The Laval Rocket announced they have signed University of Ottawa forwards Anthony Poulin, Bradley Chenier and Charles-Antoine Roy as well as defenseman Brendon Clavelle to Amateur Tryouts (ATO).
All four players helped the uOttawa Gee-Gees capture the first University Cup in school history in March.
The Gee-Gees entered the tournament as the 8th seed before beating #1 University of New Brunswick, #4 Toronto Metro University, and #3 Concordia University on the way to the national title.
Each player just completed their fourth USports seasons.
Poulin captained the Gee-Gees for the past three seasons and recorded three goals and 14 points in 26 games this season. He added two assists in three games at the University Cup.
He played parts of five QMJHL seasons with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and Victoriaville Tigres, captaining the Tigres in 2019-20.
Chenier led uOttawa in goals with 13 and added seven assists in 28 games. He tied the team-lead with two goals in three University Cup games.
The 26-year-old played 263 career OHL games with the North Bay Battalion and Sudbury Wolves.
Roy notched six goals and nine points in 19 USports games this season before adding four assists in three games at the University Cup.
The 26-year-old played parts of four QMJHL seasons with the Sherbrooke Phoenix and Gatineau Olympiques, where he served as captain in 2019-20.
Clavelle had three goals and 13 points in 27 games for the Gee-Gees, picking up one assist on the way to uOttawa's national title.
He played three seasons with the QMJHL's Charlottetown Islanders and served as captain in 2019-20.
The Rocket officially won the Macgregor Kilpatrick trophy as the top seed in the AHL last night and are resting six regular skaters for tonight's game against the Belleville Senators.
With Laval's ECHL affiliate Trois-Rivieres Lions in the midst of their first-round playoff series this is a way for the Rocket to ice a roster without taking players out of the Lions' lineup.
It is great to see USports representation in the AHL and hopefully this leads to more opportunities for Canadian University players across the professional ranks.
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