Okay, the Islanders’ season can start now. Goaltender Rick DiPietro took part in the morning skate today at Iceworks in Syosset and came through his first test after hip and knee surgery with flying colors.
Coach Scott Gordon, a former goaltender himself, had a great line. “They say goaltending is 80 percent of the game,” Gordon said, “until you don’t have it. Then, it’s 100 percent.”
That pretty much sums up where the Isles would be at without a healthy DiPietro. The last time he saw a puck coming at him was in his final game last season on March 15. He underwent hip surgery for the second year in a row later that month. After he finished rehabbing the hip, he underwent what was described as “a minor meniscus procedure” in early June. DiPietro said today that it was a “delicate procedure” that forced him to stay off the leg for close to eight weeks.
But DiPietro was on the ice this morning at 10:39 to warm up with goaltender coach Mike Dunham. Then, he alternated in net with backup Joey MacDonald at one end while Yann Danis, the starter against New Jersey tonight at the Prudential Center, worked at the other end. For the first time this preseason, DiPietro turned it loose, going down to the ice to test his knee and extend it in the butterfly position.
“It was great,” said DiPietro, who stayed on the ice after the regular skate to work against the extras who came later for their workout. “It’s good just to be part of the team again. It’s tough to be on injured reserve and come to the rink early and not really get a chance to be in the locker room at the same time as the rest of the guys, especially for me because I like to talk a lot. It’s tough when no one’s listening.
“I felt good. The biggest thing for me was just taking as many shots as I can and trying to catch up for what I missed. My leg felt great. Obviously, I need to get the timing back, but I couldn’t ask for more going out there today. It’s nice to know that all the work you put in over the summer actually paid off. I felt really strong out there, and my lungs felt good. So, everything the doctors and the training staff did, I can’t say enough about them and how much they helped me throughout the summer.”
I’ll save the rest of the interview for Saturday’s edition of Newsday, but the news couldn’t be better for the Islanders than the return of the player who gives them their best chance to win.
PRACTICE NOTES: DiPietro also wore his new mask, which includes a picture on the back of Islanders assistant equipment manager Richard “Shakey” Krouse. When DiPietro first told Shakey about it, he said, “It’s a tribute, bro’.” To which Krouse said, “You have to be dead to get a tribute. I feel like Elvis.”
The lines tonight include Sean Bergenheim-Mike Comrie-Blake Comeau; Jeff Tambellini-Frans Nielsen-Trent Hunter; Trevor Smith-Andy Hilbert-Tim Jackman and Mitch Fritz-Jeremy Colliton-Kurtis McLean. The defensive pairings include Radek Martinek-Brendan Witt; Bruno Gervais-Brett Skinner and Chris Lee-Thomas Pock. Danis is expected to play the wholoe game in goal ahead of MacDonald.