Sean Romeo, a former Ohio State men’s hockey goalie and Blue Jackets development camp invitee, has died at 31.
Ohio State announced that Romeo suffered a stroke on October 15 and passed away on Saturday. The school also said, "Romeo was an organ donor, donating his heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys to give others a second chance at life."
Romeo spent three seasons with the Buckeyes from 2016-19 and left behind a decorated run both on the ice and in the classroom. He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance in spring 2019, helped Ohio State reach the 2018 NCAA Frozen Four and the 2019 Big Ten Championship, and collected the NCAA Elite 90 Award for posting the highest grade-point average among student-athletes at the 2018 Frozen Four. He was also a Senior CLASS Award Top 15 candidate in 2019, a three-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete, and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
His path to Columbus included two years at Maine, followed by a transfer to Ohio State. After sitting out the 2016-17 season under the NCAA transfer rules in place at the time, Romeo broke through in a big way.
He earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors and became the first Buckeye ever named a Mike Richter Award semifinalist. He was also the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Midwest Regional after helping Ohio State reach its first NCAA semifinal since 1998.
Romeo’s résumé only grew from there. A seven-time Big Ten Star of the Week, he set the school’s shutout streak record at 204:27 in November 2018 and became the first goalie in program history to post shutouts in three straight starts.
He finished his Ohio State career fourth in program history in goals-against average at 2.22, tied for fourth in save percentage at .919, and tied for fifth with five shutouts. His 22 wins in 2018 are tied for second-most in a single season in school history, and that year he posted a 2.06 goals-against average and .927 save percentage, both good for fourth all-time at Ohio State.
In two seasons with the Buckeyes, Romeo went 30-17-7.
THN-Columbus sent its condolences to the Romeo family.
The Blue Jackets are on the road Tuesday night to face the Philadelphia Flyers.
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