The native of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Jérémie Poirier was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the third round of the National Hockey League’s annual draft on Wednesday, October 7th .
(Photo Sea Dog of Saint John)
The long-awaited moment for the 18-year-old hockey player came in the third round (72nd pick) of the draft. Usually the prospects are on site and it all takes place every year in June. Initially, the 2020 conference was to take place at the Bell Center in Montreal. Jérémie Poirier and his family would have been there. However, with the risks associated with Covid-19, the event took place virtually. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound defenseman followed the event from his boarding house in Saint John, New Brunswick.
The 8th player from Valleyfield to be drafted
In history, only eight players born in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield have played in the National Hockey League in the past 110 years. Forward Yves Sarault was the last to skate on NHL ice in 2002 with the Nashville Predators. Martin Gendron (30 games), Mario Faubert (231 games), Pierre Plante (599 games), Jean-Claude “Tod” Campeau (42 games) Rosario “Kitoute” Joannette (2 games), Albert “Battleship” Leduc (341 games) and Didier Pitre (127 games).
An exceptional talent
There was never any doubt about the talent of Jérémie Poirier. Already at his first skates, he open some eyes. At just 5 years old, he could lift a puck into the top corner. In his 2nd season in the novice category, he was upgraded to Atom BB level, the highest level in this category. At the age of 8, he faced hockey players aged 9 and 10. Then it was the AA peewee, AA bantam and AAA bantam with the Grenadiers du Lac Saint-Louis, with which he only played one season at the age of 13.
In August 2016, aged 14, Jérémie Poirier became the first exceptional player to make the Grenadiers de Châteauguay roster in the Quebec Midget AAA League. At the end of that season, he was one of two Canadian hockey players invited to a camp of the world’s best 14-year-olds in Finland.
Drafted 8th overall by the Saint John Sea Dogs at the 2018 QMJHL draft, Jérémie had 21 points (6-15) in 61 outings at the age of 16 and 53 points (20-33) in 64 matches in its 2nd season.
