Can Rick DiPietro Recover?

I hate to say it and I really hope I’m wrong but I really think he’s done fir good. Too many injuries too much rust when he’s back. He’s almost as big an albatross around our necks as Yashin. He’s a reminder of the mike f-ing Millbury ridiculous years. Sorry DP i love ya but you’re being forced on us. If not for his asinine contract he’d have been let go long ago and signed to some dumb five year deal as the strangers third string goalie.

DP looks like he has a long road to recover as an nhl starting goalie, thank god he has a long season to do it. And based on Gordon’s latest words, it looks like DP will be playing backup to Rollie untile DP fixes his game. And DP needs to make some major changes to do that(Staying in the net, stop playing the puck, perfecting the basics, getting his reflex time back to par, getting his flexibility back to par, etc). If DP doesn’t change some/most of these things, he’s done. He still has time, but it looks to be a lot more work for him. As other people pointed out, some of his actions show that it could still be a lingering injury or pain. If that’s true about the injury/pain, then his career is done. My expectations for him are very low right now in terms of him making a successful comeback, but there is still time. IF DP doesn’t get him self up to starting nhl goalie par, then I expect him to be bought out/terminated(based on his injuries/surgeries, terminating his contract could very well be a reality) at the end of this year. He did have potential, but right now it looks like the injuries pissed that down the drain. Who knows though, time will tell.

I really do have faith in Rick. I just wish there were a scenario in which he could work on his fundamentals in a lower-risk environment, for both his sake and the team’s.

In the passion of the moment during last night’s game I called for him to be pulled after the first period. With the benefit of hindsight I realize that of course the entire team failed last night and that it isn’t Rick’s fault that the team folded after the first goal. (But that first goal really was avoidable. If I were Scott Gordon I would probably scream at RDP every time he (mis)played the puck and threaten to bench him unless he stayed between the pipes. This is why I’m not in any kind of a sports management position).

I’m realistic – I know RDP needs real games against tough competition. I know that Dwayne Roloson is 41 years old, and despite being capable of sometimes stealing games, he’s got limits. But when as many problems rear their ugly heads (as they have on this team, in the past week or two), I think you’ve got to give your team every possible chance it has to succeed. Dwayne does that.

I think it’s time to swap who is 1A and who is 1B on this squad. I want Rick to play, I think he’s worked hard and deserves every chance to prove himself. I am well aware that this is still a small sample size to judge Rick by. I just think for now, for the sake of at least paying lip service to the desire to see the post season, Roloson needs to start more often than DP does. Simple as that.

In the meantime, hopefully the rest of the team will straighten itself out and make the margin for error a little wider for the guys who back them up in net.

I’m sure the majority of people at this site already know this, but for whomever is new here or visiting, I should point out what the regulars here already know:

If Rick DiPietro decided to retire tomorrow, his entire contract would no longer count against the cap. He signed the contract well before the age in which the contract would stick to the cap (what is it again? 36?).

So the salary cap is not an issue, unless the Islanders decide to buy out the remainder of DP’s contract. Obviously, nobody would want to do that, given how long it would haunt us.

It comes down to when Rick DiPietro decides that Rick DiPietro can no longer play hockey. The only way he can decide that is to play in lots of games and gauge his own performance. Therefore, the best thing to do, as paradoxical as it might sound, is to continue playing him frequently. Either he gets better (problem solved) or comes to the realization that he can no longer play.

If it’s the latter and not the former (which I hope isn’t the case), then DP will have to make the decision. Now, while many others in the league might be willing to go on cashing checks at the expense of the organization, does Rick really seem like that type of person to you? My guess is he would step aside in the best interests of the club, especially given:

A) The amount of faith placed in him, which led to the 15 year deal, and
B) The fact that the Isles organization would gladly find a spot for him to fill in the front office or scouting department

So in conclusion, I’d say the best course of action – especially if the team continues to struggle with their injuries and the playoffs slip away – is to play him relatively often, while still handing a good portion of the load to Rollie, and see what happens.

DP is in the way

Redden him or Yashin him – until that happens the future will remain just that

Roli should be getting the starts as much as he can handle while this team has any hope of the playoffs. If the season gets out of hand, give DP regular starts again as with Biron at the end of last season. As to retirement, I had the impression that the insurance only took over if he retired due to injury, but I could be wrong.

First of all, curse WebBard for bringing up Dafoe, Cloutier, and Toivonen. That’s just too much to digest in one lunch break.

Secondly, I know we’re still dealing with a small sample so I thought for context I’d run his save % numbers if he had stopped more than 175 of his first 205 shots (.854) as well as if he played five additional games giving up two goals per game:

• If he had not given up three (by my count) goals this year due to puckhandling error: .868
• If he had stopped those three, plus two more: .878
• If he had stopped those 5, plus 5 more (so 10 more saves than he has): .902
• If he had his current real stats, then played five more games stopping 28 of 30 shots in each: .887

Just throwing that out there.

i men as it is right now the only team to have given up more goals than the islanders is the Devils, and they only let up 1 more goal
i know its not all DPs fault, but a vast number of the 44 goals weve given up have been in his games. 30 to be exact
and regardless of how crappy a teams playing that shouldnt be happening, if hes stilling playing like this around his 15th game or so, i think hell half to retire

With the defense as bad as it is right now it just magnifies all the current weaknesses that DP has. If we Shore up the D to protect him a little more I think his numbers will increase. Also I think there is probably still quite a mental aspect to DP’s game. After missing pretty much 2 years and getting hurt repeatedly I’m sure his mind isn’t fully up to speed yet. He has to prove not only to the team and all the fans that he is healthy and can play but most importantly he has to prove it to himself. The more he plays I think the more confident he will get and then his play will improve. His physical conditioning might not be 100% either given the short training camp\pre-season so that might also be a factor as well. We need to give him every opportunity to play so he can get over that mental and\or physical hurdle. This will undoubtedly produce some real horror shows like last night but in the long run it will be good for the team and for Rick Di Pietro.

visibly, DP is not a competent keeper

witness the 5th goal last night (if that was the 5th, lost track…) where he couldn’t trap the puck and it was recovered easily for an open netter

this is demoralizing for a team

nothing will be fixed until he goes

The Isles are forced to dance around another poor contractual decision that they made in hopes of reinventing the team. Sure it may have been a great business decision but the ROI would have always been out-weighed by the risk factor. Quite simply, at this point it appears that they lost again.

This is not a snap decision based on DP’s performance over the last 2 games (as the team has more reason to blame than DP for those losses IMO. DP has a warriors mantality (similar to Favre) and therefor wants to be the guy to pull the team along. However, the inconsistency in his recovery leaves the team in flux as to what type of game they should play. He is a self proclaimed puck handling goalie which results in quick half ice passing (or stretching the ice or cherry picking…whichever term you prefer). It seems that if they come back on the back check they will miss the opportunity to receive the breakout pass. If they stay up and wait for the quick pass then they sacrifice the coverage that they have needed over the past two games. Unless DP shows some consistency soon this inconsistency will continue.

As another observation it does kind of feel like the Isles organization may be playing a contractual game of tap out with DP. You don’t leave a goalie in net past 5 goals as demonstrated so well by Patrick Roy when he was with the Canadians. Once you do that you begin to lose his trust and rattle his ego/confidence. So there must be a reason for the back to back games that he was left on the ice during the routes.

…except:
Don, can you do a Community Projection for DP?

Is it even an option to send him to Bridgeport to see if he can work his way into form? Obviously he would clear waivers easily, I’m just uncertain of what else is part of that process, e.g. can he refuse the assignment?

Roli is playing lights out better than DP and the team is struggling and needs reliable goaltending. Bench DP for now until things improve or until the season gets out of hand.

he is just not ready for the NHL, and may never get back. It sucks but only the best players stay in the NHL, andif he played like this 5 years agi he would have never made the club, and would not have gotten the stupid 15 years

If he’s done we can just waive him every fall before the season and he won’t have any cap hit. Sucks we’d still have to pay him, but what can you do