DiPietro speaks after practice. And how are we feeling?

Blake, Toskala, and three Molson bottle caps (up from two) for JT and Marty. And if Garth refuses, Burkie will bloviate and fume ad infinitum.

Am I happy about his progress? Not even thinking about it?

Its hard to tell. I mean it sounds good and all, but Im not going to know how happy I am with his progress until I see him playing once again. I am definitely happy they are taking their time with him- and I credit the Biron and Roloson signings for that. If the Isles didnt have an NHL-caliber goalie in net every night, theres no way Rick would be OK with taking his time- he would feel too responsible and want to get in there ASAP to help the team.

Am I expecting much before the New Year?

Im expecting to see him play in the AHL before then. Id be mildly surprised if he gets real NHL time before that.

Am I dreading a February soap opera around whether he’s healthy (and good) enough to justify trading Biron?

Nope! :) Under the best of circumstances, the Isles are going to experience a rare luxury this season… they will have an NHL starting goalie available to trade.

Under the worst of circumstances, they have quality NHL goaltenders who both like playing here and both want to stay here. I sincerely believe that Garths loyalty is to the longterm success of this organization. If Rick cant cut it, he isnt going to pretend like he can. He will give him time to get back to where he can- years, even- but he isnt going to screw this team and leave them without a starting goalie again. I firmly believe that he learned that lesson.

If the circumstances wind up somewhere in the middle, not the best or the worst, the Isles can go with the flow either way. Maybe they will keep Biron and make him a respectable 1y offer. Or maybe they will still trade him- the Isles have options in Bridgeport who could be perfectly acceptable backups for a guy like Roloson in the meantime. I have a feeling that these different situations have already been discussed with Biron and probably Roloson and Rick, too.

Its not very often when you get to say that the Isles are in a positon where they are going to be in a good situation under many forseeable circumstances… but thats what I see here.

Busting Your #39 Jersey Out of Storage?

Yes (may even wear it Saturday to The Rock)

if and when DP comes back as the #1, it will be quite an emotional adjustment for him. It may be a bit of an adjustment for Weight as well. In DP’s absence and even in Doug’s, a team chemistry has built up around JT, Kyle, MM, and others. It is certainly no longer DP’s team. How difficult that adjustment will be was underlined by DP’s public fussing over the JT nickname. It will be interesting.

Can I point out in all this inital talk that DP isnt even Ricks initials?
Rick DiPietro = “RD”

IMO there is nothing to this comment- but if there WAS, it would be that two letters = a pretty boring “nickname” lol

Hi. I closed comments on this post because the same points of contention were getting repeated with nothing new emerging. We can speculate more on DiPietro’s place in the locker room when he returns. Frankly, I didn’t want this thread to focus on an ancillary point anymore.

That may be poor form, but that’s the way it is, in the interests of moving things along. Everyone’s said their bit. We’ll be able to resume talk about DiPietro’s status soon enough. Thanks.