Notre Dame receives commitment from Youth Olympics gold medalist

The interesting this about talented amateur hockey players is that they’re seemingly playing for a different team all the time. One of many example of that is AJ Garcia, who is fresh off winning a championship with the Chicago Mission and a gold medal with the U.S. at this year’s Youth Winter Olympics. Now, we know he’ll be heading to Notre Dame in the distant future:

Being that Garcia, a native of Romeoville, Illinois, only is 16, it will be a while before we see him in South Bend. Still, the fact that his next campaign will be with the U.S. National Team Development Program speaks volumes as to how much potential he has. Irish fans have reason to be excited about him.

Elsewhere in Irish hockey, the program has hired former Sacred Heart director of hockey operations Jessica Thibault to the same role. The hire was announced by Jeff Jackson, who will retire as Irish coach after the upcoming season in favor of Brock Sheahan.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89