DiPietro Honored; Four on U.S. Junior Team
December 23, 1999 | Men's Ice Hockey
Terrier freshman goalie Rick DiPietro (Winthrop, Mass.) was named the outstanding player for the U.S. Junior Team in the 2-2 tie against host Sweden on Wednesday night (December 22nd) in the final exhibition game before the 2000 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships begin.
DiPietro had 29 saves in the final tune-up before the U.S. takes on the Czech Republic at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday in the U.S. team's first game in at the World Juniors. The game will be played in Skelleftea, Sweden.
The U.S. team, which is in Group A along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, and Slovakia, will play three other games before the medal round begins on January 1st.
Following Sunday morning's game against the Czech Republic, the U.S. will play Slovakia at 9:30 a.m. on December 28th, Finland at 9:30 a.m. on December 29th, and Canada at 10:00 a.m. on December 31st.
The quarterfinals will be played on January 1st with the winners advancing to the semifinal round on January 3rd . The medal games are slated for January 4th.
DiPietro, who has compiled a 7-2-1 record along with a 2.48 GAA and a .913 save percentage in his first semester with the Terriers, is one of four B.U. players on this year's U.S. Junior Team.
The others are defenseman Pat Aufiero (Winchester, Mass.), right wing John Sabo (Harding Township, NJ), and center Dan Cavanaugh (Springfield, Mass.)
Cavanaugh, who leads the Terriers in both assists (16) and points (20), was added to the team roster on Wednesday night (December 22nd) and left for Sweden to join the team the next day. He is a late addition for Michigan State's John-Michael Liles, who was injured and cannot play in the World Championships.
With these four on the Junior Team, it brings the total to 34 former Terriers who have been on that select team. Since 1984, there has been at least one Terrier on the Junior Team that has competed in the annual World Championships. Among the most notable former players are Scott Young, who was one of just 12 players to compete in three World Junior Championships, and Scott Lachance, who, like Young, was named to the All-Tournament Team. Lachance received the honor in 1991, while Young was on the 1987 All-Tournament Team.
Aufiero, Cavanaugh, DiPietro, and Sabo will miss the Terriers' two games at the Silverado Shootout hosted by the University of Minnesota-Duluth on Monday and Tuesday, December 27th and 28th.
However, the four are expected back in time for the January 8th game at Boston College.
"Certainly it leaves us very thin for the games at Duluth," noted Terrier head coach Jack Parker. "But, this is a great opportunity for the four players to compete against the top Juniors in the world.
"This will help to make them better players and help our team in the long run," concluded the coach.
