian National Junior team in the upcoming Subway Super series.
Although Wood did not get an invite to Canada's World Juniors summer development camp like Paul, he is still optimistic that he can be wearing the "Maple Leaf" at the World Juniors this holday season.
“One of my goals is to get invited to that camp. It would be a big honour,” said Wood.
“I know I need to focus on the team and keep working on my game. The Super Series is obviously very important too because of all the scouts that go the game from Team Canada. I'm just going to play my best and play the way that I can.”
Wood may be considered a Team Canada longshot but there has been incidents where players, who weren't invited to the summer development camp have been able to represent Canada at the World Juniors due to their continued success throughout the first half of the season.
For Kyle Wood to reach the next level, he knows he has work to do and he wants to focus on both sides of his game.
“I've been focused a lot on the offence over the summer,” said Wood.
“Now I think I need to focus on the defensive side of the game. I want to play the way on the penalty kill like I do on the power play and just help out the team that way as well.”
You can catch Kyle Wood and the rest of the troops in action on Thursday at the Memorial Gardens as they host Jordan Subban and the Belleville Bulls. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. at Memorial Gardens.
Photo of Kyle Wood celebrating a goal on September 27th at the Gardens. PHOTO BY TOM MARTINEAU
