By Brian Bohl
Landmark contracts can’t guarantee success. But it is usually good for securing the services of that one special player. In hockey, a star goalie can be like an ace pitcher who appears in more than three-quarters of all games and can be trotted out every single outing come playoff time. So when the Islanders signed Rick DiPietro to that record 15-year pact before the start of last season, it’s no secret owner Charles Wang and general manager Garth Snow believed he would lead his team to its first Stanley Cup playoff round victory since Bill Clinton’s first term.
Fast forward to Tuesday night and the only thing DiPietro led the Islanders to was the dressing room. DiPietro couldn’t get off the St. Pete Times Forum ice fast enough after allowing eight goals in a loss to last-place Tampa Bay. Despite his All-Star appearance, DiPietro again failed to bail out an injury-depleted team struggling to score, allowing Vincent Lecavalier to net a hat trick as part of a 44-shot barrage.
“It seemed tonight, everything went in at once,” Lecavalier said in Tampa.
Coach Ted Nolan could only seethe after the Lightning-who entered with the Eastern Conference’s worst record- put up three goals in 42 seconds in the third.
“We’re fragile right now and we’re making mental errors,” Nolan said. “When you’re team is fragile everything has to go right. Any kind of giveaways is going to make the situation worse. We’re getting effort from 95% of the guys and those other five are hurting us.”
That’s not the refrain opposing forwards should be uttering. Comments like that demonstrate why the Islanders won’t be making the postseason for a second straight year. Also, since making a stellar appearance in the All-Star game two months ago, DiPietro continues to be more of an albatross than cornerstone.
DiPietro’s contract was bestowed with the intention that the franchise was securing a player who claimed a mélange of leadership skills and high-end talent that would service as a foundation for building a championship contender. Instead, DiPietro has blown off the media after tough outings and faded at a time when his team stood on the precipice out postseason exile.
Just 11 games remain entering Wednesday’s contest in Florida. The Islanders remain eight points out of the eighth spot thanks mostly to an NHL-worst 38 goal for/against differential. Outside of a late surge, no offensive player will log a 30-goal season. Mike Sillinger is out for the season and the defensive has featured a slew of different pairings to compensate for injuries.
Yet up until a week ago, the Islanders still remained in contention. So what happens when a team claims a hard-working but undermanned offense and a depleted blue line? The goalie needs to come up big. In theory, this was the perfect situation for the club after signing the check for DiPietro.
The former No. 1 overall draft pick hasn’t lived up to the moment. He is 26-26-7 this season with a 2.81 goals-against average. More troubling is his save percentage, the stat more indicative of individual performance. DiPietro’s .902 mark lags behind backup Wade Dubielewicz’s.905. Dubielewicz is a solid understudy, yet DiPietro’s numbers should far exceed his No. 2 man considering his status and salary.
DiPietro’s propensity to excessively puck handle led to key mistakes and prompted Nolan to go public with his frustrations.
“We ask him over and over again not to play the puck as much,” Nolan said. “He’s one of the best puck-handlers in the league, but you just can’t overhandle it. When you overhandle it, you get yourself in trouble a little bit.”
It would be unfair to pin the tailspin solely on DiPietro. His All-Star appearance was warranted and overall he’s enjoyed a good season. The discouraging part is that this campaign mirrors his career.
Too often, DiPietro has merely been good when the moment required greatness. Proven winners like Martin Brodeur don’t shut out every opponent, yet they somehow do enough in any given game to make a one or two goal performance stand up. DiPietro, who only has registered three shutouts, might have been able to change a few vital games simply by making the extra stop.
Even as the season winds down, DiPietro can look forward to next season, along with the next two decades. He’s not going anywhere, and the front office should look to bolster the offense through free agency and the minor leagues. The Islanders are in desperate need of an overhaul and Nolan deserves to see what he can do with a team that actually claims decent depth. It still all comes down to DiPietro. Thirteen more years and counting.