Jim O'Brien has officially committed to the University of Minnesota for next season. O'Brien is one of the best 1989 birthdays in the US. He should be a very good player down the road, although next season might be a bit of a struggle. His skills are still very raw, but he's definitely going to be good.
Boston College has picked up two nice prospects who had considered coming out West. The first is Brainerd, Minnesota high school defenseman Carl Sneep. Sneep is a big player that both Minnesota and Wisconsin were interested in. Boston College gained an edge though when they were willing to offer more scholarship money than either the Gophers or Badgers. The situation seems remarkably similar to former Boston College defenseman Andrew Alberts, who was a Minnesotan by birth, but went to BC after the schools out West didn't show as much interest. Sneep is a talented player, but both Minnesota and Wisconsin were probably better off not committing the amount of scholarship money that Boston College was willing to commit for a player like Sneep.
The other new Eagle is US NTDP forward Ryan Hayes. Hayes was the 8th best remaining forward on the 2007 Prospects Board. Hayes is probably the best natural goal scorer in his age group and should fit in nicely with the smaller playmakers that BC has recruited lately. There were a few western schools interested in Hayes, but it's not terribly surprising that he chose to stay out east where he is originally from.
There has also been rumors flying around today about some college players leaving for the OHL.
The first is Ohio State forward Tom Fritsche. I mentioned how Fritsche was drafted by Kitchener last summer, and that possibly spelled trouble for Ohio State. It sounds as though Kitchener's Pete DeBoer, who is great at plucking kids out of college and getting them to come to the OHL, made a push for Fritsche, and after some consideration, Fritsche decided to stay with the Buckeyes.
The other player was Omaha defenseman Joe Grimaldi. Grimaldi has had a tougher season this year after a great freshmen season. His rights were traded to Windsor for conditional 14th round pick today and some speculated that he might sign with the Spitfires. I'd be very shocked if this happened though.
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Sneep story from Brainerd Dispatch:
"The 6-foot-4, 215-pound defenseman had been recruited by several other Division I colleges, including Maine, Yale and Nebraska-Omaha. Sneep canceled scheduled visits to Wisconsin and Maine after committing to the Eagles"
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