For one day, Dave Cameron did not mind a break from the hectic life that is the NHL playoffs.
Cameron is an employee of Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, who also has the Binghamton Senators of the American Hockey League and the St. Michael's Majors of the Ontario Hockey League in his stable.
After three seasons as coach of Binghamton, Cameron last week was named general manager and coach of the Majors, a club he guided from 2000-04. Cameron has been leading the Senators' taxi squad through workouts during the playoffs and was scheduled to return to Ottawa today. He will resume his Majors duties full-time when the Senators' season finishes.
Cameron was at St. Michael's Arena yesterday, putting the first touches on a rebuilding phase as he oversaw the Majors' picks in the OHL draft.
"I'm excited as hell," Cameron said. "It's going to be a big challenge, (because) I'm not sure what we have for a team next year. But I don't look at this as a re-birth. I'm looking at this as coming back to a good organization that is changing buildings and we will go from there."
The Majors are slated to move to the Hershey Centre in Mississauga next season once the league's board of governors approves a move by the IceDogs to St. Catharines. That is expected to happen at an OHL board meeting in the first week of June.
Cameron has another solid junior hockey man, Jim Hulton, as his assistant and yesterday selected centre Casey Cizikas with the third pick overall.
Cizikas is a Mississauga native who had 106 points (46 goals and 60 assists) in 77 games for the IceDogs minor midgets last season. He has been compared to former junior standout Mike Richards, who plays for the Philadelphia Flyers.
"I'm really looking forward to learning a lot with the Majors," Cizikas said. "I have to get better at some of the defensive aspects, but I work hard."
The Erie Otters picked centre Ryan O'Reilly first, followed by the Windsor Spitfires who took centre Taylor Hall. After Cizikas, the Peterborough Petes went with right winger Zack Kassian.
With the fifth pick, the Brampton Battalion took centre Matt Duchene, who has made a verbal commitment to Michigan State.
"We think our chances are good (of getting Duchene to report) as long as we can meet the academic requirements of the family," Battalion director of hockey operations Stan Butler said.
