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Goalie Mikey DiPietro’s departure from the Windsor Spitfires had been rumoured for more than a year.

But when the star 19-year-old netminder learned Tuesday he was traded to the Ottawa 67’s, it still came as a shock.

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“I thought it was just a lot of talk,” DiPietro said. “There was a part of me that was, ‘Yeah, there’s a possibility, but it won’t actually happen.’ And then, it happened. I still can’t believe it. I thought it was a dream.”

I don’t think I’ve stopped crying all day to be honest, or all night

It’s part of the cyclical nature of junior hockey where teams build for a title, as the Spitfires did in 2017 to win the Memorial Cup, and then trade away veteran prospects in hopes of building for another.

DiPietro, who established himself as the greatest goalie in the 45 years of the modern-era Spitfires, watched the club trade six teammates away last season to begin a rebuild and while his name always came up in rumours, he never really thought it would happen.

That is until Tuesday when the Spitfires traded DiPietro to Ottawa for a potential prospect in Egor Afanasyev and at least four draft picks — seven if Afansyev never plays in Windsor.