Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Two New Commitments

The Crimson Hockey Blog and Chris Heisenberg are reporting that Boston College got a verbal commitment from Bill Arnold who plays for Noble & Greenough Prep in Dedham, Massachusetts. Arnold committed for the 2011-2012 season. He repeated his freshman year last season which isn't unusual for players that go the prep route. In 29 games games last year he had 13 goals and 23 assists. He was also offered a spot to join the National Team Development Program but rumors are that he turned down the offer.

This is the second player that BC received for the 2011 season, K.J. Tiefenwerth of the Mid-Fairfield Midget team in Connecticut committed in August of 2007. It's unkown if Tiefenwerth will go to Chestnut Hill in 2010 or 2011. I saw him two years ago at a regional tournament but couldn't tell you how he plays because I didn't he know about him until he made his commitment. That Mid-Fairfield team had no problem defeating my brother's team in the regionals.

BC will have former Noble & Greenough Prep player Jimmy Hayes coming in. He was a second round selection of the Toronto Maple Leafs in this year's draft. Goalie John Muse also attended Noble & Greenough.

Jerry D'Amigo of the USA U-18 NTDP has committed to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) for the fall of 2009, according to the Crimson Hockey Blog. He had 11 goals and 17 assists in 64 contests for the Under 17 squad last year. This is the biggest recruit in the history of the school's program. The biggest name to come out of RPI is Brian Pothier of the Washington Capitals. D'Amigo has also participated in the AHL All Star Game festivities last here. Jeremy Morin also of the NTDP also participated along with Kevin Cole, and Matt Pratt both of the Binghamton Jr. Senators of the AJHL.

Speaking of Morin, he is one of five players on the U-18 team that haven't made a commitment. The other three are Bjorn Krupp (most likely OHL bound), Tyler Amburgey, and Rich Crowley, and David Valek. The Crimson Hockey Blogs says Harvard is interested in Valek.

That's My Take

(Nathan also is a writer for MVN.com. He's the writer for the Asylum which covers the Lewiston Maineiacs of the QMJHL. He's also a regular contributor to the NHL Source also at MVN.com. He can be reached at fbbhgfan@aol.com)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Although as an RPI alum I am very happy that the school received a commitment from Jerry D'Amigo, he is far from the biggest recruit in the history of the program which has won two NCAA championships. Also, there are at least three former RPI players with better NHL credentials than Brian Pothier, namely Adam Oates, Joe Juneau, and Daren Puppa.

D'Amigo is the first RPI recruit from the National Program, and I regard that as a significant accomplishment for the Engineers.