Spitfires' DiPietro has his parents rooting for him at the rink
'It's really fun to come to the rink to watch him play'
There's one fan Windsor Spitfires goalie Michael DiPietro hears above everyone else when he's in the crease at the WFCU Centre — his mom, Assunta Fenty-DiPietro.
Michael, 16, is in his first season in the Ontario Hockey League, playing for the Spitfires. Since the arena is only a 40-minute drive from his family's home in Amherstburg, Ont., he's sure to have at least two fans at every game.
"It's really fun to come to the rink and watch him play," said Vic DiPietro, Michael's dad. "It's up and downs, peaks and valleys. My wife, she goes through an emotional roller-coaster, but she hangs in there, she's getting better."
Michael is a rookie but he's already making waves in the major-junior hockey world. He's won 14 out of his 24 games played for the Spitfires and donned a Team Canada sweater for an U-17 tournament. Ultimately his goal is to play in the NHL.
Family in the stands
He says looking into the stands and seeing his family there has been part of his life since he started playing.
"Even before I was playing for the Spitfires, in [minor hockey], I could hear her in the stands screaming and I knew it wouldn't change when I moved to the next level," Michael said. "It'll probably get worse. I know my mom cares, I know she loves me."
Assunta Fenty-DiPietro is partly the reason why he became a goalie in the first place.
Michael's birth mom died when he was little. Fenty-DiPietro came into Michael's life about eight years ago when she married Vic DiPietro. After Michael saw her son Mark Fenty play, he was hooked.
"He just loved the idea of how one save could turn the game around. Ever since then he took off with it," Vic DiPietro said.
Michael still remembers the moment he fell in love with the position. It happened while watching his brother make a breakaway save with seven minutes to go in the second period of a youth house-league game.
"It's a unique position. It's unlike any other on the ice," Michael said. "Obviously you're part of a team but I feel the pressure on you is a little bit more than other players because when you screw up, the whole arena sees. When a forward or defenceman screw up, it's minor. Nobody really sees it."
Playing close to home
Though the Spitfires arena isn't too far from the family home, Michael is living with a billet family in nearby Tecumseh. His family is still close though.
"I really think he needs this for his independence," Vic DiPietro said. "At the beginning of this we had a little laugh. I told him you've got the greatest thing in the world, I'm only 40 minutes away. And you've got the worst thing in the world, I'm only 40 minutes away."
