The University of Maine hockey program has received a verbal commitment from one of the goalies for the United States National Team Development Program’s Under-18 squad.

Jimmy Howard, a 6-foot-1, 204-pound native of Ogdensburg, N.Y., has chosen Maine over Michigan State, Boston University and Clarkson.

“Orono reminded me of my hometown in New York,” said Howard, who began the season with the NTDP’s U-17 team. “Maine wasn’t too big of a campus and it wasn’t too small. It was just perfect for me.”

The fact Maine will graduate both of its goalies, Matt Yeats and Mike Morrison, was another prominent factor in his decision.

“I wanted a chance to play as a freshman next year,” said Howard who added that he had a “great visit” to Maine recently.

“I liked the players and the coaches. They were very nice people,” said the 17-year-old Howard.

Howard was 6-3 with a 3.64 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage for the Under-17s before being called up to the U-18s where he is 1-1-1 with a 1.68 GAA and a .914 save percentage.

Howard was named the MVP of the Colby/Bowdoin Faceoff Classic over the weekend, making 28 stops in a 2-2 tie with Colby and combining with Kevin Regan to make 10 in an 8-0 win over Bowdoin.

“Jimmy has the ability to be very square to the puck and he doesn’t seem to panic when a shooter is coming in on him. He has the ability to handle the puck as well,” said U-18 head coach Mike Eaves. “He has good size and he is a very hard worker. He’s very coachable. He understands what needs to be done away from the rink conditioning-wise.

“He’s a butterfly-style goalie. As sound as he is fundamentally, he also has the ability to make the big save. That’s a nice combination to have. He’ll stop the ones he should and three of the five he shouldn’t,” added Eaves.

Maine does have a redshirt goalie in Frank Doyle Jr. who will be eligible next year but will probably have to miss the first five games because he played Major Junior hockey for Sarnia in the Ontario Hockey League when he was 17. Doyle transferred from the University of Guelph in Ontario.

Howard is a teammate of Lisbon’s Greg Moore, a right winger who signed a letter of intent to attend Maine.

The former St. Dom’s of Lewiston star has three goals and eight assists in 21 games for the U-18 team after racking up eight goals and 12 assists for the U-17 team a year ago.

“Greg has great energy along with speed and size,” said Eaves. “He works at the little things. You may not notice him on the scoresheet but when you watch the videotape, he does so many little things well. He’s a quality kid. He’ll be a good Bear.”