The Surrey Eagles are proud to announce that 19-year-old Jacob Dupont of Phillips Exeter Academy has committed to play for the team in 2016-2017.
Dupont is a skilled defenceman, who is listed at 6 feet, 185 pounds. Although he attended an American school, Dupont is Canadian, hailing from Waterloo, Quebec – which is east of Montreal. He made a very big impression on the coaching staff at Eagles spring camp, which was held April 15th to 17th.
Head coach and general manager Blaine Neufeld was extremely pleased with what he saw.
“He is head and shoulders above a lot of other players his age that are looking to come to the BCHL. I absolutely love his skating. It’s near a professional standard. We will be able to utilize him in key situations because of the bigger ice surface that we play on.”
Although Dupont drew interest from multiple BCHL teams, coming to Surrey was an easy choice for him to make.
“Surrey has beautiful scenery and a lot of things to do,” praised Dupont, in an interview with SurreyEagles.ca.
“I didn’t want to be in a smaller city in the middle of nowhere. I like the city life and Surrey can provide that for me. I really enjoy the view of the water and the climate is a lot nicer than in Montreal in the winter!”
On top of his skating ability, Dupont sees his offensive mindset as another plus to his game. He possesses a powerful shot, and is a confident puck-mover, who is able to exit the defensive zone quickly.
“Our staff feel like he’s a player that has a lot of potential. Personally, he reminds me of [former Eagles defenceman] Devon Toews,” said Neufeld.
Dupont believes that he can contribute to a winning cause in his first season in the BCHL, and the Eagles are very excited that he has decided to bring his talent to the west coast.
“I want to be a leader on and off the ice for my team. I work hard and always try to lead by example with a positive attitude. My main goal is to win.”
