The Islanders finally signed goalie Rick DiPietro.
Seeing as how I've been pretty obsessed with the situation, it's a great relief to me.
It's really going to free up a lot of time for me.
* * *
I'm pretty bummed about Scott Stevens' retirement.
Love him or hate him, you had to respect him. There was a real electricity every time he stepped on the ice. Especially during the playoffs.
You just knew a superstar was going to get whacked. And not a dirty hit, either.
Nope. Stevens was always clean. You knew there would be one mistake. Maybe someone would look down at the puck. Maybe someone would hold the puck a beat too long. Maybe someone would wander into open ice without protection.
And then WHAM!
Stevens would make them pay the price.
Enjoy some pictures of Stevens' biggest hits.
Although, sadly it's missing that Paul Kariya hit, where Kariya seemed to die for a second before you could actually see the life snap back into his body. It was pretty brutal, but it's the one I always think of when I think of Stevens and what he brought to the ice.

Obviously, I wasn't the only one who thought the Islanders weren't treating unsigned goalie Rick DiPietro well.
Now they've sort of gone the other way.
Newsday's Alan Hahn reports the Islanders put a 15 year deal on the table.
That's 15 years. A decade and a half. One year less than a sweet sixteen.
It's a long time.
Now in case you're not a huge hockey fan, allow me to set the table for you.
The Islanders are the same team that signed Alexei Yashin to a ten-year contract, worth $90 million. As Yashin has underperformed as an Islander, he's become impossible to trade and a drain on their salary cap.
The lesson most clubs might take away is that long-term contracts can be risky.
The Islanders seemed to have embraced it, though.
Not that I think they were serious. DiPietro turned the deal down because of insurance implications/complications. I think Isles' ownership was just trying to send the message to DiPietro that they consider him a part of the future. And while he might be tendered a conservative one-year offer this year, they'd really like to be in the DiPietro business beyond that.
In a lot of ways, it's a really smart move.
You know. Unless of course DiPietro had taken the deal.