MONCTON — Some, including the QMJHL’s
chief scout, thought Cole Hawes could be a first-round pick on Saturday.
But the Tangier native waited
through the first round of the draft with his family at Moncton Coliseum
and didn’t have any luck. Then he waited another round. And another.
And part of another, before
the Shawinigan Cataractes couldn’t wait any longer and traded up for
the 62nd overall pick and selected the Dartmouth Subways sniper.
Was it a tough wait to the
fourth round?
“It was tough on the bum,
but other than that, it was worth the wait,” said Hawes, who was Central
Scouting’s top-ranked Nova Scotian in the draft by a country mile.
Hawes was the fourth Nova Scotian
drafted, going after goalie Jordan Kennedy of Reserve Mines (27th, Lewiston),
defenceman Stephen Woodworth of Middleton (58th, Lewiston) and blue-liner
Ian Saab of Cole Harbour (59th, Cape Breton).
The 5-foot-10, 162-pound centre
is known for his soft hands and willingness to go into traffic to score
goals. He potted 21 goals among 27 points in 35 games last season.
The Cataractes had been trying
desperately since the second round to get a pick to draft Hawes. They
had their third-rounder earmarked for defenceman Anthony Goulet.
“He slipped a lot,” said
Cataractes GM Martin Mondou. “We think we’re lucky. We paid some
good picks next year (third- and fifth-rounders) but he’s worth the
price. He just has to come to camp and show us we made a good decision.”
The Cataractes went to the
Q final last season and are expected to be a good team again in 2009-10.
Hawes said he hopes he can step in and prove he should have been picked
higher.
“All I can do is go to training
camp, work a little harder, come in and show everyone else (what they
missed),” said Hawes, whose brother, Tyler, played five seasons in
the Q.
“I’m just happy to be in
Shawinigan.”
For a complete list of Nova
Scotians selected and further analysis, visit Matthew Wuest’s Q Files
blog.
