Nesconset's O'Gara drafted by Bruins

Rob O'Gara had grown tired of watching his Internet browser refresh as the fifth round of the NHL draft was nearing its end. Finally, it happened: His name flashed across the screen.

O'Gara was selected with the 151st overall pick by the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins on Saturday, making a dream come true for the 17-year-old defenseman from Nesconset.

"It was just surreal," he said. "It almost felt like I had won the New England championships or the Stanley Cup."

The 6-3, 185-pound O'Gara recently finished his junior season at Milton Academy, outside Boston, where he was a key piece for the Mustangs' team that won its first New England Prep School Ice Hockey Association championship. He has given a verbal commitment to play college hockey at Yale, which he plans to attend.

Hockey prospects can be drafted in high school, play in college, and still remain under a professional team's control. O'Gara will participate in the Bruins' annual development camp in Boston, starting next week.

"Oh my God, yeah," O'Gara said when asked if he was excited about the camp. "It should be quite an experience."

O'Gara said he grew up aspiring to play for the Islanders. He said his father, Brian, is a longtime Islanders fan who rooted for the team when they won four consecutive Stanley Cups in the early 1980s, and raised Rob with the same passion.

After starting to play hockey at age 4, O'Gara said he developed his game with the midget teams for the Long Island Royals, a youth hockey club in Kings Park, and was a star for Smithtown until opting to attend Milton last fall. Before the season started, he said he played for the Junior Bruins, a junior hockey program in Marlborough, Mass., which helped get him noticed by pro scouts.

"He's a big boy. He's a good skater,'' Bruins assistant general manager Jim Benning said. "He's going to be a guy that keeps developing.''

Before the draft, O'Gara said he'd heard of interest from nine or 10 teams. But he still was relieved to finally see his name on the refreshed screen of his computer last Saturday.

"Coming into the day, I had an idea that I might be picked in the fifth or sixth round," O'Gara said. "It's just a tremendous honor."