Draft day will do that to a kid, though. It’s not your typical day.

Indeed, the Ontario Hockey League’s priority selection process is a life-altering experience geared primarily at the top 300 minor midget hockey players in the drafting area.

“It was a very exciting day, probably the best day I’ve ever had,” claimed Gregg Sutch, whose day got off to a rousing start when he was selected 11th by the Sarnia Sting in Saturday’s Ontario Hockey League priority draft. “Just so much happened in one day.

“I didn’t get much sleep the night before and I was up at 6:30 to get ready for the draft. I was just hoping to go as early as possible and to a team suitable for me.”

Sutch, a six-foot, two-inch, 185-pound forward, was the top pick among eight members of the York Simcoe Express minor midget team taken by the OHL’s 20 teams over 15 rounds.

The draft was extra sweet for Sutch as his good friend Shayne Rover was one of two Express defencemen chosen in the second round by the Niagara Ice Dogs. Sutch and Rover, picked 34th, are the only two members of the Express  team to have played their entire rep hockey careers with the team, a span of eight seasons. The Newmarket residents also played a season together in the Newmarket Minor Hockey Association.

Also among the Express players chosen was defenceman Tyler Mort, also a second-rounder picked 24th overall bythe Kingston Frontenacs.

“It was amazing, that’s the only word I can think of to describe it,” said Rover, a Grade 10 student at Huron Heights Secondary School in Newmarket, who, along with his dad, Al, drove to St. Catharines to meet up with team officials, players and the media. “It was a cool experience. I think St. Catharines is a perfect fit for me.”An honour roll student, Rover was intent on playing on one of the 18 Ontario-based teams. He, too, was up bright and early — 6 a.m. — before settling in front of his computer to track on-line proceedings

“I wanted the OHL route more than anything,” said Rover, a six-foot, two-inch, 195-pound defenceman who posted a little over a point per game during the playoffs for the York Simcoe squad. “I was only thinking of the other route if things went really wrong.”

Turns out they didn’t.

Sutch, who had 52 goals among 81 points in 69 games this season for the Express, was thrilled with the prospect of playing in Sarnia.

“Sarnia is a real big hockey town,” said Sutch, who attends Dr. Denison Secondary School in Newmarket. “I could tell that right off the bat. It sounds like a real tight-knit community and I’m looking forward to being part of that environment.

“It was overwhelming. (General manager) Al Millar called me and I had a couple of interviews. I’m very happy.

“I kinda thought maybe Ottawa although we knew it was getting changed the night before,” he said.

“But we really didn’t know nothing until the 11th pick came.”

Sooner or later, it is inevitable the buddies will square off for the first time in their careers.

“He’s a good player and always has been,” said Rover. “It’ll be different going against him, I guess it’ll be like practice all these years. It’ll be weird not playing on the same team.”

Sutch, who wears hearing aids in both ears to compensate for severe to profound hearing loss, said the handicap is something he turned into his favour.

“I use it as a motivator, that even though I don’t have the greatest hearing ... I thrive on it,” he said.

“I think it helps me see the ice better because I’m not hearing all the things going on. I think it helps me improve my game.”

Meanwhile, the Owen Sound Attack loaded up on Express players, selecting forwards Chris Brown (six-foot, one-inch, 165 pounds) and Daniel Zweep (six-foot, four-inch 230 pounds) in the third and fifth rounds, respectively, along with defenceman Matt Dineen in the 11th round.

Rounding out the Express players selected were forward Matt Harrison, an eighth-round pick of the Belleville Bulls, while Sarnia grabbed Brett Vickers in the 12th round.

Others with local connections taken were Newmarket’s Alex Guptill by the Brampton Batallion in the sixth round, St. Andrew’s College Saints’ left winger Connor MacLeod by the Erie Otters, and forward Darren Archibald, a former member of the Express, chosen by the Barrie Colts, both in the seventh round.