Spitfires’ DiPietro is off to hockey worlds
Spitfires’ goaltender off to hockey worlds in Denmark, a rare honour for a teenager
Less than five months ago, Windsor Spitfires goalie Mikey DiPietro was unable to crack Canada’s world junior hockey team roster. On Friday, DiPietro stepped up a level and was named to the Canadian men’s roster for the 2018 IIHF World Hockey Championships, which begins Friday in Denmark. “It’s already in the past, but it is funny,” DiPietro said. “Cut from the world junior team, but I get invited here. I’m super excited to get the invite.”
It’s rare for Hockey Canada to bring a junior hockey player to the world championship and even more unusual for it to be an 18-year-old goaltender. “This is a first, they said,” said DiPietro, who was a third-round pick by the Vancouver Canucks in last year’s NHL Draft.
“I wasn’t expecting it.” Vice-president of hockey operations Scott Salmond called to tell him, but he got a heads-up from Spitfires general manager Warren Rychel.
“He told me, like, three times and I didn’t answer,” said DiPietro, who also got a congratulatory message from Martin Brodeur.
“It’s an unbelievable experience to get a chance to represent your country.”
Until Friday, there was only one goaltender on Canada’s roster in Arizona’s Darcy Kuemper, but Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Curtis McElhinney announced he was also added to the roster.
“I think the plan was to add another professional goalie and have me practise in the morning with the guys and the goalie coach,” DiPietro said.
While he did not make the roster for Canada’s world junior team this past season, many expect DiPietro to be a strong contender to be the starter next season.
This will give him a chance to see how Hockey Canada operates and expectations when playing for a national team. DiPietro, who is from Amherstburg, will have some familiar faces on the team with Spitfires president and Florida Panthers head coach Bob Boughner serving as an assistant coach. Former Spitfires forward Josh Bailey is on the Canadian roster along with Belle River defenceman Aaron Ekblad. Former NHL goalie Sean Burke, who is a general manager of the team with Brodeur, was also born in Windsor.
“I’m going in with an open mind and I’ll just go with the flow,” DiPietro said. “Who else can say, at 18, that they’re going to the world championships and you’re still playing junior hockey? That’s a pretty cool thing to say.” DiPietro is a finalist for the Ontario Hockey League’s goaltender of the year award after finishing third in the league with 2.79 goalsagainst average and tied for fifth in save percentage at .9.10 on a rebuilding team.
DiPietro is also Windsor’s nominee for the Red Tilson Trophy as the league’s most outstanding player of the year.
He told me, like, three times and I didn’t answer ... It’s an unbelievable experience to get a chance to represent your country.