Knight vision
Goalie helps Team USA barrel past Canada for world title
The barrel is important. Not as important as the gold medals hanging around the neck of the goaltender from Darien and his American teammates — yet still important.
The barrel helped deliver a focused message, helped inspire, was misconstrued as a slight to another nation and, ultimately, helped Spencer Knight lead Team
USA to the world junior ice hockey championship in Edmonton, Alberta.
“One of the people on our staff, not a player, legit ordered a barrel on like Amazon and got it shipped to our hotel,” Knight said Tuesday. “A brand-new barrel; it came in and our team doctor was walking around the lobby with this ginormous box. Everybody’s like, what the heck does this guy have?” He had the barrel. “Each morning,” Knight said, “we’d get this newsletter, with quotes and updates, and one of the first ones right before the start of the tournament was the story of crossing the Sahara Desert.”
After Knight had stopped 34 shots in the 2-0 victory over heavily favored Canada last week for the Americans’ first world junior title since 2017, coach Nate Leaman explained the story in the postgame news conference. Ron Rolston had told it when Leaman was an assistant at the 2007 tournament:
Deep in Algeria, there’s a flat, remote area called the Tanezrouft of more than 500 miles with no water, no grass, nothing except sand that shifts to cover up
“The decision-making process has been something consistent with our philosophy for the entire year, prioritizing the health and safety of our studentathletes,” Amistad athletic director Jay Fellows said.
Amistad’s sports not being held include both boys and girls basketball, indoor track and field and competitive cheer, the latter also not being allowed for any CIAC school due to the sport being in the high-risk category.
Fellows also said that there will be no afterschool activities being held by the school, which includes clubs.
“We all wish it was a more normal season and a more normal world. We wish it was 2019 and we were on our way to Mohegan,” said Fellows, referring to Amistad’s trip to the Division III boys basketball state championship game at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville.
A message for Bridgeport superintendent Michael Testani was not returned Tuesday. Bridgeport opted out of fall football and girls
volleyball in August.
The CIAC Board of Control is set to meet Thursday morning. At Tuesday night’s virtual meeting of the East Haven Board of Education, superintendent Erica Forti said she expects the board to delay the start of winter practice from Jan. 19.
East Haven principal Vincent DeNuzzo will suggest a Feb. 1 date to the Board of Control, athletic director Anthony Verderame told the board of education, and even with a Jan. 19 start, East Haven would prefer non-contact, small-cohort (or virtual for a week, Forti said) conditioning to start.
“There’s going to be a completely different response from every school district in every town,” Verderame said. “There are several athletic directors I spoke to today whose superintendents will not allow them to participate in winter sports. There are several athletic directors who will not play against red towns.
“Right now what the CIAC did was, they’re having a meeting Thursday and expect us to implement on Monday. I don’t see the feasibility of that,” he said
later in the meeting. “Can we do this? Yes, we can. (Head athletic trainer and Board of Control member) Marc Aceto and myself have been preparing with the coaches. We are ready to go on the 19th. However, we don’t see the actual feasibility in that in regards to working with the health department, the board of education and the superintendent.”
The status of the indoor track season is yet to be clarified.
Two coaches, including one on the CIAC Indoor Track Committee, said they were uncertain of the status of indoor track. The CIAC’s Winter Sports Update document indicates a proposal to postpone the indoor track season.
A meeting was scheduled on Tuesday night for the CIAC Indoor Track Committee.
“The draft of the CIAC document is confusing in regards to indoor track,” Fitch coach Rich Kosta said. “We have a CIAC Indoor Track Committee tonight (Tuesday) with CIAC staff. It is my hope that I get more clarification on the status of the indoor track season. At this time I have no comment until I get some clarification from CIAC.”
Wilbur Cross indoor track coach Travis Gale is hopeful the indoor track season will go on as planned.
“I saw the word postponement for indoor track in the CIAC’s (Winter Sports Update) document,” Gale said, “I am going to wait until after they meet to talk more about it, because the DPH could overturn things as well.”
Verderame said co-ops could be an issue for some health departments or school systems; East Haven has co-op teams in boys swimming and hockey. A couple of longtime hockey co-ops are already not expected to participate this season.
“The CIAC’s proposal, while I honestly don’t agree with it, we will be abiding by it,” Verderame said, mentioning not allowing wrestling while allowing basketball. “Whatever they decide, we will bring to our health department and to the board of education.”