RICK DIPIETRO

'Rick DiPietro' (born September 19, 1981 in Winthrop, Massachusetts) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender who currently plays for the NHL's New York Islanders. He studied at Saint Sebastian's School but left after his sophomore year to play junior hockey in Michigan.

Contents

Collegiate career

Professional career

International Play

Career Statistics

External links

Collegiate career

DiPietro played one season (1999-2000) with Boston University in the NCAA's Hockey East. In that one year, DiPietro was named to the All-Rookie Team, named Second Team All-Hockey East, awarded the team's Co-MVP and was named Hockey East's Rookie of the Year. In addition, Dipetro nearly set the NCAA record for most saves in a game when he stopped 77 out of 80 shots in a 3-2 quadruple overtime loss to St. Lawrence during the NCAA regional final (record is 78 and held by Dick Greenlaw). In his one and only Beanpot Tournament, DiPietro was named MVP and won the Eberly Trophy awarded to the tournament's top goaltender.

Professional career

He is known as a very emotional player, often having reactions such as throwing the puck, or jumping on other players.
He was drafted first overall by the Islanders in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, out of Boston University, prompting them to trade Roberto Luongo. DiPietro was the first goaltender ever to be selected with the number one overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft, and was just the fourth American to occupy the top draft position.
Though his NHL debut was widely anticipated, and he played 20 games in the 2000-2001 season, he managed to post just 3 wins against 15 losses for a mediocre New York team and was 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 power play, the pass can reach open forwards and create odd-man rushes or breakaways.
Along with Islanders teammates Jason Blake and Mark Parrish, DiPietro was named to the US Olympic hockey team at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics, held in February of 2006. DiPietro was Team USA's No. 1 goalie for the tournament, starting 4 of the team's 6 games. DiPietro went 1-3 with a 2.28 goals against average during the Olympics.
On September 12, 2006, DiPietro signed a 15-year, $67.5 million contract with the Islanders. It is the longest official NHL contract ever to be signed, topping former teammate Alexei Yashin's contract signed before the start of the 2001-2002 season of 10 years. [1] 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.
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 Felix Potvin and Billy Smith.
On March 13, 2007 DiPietro suffered a concussion after he was hit in the head with the knee of Montreal Canadiens forward Steve Begin when he raced out to poke check a puck at the blueline at 15:41 of the first period. Both were racing for the puck and collided heavily. DiPietro returned for four games but then missed the rest of the regular season. Local press speculated that he re-injured himself in a game against the Rangers when forward Sean Avery initiated contact with him during a scrum. DiPietro returned to play Game 2 of the Islanders' first round playoff series against the Buffalo Sabres. He stopped 32 of 34 shots in a 3-2 Islanders victory. However, the Islanders lost the next three games and were knocked out in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
DiPietro underwent hip surgery in the 2007 off season to fix a tear and problematic hip.

International Play

Played for United States in:

★ World Junior Hockey Championship - 2000, 2001

★ World Cup of Hockey - 2004

★ IIHF World Championships - 2005

★ XX Olympic Winter Games - 2006

Career Statistics

External links

★ Official Bio @ Newyorkislanders.com

★ Rick DiPietro's U.S. Olympic Team bio with photos, features, wallpapers