Windsor Star

DiPietro named top goalie

Evgeni Malkin, right, of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrates with Trevor Daley after scoring during the first period in Game 1 of the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Final against the Nashville Predators Monday in Pittsburgh. The Penguins won 5-3. Game story at winds

- JIM PARKER jpparker@postmedia.com twitter.com/winstarpar­ker

Defenceman Daniel Robertson never got to dress in a Memorial Cup game as a rookie when the Oshawa Generals won the title in 2015.

The Windsor native did not get a chance to play with his hometown Windsor Spitfires either in this year’s Memorial Cup run after opting to have knee surgery the day the tournament started.

Acquired from Oshawa on Jan. 10, Robertson played nine games with the Spitfires before tweaking a knee in a game against Saginaw.

“We had a game the next day against Hamilton at home and I warmed up and tried to play, but it was too painful,” the 19-year-old said.

He saw a doctor who saw a bone bruise, but also something else. After seeing an orthopedic surgeon, Robertson found out he had a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

He decided to try and strengthen the knee and returned five weeks later. He played two games, tweaked it in practice and missed another two weeks.

He got back for the final three games of the regular season and played in all seven games against London, but with the club facing a layoff of more than six weeks, he had to make a decision.

“Once we were eliminated, I had to think about whether going through hard workouts and practice and then potentiall­y tweaking it in the first game of the Memorial Cup was a good way to go, or getting surgery on it so that I would be able to come back earlier next season and play,” Robertson said.

Team officials knew of the decision, but he didn’t tell his teammates. Instead, he went through the 44-day grind leading up to the Memorial Cup.

He told teammates the day before the tournament started and had surgery on the day Windsor opened the Memorial Cup against the Saint John Sea Dogs.

He caught the final two Windsor games of the round robin and Sunday’s final as he made his way onto the ice after the game on crutches to celebrate.

It will be three months until Robertson can start skating again and six months until he can return to the ice, but he hopes to play an overage season in 2017-18.

DIPIETRO TOP GOALIE

Spitfires’ goalie Michael DiPietro won the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the Memorial Cup’s most outstandin­g goaltender.

The Amherstbur­g native was 4-0 in net with a 2.00 goals-against average and .932 save percentage.

“It means the world,” the 17-year-old said. “It’s not just me. It’s my (defence) core, the forwards and the system the coaches implement.”

DiPietro was also named to the tournament’s all-star team along with Spitfires’ forward Gabriel Vilardi and defenceman Mikhail Sergachev as well as Erie’s Alex DeBrincat, Taylor Raddysh and Darren Raddysh.

RYCHEL JOINS ELITE COMPANY

Spitfires’ general manager Warren Rychel joined an elite group with Sunday’s title.

It was Rychel’s third title, along with 2009 and 2010, and he is just the third general manager in Memorial Cup history to have three career titles, joining Oshawa’s Matt Leyden (1939, 1940 and 1944) and Kamloops’ Bob Brown (1992, 1994 and 1995).

BRACCO DOUBLES UP

Forward Jeremy Bracco, who led the Spitfires in scoring during the tournament with eight points in four games, became just the 24th player in history to win the Memorial Cup and World Junior Hockey Championsh­ip in the same year.

Windsor native Cam Fowler was the last Spitfire to accomplish that feat when he helped Windsor win the Memorial Cup title in 2010 and, like Bracco, the United States to the world junior title.

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BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES

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