Rick DiPietro - Professional Career

Professional Career

He was drafted first overall by the New York Islanders in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, out of Boston University, prompting them to trade Roberto Luongo. Islander GM Mike Milbury traded Luongo, so that he could draft the highly-touted goaltender known for his mobility and puck handling skills. DiPietro was the fourth American to occupy the top draft position in the NHL Entry Draft. Though his NHL debut was widely anticipated, he played 20 games in the 2000-2001 season and managed to post just 3 wins against 15 losses for a struggling New York team. DiPietro was subsequently sent to the minors for additional seasoning. He played for the Chicago Wolves of the IHL and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL. He played 10 games the next season (as well as one playoff game) before being called up for good in the 2003-2004 season. His goals-against average decreased from 3.49 in the 00-01 season to 2.36 in the 03-04 season.

DiPietro chooses to play the puck aggressively. In contrast to many goaltenders who prefer to either let the puck go around the boards or stop it so that a teammate can pick it up, DiPietro often chooses to make a pass into the neutral zone. In certain situations, particularly on the powerplay, the pass can reach open forwards and create odd-man rushes or breakaways.

Along with former Islanders teammates Jason Blake and Mark Parrish, DiPietro was named to the United States national hockey team at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics, held in February 2006. DiPietro was Team USA's No. 1 goaltender for the tournament, starting 4 of the team's 6 games. DiPietro played well, sporting a 2.28 goals against average, but went 1-3 during the Olympics.

On September 12, 2006, DiPietro signed a 15-year, $67.5 million contract with the Islanders, topping former teammate Alexei Yashin's contract signed before the start of the 2001-2002 season of 10 years. Newsday reported that the team offered him a 15-year contract in September 2005, but the league discouraged this; instead, he signed a one-year offer. During the 2010 off-season the New Jersey Devils attempted to sign Ilya Kovalchuk to a 17-year contract, but it was rejected by the NHL on the grounds of salary cap circumvention, leaving DiPietro's as the longest contract likely to be signed under the 2005 CBA.

On March 5, 2007, DiPietro broke an Islanders franchise record by making 56 saves in a 2-1 shootout loss to the New York Rangers. The previous record was 55 saves, held by both Félix Potvin and Billy Smith. (The record was broken by Dwayne Roloson in 2009)

On March 13, 2007, DiPietro suffered a concussion after a collision with Montreal Canadiens forward Steve Bégin when DiPietro raced out to poke check a puck at the blueline at 15:41 of the first period. DiPietro returned for four games but then missed the rest of the regular season after he sustained another concussion in game against the New York Rangers. DiPietro returned to play games two through five of the Islanders' first round playoff series against the Buffalo Sabres.

The concussion was the start of a string of injuries. DiPietro underwent surgery in the 2007 off season to fix a torn labrum in his hip.

In 2007, DiPietro expressed a desire to become more of a team leader. He said, "I'm a competitive person, and I have a tendency to have a short fuse with guys sometimes. That's something, as a leader, that you just can't do."

On November 19, 2007, DiPietro got his 100th NHL career win when the Islanders beat the New York Rangers 2-1.

DiPietro was selected to appear in his first NHL All-Star Game in 2008 as a reserve, but he was named the starter because Martin Brodeur dropped out. During the skills competition the night before DiPietro injured his hip during the shootout competition. DiPietro continued to play until the Islanders no longer had a chance to make the playoffs. On March 19, 2008, it was announced that DiPietro would miss the remainder of the 2007-08 season because of surgery on his hip.