It’s official - Bastien not coming back

Yves Bastien (far right) talks with former Skyhawks teammates Dustin McCrank (far left) and Chris Abbey at the Eurocamp hockey school. Bastien officially became a member of the Kitchener Rangers last Friday. Photo by Chris Dawson.

If you want to see Yves Bastien on North Bay ice, you better hurry up, because the last two days of the Eurocamp hockey school this week will be the last few times he will be playing hockey in North Bay.

The 16 year old Dowling, Ontario native who registered 25 goals and 21 assists last season as an underage with the Skyhawks officially signed with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers on July 22nd. The OHL club drafted Bastien in the second round of the OHL Midget Draft (38th overall) back in May.

“I ended up going up to Ottawa and met my agent that’s where he had the contract and he got me to sign it, and I’m just very happy to sign,” Bastien said about his trip to the Nation’s Capital where the deal was inked on July 22nd.

“It’s too bad I won’t be in North Bay, I had a great year last year but I’m just happy I can go on to the next step and play in the OHL.”

Bastien has been working out 6 days a week in preparation for his first OHL season. He already has gained almost 10 pounds of muscle during the off-season. He say’s he’ll be going to Ranger training camp in August with an open mind and a positive attitude.

“You never know, hard work will pretty much bring everything, you work hard you are going to get to play, you slack off you don’t get to play, I’ll just go in there with a positive attitude and hopefully come out with a lot of ice time,” Bastien said.