TROY – Jerry D’Amigo needs some time off. The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute freshman will sit out Friday night's game at Quinnipiac and rest at his Binghamton home. He plans to return to the team for Sunday's game at Princeton.
Helping the USA win the IIHF World Junior Tournament gold medal has taken a lot our of the talented left winger.
"I'm tired," he told the media today while showing his gold medal to his RPI teammates.
"I going to get some time off," D'Amigo added. "I'm not going to play (tonight)but I'm going to be back on Sunday. It's been a long tournament. A lot of games in the past two weeks."
D'Amigo scored a tie-breaking goal and assited on another in the USA's 6-5 overtime victory over Canada in the gold medal game.
“I haven’t been sleeping (since),” D’Amigo told reporters before the RPI bus left for Quinnipiac and he left for his home in Binghamton for “some rest and mom’s (Gina) home cooking.
“I’m really tired, I’m sore, all those things you need to win a championship within your body all kind of fatigues you a little more,” he said.
The thrill of the gold medal still hasn’t begun to subside for D’Amigo.
“I’ve been up there (emotionally) since we won the tournament,” he said. “It’s a great feeling – I still can’t explain it (yet). I feel great.”
“They had 15,000 fans all rooting against us and the atmosphere there was unbelievable. Once we won, you look up at all the fans you’ve quieted down. It was great to do that.”
Rensselaer coach Seth Appert had said that he "has to get Jerry some time off," and since the Engineers have just one game next weekend -- although it's at rival Union -- he may get a couple days off from practice early in the week.
"I'd love to play (Friday," he said. "I wish I could. But again, it's the body. It's one of those things that you've got to rest and look forward to the next game."
D'Amigo vows to play Sunday at Princeton, a game televised nationally by ESPNU.
"RPI is my team right now and I've got to play for them," he said.
But Appert says, "if he calls me on Saturday and tells me he's still feeling (badly), I'm not going to tell him, 'well, you have to get down here and play anyway.'''
As D'Amigo and his mom left Houston Field House today, Gina D'Amigo asked Appert, 'what time does he have to be there on Sunday?"
"About 1 o'clock," Appert answered.
Appert had been kidding D'Amigo earlier.
"He scored six goals in seven games in the tournament," he said. "That's more than he's scored in 18 games for us."
In one nine-game stretch for the Engineers this season, D'Amigo had 4 goals, 8 assists.
He said playing in the WJC event and being so successful "gave me confidence. I know I can do it against world-class players and guys who were drafted in the first round and I'll just bring that back (to RPI).
"I just stuck to the basics. I played consistent throughout the whole tournament and I think that was my key," D'Amigo said. "I didn't have a terrible game and then an amazing game, I just stayed on an even keel and I think helped me be consistent throughout the whole tournament."