Soo Eagles forward to RPI
Sam Rappaport is moving on from the Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League for prestigious Rensselaer Polytenchic Institute, a Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association school.
A 1996 birth-year forward who stands in at 5-foot-10 and weighs 170 pounds, Rappaport produced 8 goals, 16 assists, 24 points in 47 games for the Eagles during the 2015-2016 season NOJHL season.
Rapport, who will study civil engineering at RPI, said he will attempt to make the roster of the hockey Engineers as a freshman walk-on or as a redshirt.
“I have been told that I will get a fair shot to make the team as the 16th forward,” Rappaport told HockeyNewsNorth.com.
Rappport credited both Eagles co-coach/general manager Bruno Bragagnolo and family advisor David Maciuk for contacting the RPI hockey staff on his behalf.
He called his one season in the NOJHL “a great experience.
“I got to play at Pullar Stadium and in a lot of cool, old northern Ontario rinks. The NOJHL is a good physical league,” added Rappaport, who hails from Basalt, Colorado.
Bragagnolo, meanwhile, wished his former player well and paid tribute to him.
“I am sure Sam will make the most of the opportunity ahead of him,” Bragagnolo told HockeyNewsNorth.com. “He’s got a great work ethic, great compete and skill level and is absolutely fearless. We will miss him.”
Of note, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario native Cam Hackett is about to enter his second season at RPI as a standout sophomore goalie.