John Poapst of the Brockville Braves (Central Junior Hockey League) recently
signed a letter of intent with St. Lawrence University.  John continues the
tradition of Brockville Braves defencemen who have played at SLU and become
impact players.  Former Braves defencemen who have played at SLU include Mike
McCourt (last year's captain - now with team Canada), Rob White, Hank Lammens
(former world Finn sailing champion), and Randy Sexton (current GM of the
NHL's Ottawa Senators).
 
John will provide SLU with offence from his defence position.  He has great
speed, a good shot and is certainly willing to take the body.  IMHO, SLU has
signed the best defencemen in the CJHL.  SLU can count on big things from John
in the future.
 
SLU's gain may very well be Merrimack's loss.  I know John was interested in
MC as well as SLU, but it seems SLU was much more determined to sign him.
As a MC fan I was hoping he might take up their uniform since they will be
losing Barry Cornforth (another former Brockville Brave defencemen) after this
year.  John's offensive skills could have been a big benefit to MC for the
next several years, however, c'est la vie.
 
Bob Viola, Brockville, Ontario