DiPietro Back Where He Started the Season, Leaves Goalie Situation in Shambles

Rick DiPietro is right back where he started the season, on injured reserve.

After playing in just five games last season before shutting it down because of a knee injury that required surgery, DiPietro began rehabbing his surgically repaired knee in August. He sat out until January 8, 2010, over a year after playing his last game, losing his first game back to the Dallas Stars.

From there Ricky was used sparringly, playing in only seven games leading up to the Olympic break, and none since February 6, a 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. I had said originally that the extended time off from the Olympic break would hurt DiPietro more than help, and it appears I was right.

Just one day before the Islanders resumed their season following the Olympic break, DiPietro did not practice because he felt stiffness and swelling in his left knee after practice Sunday.

DiPietro said all tests showed his left knee is structurally sound. "I think at this point, it's precautionary," he said. "After seven or eight days off, to kick it back into full gear might have irritated it a little bit. There's nothing major to report, just the stuff that goes along with the territory coming back from serious injury."

DiPietro was placed on IR (knee swelling) on Tuesday retroactive to February 28 and remains out indefinitely. However, Islanders GM Garth Snow did say that he is optimistic that DiPietro will return sometime this season and expects that the latest setback will sideline him 7-10 days.

Until then, Snow has Dwayne Roloson and Martin Biron to assume goaltending duties. Having both netminders remain with the Islanders is somewhat surprising, given the team's long-standing plan to move one, but Snow said that the latest development with DiPietro had no impact on the team's maneuvering at the deadline.

"Coming into the season we were sitting there with Rick not being healthy and we thought it was a great luxury to have two number one goalies. Rick is out right now and we have two number one goalies and we're battling for a playoff spot," Snow said.

The Islanders signed Biron July 22 with the intention of trading him once DiPietro returned healthy after rehabbing a surgically repaired left knee. Snow had been fielding inquiries for the past two months about Biron once that scenario came to fruition and although Roloson's strong play and resultant value garnered speculation that the Islanders might re-prioritize which goaltender to trade, Biron was the one they actively tried to move.

Had the team received significant interest in Biron, they would have moved him, but they did not. It is believed that Biron's price tag was a deterrent, even with his one-year, $1.4 million deal prorated for the last six weeks of the season.

While Snow received interest for Roloson, he focused his efforts on dealing Biron.

"Roloson is our MVP," Snow said. "You saw the way he played [Tuesday] night [against the Blackhawks]."

The Islanders now revert to a situation similar to the beginning of the season, with Roloson and Biron in the mix and DiPietro's status lingering tenuously overhead. It is no secret that the situation is not ideal for any of the parties involved, but Snow said that this is an inevitable part of the business.

Obviously this is a really unwanted situation that the Islanders have in goal and it even has miffed some current Islanders players, according to Newsday. When the Islanders decided not to trade neither Roloson nor Biron at the trading deadline on Wednesday, many players in the Isles locker room were not happy.


"It doesn't play out well at all for anybody," a source said. "It's not in the best interest of anyone on the team, whether it be the players involved, other players or the coaching staff. It's a tough situation for everyone."

Those unnamed players that are unhappy with the current goaltending situation are taking the stance that the organization's efforts to get DiPietro back into the lineup have resulted in a difficult situation for all parties involved.

"If that continues, the organization will never improve," a source said. "Things will only continue to plummet."

A source also said the team's performance has been hindered by the undesirable dynamic of having three goaltenders in play.

"Look at where we were at, we had a playoff spot," said a player who requested anonymity. "Then we went on a losing streak and now we're on the outside looking in."

"You just can't have three goaltenders," another player said. "It's not great for anyone."

I couldn't agree more, but Martin Biron had to have known the situation when he signed with the team back in July. With that being said, it would be easy to understand why Biron would be upset, if he in fact is, about not being dealt at the trading deadline after it was essentially promised to him that it would happen.

Roloson has played outstanding all season and to his defense, the Islanders defense couldn't rattle your grandmother with a check with all of them being very undersized, as well as not very physical.

At the draft last year the Isles took two goaltenders, with the one drafted in the second round, Mikko Koskinen, projected to be quite good, especially standing at 6'5". With that being said, I think this summer the Islanders need to put DiPietro on the block and see what they can get for him and trade him for whatever the might be able to receive, which at this point doesn't seem to be much.

Have Roloson start again next year with Koskinen learning from him and backing him up and get Biron and DiPietro out of town.