Rick DiPietro is backing down from his previous comments about suicide, but we likely haven’t heard the last of the New York Islanders goalie on this topic.
While the 31-year-old DiPietro told News 12 Long Island’s Kevin Maher that he experienced suicidal thoughts over the past three years stemming from injuries, losing and fan hatred, he clarified to ESPN’s Katie Strang that those comments were meant to be taken as a joke, and that he was totally kidding.
The Islanders put DiPietro on waivers last week. He told Maher that the team waiving him felt like “they ripped my heart out, stabbed it, set it on fire and flushed it down the toilet.”
DiPietro failed to play up to the 15-year, $67.5 million contract he signed before the 2006-07 season. This season, DiPietro went 0-3 with a 4.09 goals-against average in three games with the Islanders. There are still eight years at $4.5 million per season remaining on his landmark deal.
