Rick DiPietro to Have More Hip Surgery - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Just 10 months ago, Rick '15 Years!' DiPietro, the 'savior' goaltender of the New York Islanders franchise, had to undergo major hip surgery on his left side. This prompted me to comment, "Any time you sign a player to a long-term contract, a major injury is a big worry. When that player is your #1 goalie and you signed him to the most insane deal ever, you have to hope this hip problem doesn't become a constant thorn in Ricky's side. Hip problems doesn't always just go away, as any senior citizen will tell you."

You would hope a major surgery would clear away the problems, but now DiPietro will have to face another surgery on his other hip, and the problems for their prized goalie continue to mount.

I guess it is no coincidence that DiPietro's play regressed quite a lot this season, as he dropped from 91.9% to 90.2% in the save percentage department. Rick tweaked his hip at the All-Star break, and never seemed to be in the fine form that he showed in his breakout campaign. The Isles, in the meantime, lost any hope at making the playoffs as their #1 goaltender looked about as good as Dan Cloutier handling a Nick Lidstrom shot.

Two hip injuries, some nasty concussions ... and the Isles still have over a decade left on this guy's contract. While DiPietro was perfectly healthy when he signed that massive deal, it just goes to show that any player can break down like an American-made car once they actually go on a road trip or two.