67’s land ‘great’ goalie DiPietro from Spits
Mikey “don’t call me Michael” DiPietro stole the show as a 17-year-old at the 2017 Memorial Cup at home in Windsor.
The Ottawa 67’s are betting the Ontario Hockey League’s top netminder can do it again in May in Halifax.
The surging 67’s went all-in for 2018-19 on Tuesday, pulling off one of the biggest trades in franchise history for the expected starter for the Canadian team in the next world junior hockey championship in Vancouver and Victoria. He was a third-round pick (64th overall) by the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks in 2017.
“He’s a big-game player who thrives under pressure,” said 67’s general manager James Boyd, who spent an exhausting couple of weeks trying to clinch the deal with Spitfires counterpart Warren Rychel, a former 67’s captain. “He’s been there and done that. He also further adds to our leadership group.
“He is a super-high-character individual and, as a player, he’s a super talent. What sets him apart from the rest is the second and third efforts he will give to make the save.
“He gives us the opportunity to win every night. I mean we were doing that already, but we’ve been after him since September and this deal has consumed me since this deal started gaining traction.”
The 67’s have made big trades in previous seasons. They traded for the rights to Jim Fox, Michael Peca and John McFarland. They have traded away Gary Roberts, Travis Konecny and Cody Ceci.
But never have they traded for a player regarded as the best at his position, arguably, in all of major-junior hockey.
They did it without touching a roster that has won 19 of the past 23 games and hasn’t lost in regulation time for more than two months while racing to the top of the OHL’s overall standings. The 67’s (22-3-3-1) hold a 12-point lead on the rest of the Eastern Conference.
They did have to give up a lot, however, to pry DiPietro away from home for the first time — he grew up near Windsor in Amherstburg — including the Spitfires’ fourth-round pick in 2020 and the Kingston Frontenacs’ second-round choice in 2024.
The 67’s parted with the rights to Russian forward Egor Afanasyev, currently with Muskegon of the United States Junior League, four second-round choices plus another second-rounder and two thirds that will be returned if Afanasyev ever plays for the Spitfires.
“The coach in me says ‘great player,’ the VP hockey ops in me says ‘great trade,’” 67’s head coach André Tourigny said. “Our players need to know we’re pushing for them and really believe in them. This trade is kind of a reward for all they have done to this point.
“I don’t know the kid, but I know everything about him. We made this trade because we believe in him. I did not have to watch him. I know he’s the best.”
That’s just it. Ask just about anyone around junior hockey to name the best goalie and DiPietro is the one they mention.
Spitfires co-owners Rychel and Bob Boughner wanted to give DiPietro one last chance at a championship, so they put the goalie on the market as far back as training camp.
The asking price was always said to be too high and the market for a top-flight goaltender too small, though, so Rychel waited until he finally got what he wanted. The deal with the 67’s was struck after talks heated up late Sunday and continued late into the night Monday; the paperwork was completed Tuesday.
It’s believed the 67’s had to outbid the London Knights, who are favoured to win the Western Conference title and are the only team within striking distance of the 67’s so far this season.
“Warren phoned (Monday) night and he told me he had a trade lined up,” DiPietro told the Windsor Star. “He didn’t want to tell me who. He wanted to come face-to-face. He came to my house in Amherstburg. I was having dinner at the time with my family, and he broke the news.”
DiPietro’s appetite disappeared with the news.
“My heart sank,” he said. “Pit in my stomach. I completely lost my appetite. I’ve barely ate since (Monday). It’s just a weird feeling. Windsor’s home and the Spitfires are home to me and it’s all ending now.”
DiPietro, who signed a threeyear NHL entry-level contract with the Canucks last May, has OHL statistics that are nothing if not staggering.
Now in his fourth season, he has a career win-loss mark of 86-49-85 with a 2.52 goals-against average, a save percentage of .914 and 16 shutouts.
This season, with the Spitfires just one game over .500, he has career bests in goals-against average (2.32) and save percentage through 21 starts.
67’s fans might not see much of their biggest acquisition in many years for a while, however.
The 67’s have an away-andhome set against the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this Friday and Saturday, then a home game against the Peterborough Petes on Sunday, but then comes a likely obligation for DiPietro with Canada’s team in the upcoming world junior hockey championship.
DiPietro was named to the Team Canada training camp squad on Monday It’s hard to imagine he won’t make the team and, with the world championship running Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Vancouver and Victoria, the 67’s likely won’t see him again until a Jan. 11-13 road trip to Sarnia, London and Guelph.
The 67’s were already solid in goal with 18-year-old Cédrick Andrée, who is fifth in the league with a goal-against average of 2.56 in 23 starts, and rookie Will Cranley.
Even so, this was a deal they couldn’t pass up, not when the goal is an OHL championship and a trip to the Memorial Cup.
“If we don’t get a goalie of his calibre, we don’t make the deal,” Tourigny said. “Ceddy (Andrée) understands. And we now have the best goaltending tandem in all of Canadian junior hockey.”