{"id":1547,"date":"2017-10-18T17:20:14","date_gmt":"2017-10-18T17:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/67richmond.com\/?p=1547"},"modified":"2017-10-18T17:22:02","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T17:22:02","slug":"spits-michael-dipietro-suiting-up-for-the-draft-at-a-hometown-shop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/67richmond.com\/?p=1547","title":{"rendered":"Spits’ Michael DiPietro suiting up for the draft at a hometown shop"},"content":{"rendered":"

WINDSOR STAR – June 22, 2017 | Written By: JIM PARKER<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael DiPietro stayed close to home when it came to selecting the suit the 18-year-old Amherstburg native will wear in the stands at this year\u2019s NHL Draft, which takes place Friday and Saturday in Chicago.<\/p>\n

AMHERSTBURG \u2013 While he cannot control how the NHL Draft will play out, Windsor Spitfires goalie Michael DiPietro is firmly in charge of how he will look for the event.<\/p>\n

The 18-year-old Amherstburg native stayed close to home when it came to selecting the suit he will wear in the stands at the draft, which takes place Friday and Saturday in Chicago.<\/p>\n

DiPietro went to 67 Richmond to have his suit done by owner Peter Leardi.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ve always wanted to do,\u201d DiPietro said. \u201cI\u2019ve always dreamt of getting a suit for myself strictly for the draft. Bringing my dad (Vic) in, and him being part of the process.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Windsor Spitfires goaltender Michael DiPietro was custom-fitted for his NHL Draft suit at 67 RICHMOND men\u2019s fashion clothing in Amherstburg, June 13, 2017. JASON KRYK \/ WINDSOR STAR<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve known Pete for so long. I played high school hockey (at Villanova) with his son Colin. I\u2019m from Amherstburg and it only felt right to do it in Amherstburg, especially with Pete.\u201d<\/p>\n

DiPietro\u2019s request for a special suit was not a unique for Leardi, who handled the same duty in 2014 for Belle River\u2019s Aaron Ekblad \u2014 the first pick overall that year by the Florida Panthers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw (Aaron\u2019s dad) Dave at an Andy Paquette (skating) clinic,\u201d Leardi said. \u201cIt was the year Aaron was going to the OHL as special status. I said, \u2018I\u2019d love to dress Aaron for the OHL when he\u2019s ready to go.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Ekblad came in and became a regular whenever he was in need of a suit for a special occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time Aaron would need a new suit, he\u2019d call me up,\u201d Leardi said.<\/p>\n

Former Spitfires and current NHL head coaches Paul Maurice, who is with the Winnipeg Jets, and Peter DeBoer, who is with the San Jose Sharks, also sought out Leardi for suits.<\/p>\n

DiPietro is more like family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew Mike when he was in diapers,\u201d Leardi said. \u201cHis birth mother worked for me and I did (his dad) Vic\u2019s wedding suit. There was a connection there. I\u2019ve known his uncles for years and went to school with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cA year ago, I told Vic, \u2018I want to dress your son for the draft.\u2019 Mike\u2019s a hometown boy and a hometown success story. I couldn\u2019t be more proud of him to allow us to do this for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The whole process took weeks to bring together.<\/p>\n

\u201cA couple of fittings just to make sure it fits like a glove and make a couple of alterations here and there,\u201d DiPietro said. \u201cIt\u2019s an exciting time for me, and that suit is just something I hope makes me look like a million bucks. I want to look sharp and clean and add a little flash with the socks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Ekblad, he opted for blue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the hot colour,\u201d Leardi said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a strong, strong colour for a couple of years now.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Ekblad came in, he knew what he wanted. He told me he was looking for this certain type of blue. When Mike came in, I went to fabrics and said, \u2018Is this what you want?\u2019 and he said, \u2018Yeah, exactly.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

From there, it was a matter of making sure the fit and look were exactly what DiPietro was looking for.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake sure the tailoring is right, nip and tuck and those little things,\u201d Leardi said.<\/p>\n

The pants had to be opened five-eighths of an inch to accommodate his calves, and while the shirt fit his neck, it had to be taken in two inches on the sides for a perfect fit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis generation, in the last five to 10 years of young men, is the fussiest generation in terms of fit that I\u2019ve experienced in the 32 years I\u2019ve been in business,\u201d Leardi said. \u201cIf you get it, it\u2019s good, because they seek you out. If you understand it, that\u2019s even better. They\u2019re grateful for it and a pleasure to work with because they want to look good. Who doesn\u2019t want to dress somebody that wants to look good?\u201d<\/p>\n

On the mantel, behind the counter at 67 Richmond, is a shot of Ekblad in his suit as well as Maurice behind the bench. Leardi plans on making room for a shot of DiPietro as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to keep the trend going for first-rounders,\u201d DiPietro said of Ekblad going in the first round after getting a suit from Leardi. \u201cI\u2019d like to see their streak keep going.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully that helps me. I don\u2019t know what to expect that day, but I\u2019m really looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WINDSOR STAR – June 22, 2017 | Written By: JIM PARKER Michael DiPietro stayed close to home when it came to selecting the suit the 18-year-old Amherstburg native will wear in the stands at this year\u2019s NHL Draft, which takes place Friday and Saturday in Chicago. AMHERSTBURG \u2013 While he cannot control how the NHL […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1548,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-67-richmond"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/67richmond.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/67richmond.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/67richmond.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/67richmond.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/67richmond.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1547"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/67richmond.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1552,"href":"https:\/\/67richmond.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1547\/revisions\/1552"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/67richmond.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/67richmond.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/67richmond.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/67richmond.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}