Patience pays off for DiVincentiis at the NHL Draft

One of the biggest cheers inside the Bell Centre on the second day of the National Hockey League Draft came in the seventh round.
That's when the Winnipeg Jets selected goaltender Domenic DiVincentiis with the 207th overall pick.
He was ecstatic, his family was overjoyed, and so were the families sitting around him.
It made the long two days of sitting, and waiting, completely worth it.
"I was sitting there and it is, it's really something you think about in your head, that maybe this isn't going to happen this year," he said.
Sitting behind him was the family of Ty Nelson, who was a teammate of DiVincentiis' with the North Bay Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League in 2021-22. Nelson was selected in the third round by the Seattle Kraken, and after going through all the photos and stations that prospects go through once drafted, Nelson and his family got back to their seats close to DiVincentiis about five minutes before he was selected.
"They just kept whispering in my ear 'you're going to go, you're going to go.' I just kept saying 'I hope so,'" said DiVincentiis. "I'm speechless right now. I'm very honoured to be a Jet. It was a roller coaster of a couple days. It all worked out in the end. I couldn't be happier being a Winnipeg Jet."

The 18-year-old product of Bolton, Ontario didn't hesitate to thank his parents, and his grandparents for the role they played in getting him to this point.

His parents took him to games - setting numerous 6:00 am wake-up calls - and supported him, as did his grandparents.
In fact, his grandmother was a big part in DiVincentiis becoming a goaltender.
When he was a kid, he was about to come home from a skating lesson when he saw goaltenders on the ice for the first time. After his dad explained the position to him, he went home to his grandmother - who at the time lived next door.
"I asked my grandmother, 'Can you buy me goalie gear,' and she goes, 'In order for you to be a goalie and buy goalie gear, you have to be a street hockey goalie first,'" he said. "So on the street we used to have games and outdoor hockey games and stuff like that and I used to be goalie all the time for that. I fell in love with the game and the position."
It was a brilliant decision, as DiVincentiis - who had the lowest goals-against average among rookie goaltenders in the OHL this season (2.59) - is now a member of the Winnipeg Jets.
His season impressed Mark Hillier, the Director of Amateur Scouting for the Winnipeg Jets.
"He got better and better as the season went on, he got playoff games off the older goaltender and it looks like he might be the No. 1 there next year," said Hillier. "We had him ranked quite a bit higher and we're happy we got him here in the seventh round. We like there's really good upside there."

Another upside? DiVincentiis is close friends with another new member of the Jets - Rutger McGroarty, who was selected 14th overall on Thursday.
"We met each other through spring tournaments. We went to the WSI tournament in Spain and won that. A year later we went to Philadelphia and we won that again," DiVincentiis said. "From there, we became really close with each other. Our families became really close."
That information was new to Hillier, but he learned about it shortly after calling the goaltender's name.
"I got a text from somebody after that that the McGroartys were really happy with the picks," said Hillier. "It's nice that there was a connection."
No doubt numerous texts will be exchanged between the two friends over the next few days.
That is, whenever DiVincentiis' excitement lets him type properly.
"I'm still a little bit in shock right now, I'm a little shaky," said DiVincentiis. "It's really an honour to be a Jet and I can't wait to get started."