I wish people begging for his return would consider WE ARE ISLANDER FANS and want THE TEAM to win.
I wish Rick a long, healthy life and love his mature personality (couldn't STAND him when he was ego boy but the injuries and growing up, getting married and suffering some adversity shaped him into a likable, charming guy who I root for - but not as a losing goalie on a team where every minute counts.
Bossy wasn't a jerk. Bossy wowed us and we loved his persona from day one and there were no Pickett/Bossy issues with ridiculous circumstance. The back injury was a killer for us fans.
DP? The contract, his inability to show discipline, his overrating fans and his inability to play in the crunchtime.....CLEARLY a different circumstance.
If DP can win the starts, more power to him. Yay us. But he will likely be taking playing time from goalies better than him, and that is unacceptable.
It should be to you if the crest on the front means more than the lettering on the back.
I just can't root against Ricky. He loves this team and he loves playing here. Even if I don't think he'll ever return to form, it's not gonna stop me from pulling for the guy.
His contract isn't going anywhere, we have Nabokov signed, why not see how DP does next year? Worst case is he gets hurt again and Poulin/Nilsson take his spot. Best case, we end up with a solid tandem. Don't really see the downside here.
No the worst case is that he does NOT get hurt and we are stuck with the goalie that he has become, which is one of the worst in the NHL, while having two more qualified G's at Bridgeport.
No the worst case is that he does NOT get hurt and we are stuck with the goalie that he has become, which is one of the worst in the NHL, while having two more qualified G's at Bridgeport.
I don't even think I'd call that a worst case. If he stays healthy and just can't hack it in the NHL, I would be surprised if he doesn't retire after the season. Isn't that what the Anti-DPers want anyway?
I hope that the new CBA has an option where the teams could buy out contracts with NO hit to the salary cap. If that option is created, I hope the Isles buy out DP, such as paying him 2/3 of his remaining salary to make him go away.
I wish all the DP haters will get to experience how it feels when something you love to do is taken away from you because of injury. I will always root for a guy that lives & dies orange/blue. Fans today only want self satisfaction but forget about loyalty. If Bossy was playing today with his back issues I bet these so called Isles fans would want him to retire too.
And I wish all the people who feel sorry for a man making 4.5 million dollars a year, would think about all the people in this current economy who have lost jobs making a lot less then Dp. Lost homes, lost loved one in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hell our soldiers who have lost parts of themselves over there.
In other words, **** Dp. If he never plays again, he is taken care off. His wife, any kids and anyone else Dp cares deeply for, is taken care of.
If you want to feel sorry for someone, there are far better candidates out there then Rick DiPietro.
I wish he'd just retire and take a job within the organization. It'd help the team.
This. DP staying on the team is selfish and only hurts the team (not that I wouldn't same thing in his shoes-just saying LOL). I've been a huge DP supporter for years, but enough is enough.
His heart is in the right place but he is no longer an NHL caliber player. The few games every season that he actually plays he is atrocious. If he wants to play then he has to backup in Bridgeport until he is ready. He should not stunt the growth of either Nilsson or Poulin.
"UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Far away from a flock of fans collecting autographs before the Islanders’ last home game of the season on Thursday, a bearded man wearing a flat cap and a backpack on his shoulder walked out a side entrance at Nassau Coliseum, alone."
Thats both the Saddest and Funiest thing I have ever heard.
Hey look......I cant say I havent rooted for him.....I have been. Some of the best stories in life are over coming adversities. But at some point he has to look in the mirror. I wish him the best.
Hey look......I cant say I havent rooted for him.....I have been. Some of the best stories in life are over coming adversities. But at some point he has to look in the mirror. I wish him the best.
me too. i wish he never got injured in the first place, or at least i wish he didn't have the recurring "freak" accidents... sure i wish him the best, but not here. i'd be fine with him moving to Calgary and playing out his career as a solid backup there. really. i would love him to win a trophy for perseverance for playing in 15 games as a backup. as for the island, well, as soon as he's gone it'd be "see ya" to the last piece of the Milbury mess.
and as for all the loyalty talk ... that's the biggest load of BS that has ever found its way onto this board. newsflash: when someone is paying you to show up, it isn't loyalty when you do. people all around this country show up to work because they're getting paid. if you didn't pay them, they wouldn't show up. if you stopped paying Ricky, he wouldn't be here. (f--get the hot dogs, give back your salary!) if DP were truly loyal, he'd retire and stop wasting cap space. if he truly loved the game and the experience, he'd realize that his roster presence is making someone else's dream impossible- and, at this point, that person merits it more than him, and needs the money more than him. but he won't walk away even though he knows (as everyone does) that he should.
Was Wang in the car when Ricky was driving across the bridge?
Seriously, I wish him well. But I hope this was just saying the right thing and he doesn't plan on doing much next season. Just stick around in the background Rick. You get your money, ****face gets his cap hit. Don't be a distraction anymore.
If DP really "cared" about his teammates then he would retire. He only cares about $ and I can't say I blame him. He will never retire, why would he? This organization has been babying him since 2000 and will continue too till 2020, ride the gravy train Dicky.
If DP really "cared" about his teammates then he would retire. He only cares about $ and I can't say I blame him. He will never retire, why would he? This organization has been babying him since 2000 and will continue too till 2020, ride the gravy train Dicky.
Rehab all the time isn't a walk in the park. It's not like DiPietro is sitting on his ass and collecting a paycheck. Just reading his own commentary, you can tell how much not playing and winning eats at a guy like this.
Rick DiPietro does want to win hockey games and bring this team back to prominence. The problem is that Ricky has been incapable of doing so for quite some time now.
Like it or not, the organization had to try and play DiPietro. If we can't ice a competitive payroll as it is, the team in its current state has to give DiPietro every chance and then some to earn his contract. Sadly, this situation is two strikes on Wang with a pending pitch at 0-2 on DiPietro. Since I've been watching hockey, I've seen how hard it is for guys to simply hang it up. Many of those guys have ample money. How much money does DiPietro need to survive or to start his life after hockey? I'm sorry, he's going to hang around until it's obvious that he can't play in the NHL. Unfortunately, he will very likely be the last one to admit that. That aspect of his personality is a positive and a negative all wrapped up in one.
Also, while some like to point at DiPietro's atrocious (and they're brutal) goalie stats, he still went 3-2-3. 9 points in 8 games. Oddly enough, that's a 92.5 point average. The final two playoff spots in the East this year? 92 points. I don't want it to come off like I want DiPietro in net. Those numbers are terrible, but it does say something about the team playing in front of him during those games. (You can't simply swap in another goalie and instantly transfer losses to wins. Teams play differently depending on who is net.)
Regardless, if DiPietro could ever play at a high level again, it sure seems like his teammates would rally around him on the ice. The chances of that are extremely slim, but I still believe in the previous line.
While the team has been far from stellar, Montoya has been letting in far too many soft goals since he's been back. We have a lot of goalies to get playing time. While I'd much rather head into the season pretending that DiPietro doesn't exist (again), I'm going to guess that one of our rookies will be backing up next year with DiPietro being the 3rd. We have too many goalies and not enough playing slots as it is.
In a perfect situation, we take a look at the strong UFA market for goalies to find a suitable backup to Nabby and let our youngsters get overripe in the AHL. When has this team ever been in the perfect situation?
Knowing that we have a very old, very young and very injury prone goalie rotation for next season, one would hope that we'd put a defense in front of them that can play the game and put some fear into opposing forwards. One would hope we'd improve the size and abilities of our forwards to better our possession game. One would hope.
I'd place my hope in DiPietro returning to form before I'd place my hope in the current ownership spending anything to improve the team significantly. Of course, I think I'd be an idiot for placing my hopes into either. If either of those things happen, it'll be a pleasant surprise. It would be nice to get a positive surprise from this team for a change.
And I wish all the people who feel sorry for a man making 4.5 million dollars a year, would think about all the people in this current economy who have lost jobs making a lot less then Dp. Lost homes, lost loved one in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hell our soldiers who have lost parts of themselves over there.
In other words, **** Dp. If he never plays again, he is taken care off. His wife, any kids and anyone else Dp cares deeply for, is taken care of.
If you want to feel sorry for someone, there are far better candidates out there then Rick DiPietro.
THIS.
Oooooohhhh, paw wicky, he can't pway hockey anymoar. Oh booh hooo, I want to cwy. Booh hoooo.
This ego with a 4 million guaranteed paycheck who totally dissed his team mates last year, the guy who puts his ego ahead of what is good for the club, this millionaire who has made more money than most of us in here, get's sympathy? Please. The path to the NHL is absolutely LITTERED with people who broke this, concussed that, were too short, not fast enough, etc., etc., etc. This kid is set for life ala the Wang-Yashin-love angle. Go read the dang newspaper about entire villages being *****, tortured, and murdered in the Sahara right now. You want someone to feel bad for? How about those poor folk? Cry for a millionaire who made his money by the fortune of landing on the team of a hockey moron who doles out his money to someone who will be his BFF as opposed to spending on actual talent to help non-selfish, high work ethic players? No thank you, AINEC.
His presence is an anchor around the club's neck. If he had any respect for this organization or fan base or his HA HA HA beloved team mates he'd retire. Rick knows he is done and it is pure hubris on his and Wang's behalf that he is still here. I'd go so far as to say his continued presence, eating up cap floor space much better used on a real defenseman is directly killing this club (out there, heh).
I just can't root against Ricky. He loves this team and he loves playing here. Even if I don't think he'll ever return to form, it's not gonna stop me from pulling for the guy.
His contract isn't going anywhere, we have Nabokov signed, why not see how DP does next year? Worst case is he gets hurt again and Poulin/Nilsson take his spot. Best case, we end up with a solid tandem. Don't really see the downside here.
Well, at least someone else can recognize loyalty in the face of adversity. I'll always be rooting for the guy too. He hasn't done one thing wrong for this team. He's just been unlucky with injuries. Guess what, people who get injured do so by TRYING HARD to win. He didn't coast out there and not put in effort and it took a toll on his body. When he's an old man he is going to be arthritic and in pain constantly and it's going to be because of the effort he took trying to win hockey games for this team.
I could care less about the contract, it's not like anybody else is going to sign to play for a team like this and it sure ain't Ricky's fault. In fact, he's just another guy who proved that there was a reason to sign for his entire career with this team along with some other long term contracts from younger guys. I hope he does find his form and many posters on this board will have to eat a fat one...
I'm sorry, he's going to hang around until it's obvious that he can't play in the NHL. Unfortunately, he will very likely be the last one to admit that. That aspect of his personality is a positive and a negative all wrapped up in one.
His personality has always been his major downfall in becoming a better player. The guy refused to be pulled by his Head Coach. Why does he get to come back into important NHL games after one start in the AHL? The weaknesses in his game are still the same since his rookie year. He has always been coddled by the org and it is not helping him become a better player.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mitchy22
Also, while some like to point at DiPietro's atrocious (and they're brutal) goalie stats, he still went 3-2-3. 9 points in 8 games. Oddly enough, that's a 92.5 point average. The final two playoff spots in the East this year? 92 points. I don't want it to come off like I want DiPietro in net. Those numbers are terrible, but it does say something about the team playing in front of him during those games. (You can't simply swap in another goalie and instantly transfer losses to wins. Teams play differently depending on who is net.)
i'd be fine with him moving to Calgary and playing out his career as a solid backup there. really. i would love him to win a trophy for perseverance for playing in 15 games as a backup. as for the island, well, as soon as he's gone it'd be "see ya" to the last piece of the Milbury mess.
... that's the biggest load of BS that has ever found its way onto this board. newsflash: when someone is paying you to show up, it isn't loyalty when you do. people all around this country show up to work because they're getting paid. if you didn't pay them, they wouldn't show up. if you stopped paying Ricky, he wouldn't be here. (f--get the hot dogs, give back your salary!) if DP were truly loyal, he'd retire and stop wasting cap space. if he truly loved the game and the experience, he'd realize that his roster presence is making someone else's dream impossible- and, at this point, that person merits it more than him, and needs the money more than him. but he won't walk away even though he knows (as everyone does) that he should.
,
. hehe
