New York Islanders' Rick Dipietro out for the Season

For those who are superstitious, Friday the 13th is believed to be a day of bad luck.

New York Islander goaltender, Rick Dipietro may be a believer after today, if he wasn't already. It is believed he will miss the rest of the regular season after surgery to repair a sports hernia.

"This is something I thought that would just heal up and go away, and instead it got more and more debilitating," Dipietro said to local New York newspaper, Newsday.

As usual, Dipietro has struggled to stay healthy and on the ice this season. Even when on the ice, Dipietro struggled. In eight games, he was 3-2-3 with a .876 save percentage and 3.73 goals against average before landing on injured reserve.

This is very unfortunate for both Dipietro and the Islanders. He was hoping to come back and join the team soon. It is uncertain on what Dipiero's next step is after this surgery.

Nobody questions Dipietro's work ethic and love for the game. He continues to rehab and recover from numerous hip and knee injuries—and now a sports hernia surgery.

He continues to work hard to come back from these injuries and start at goaltender for the Islanders. One can only wonder if this injury is just a speed bump in a comeback or just another sign that his body can not hold up to be a NHL goaltender.

For now, the Islanders will have to move on without Dipietro.

The Islanders are expected to continue with Evgeni Nabokov and Kevin Poulin for the time being. Al Montoya will replace Poulin once he is ready to return from a concussion.

With Dipietro out of the picture, and hopefully a trade of Nabokov, Montoya has a chance to take the starting goaltender job and run with it all the way to the 2012-13 season.

The Islanders will try to bounce back from a loss against the Philadelphia Flyers when they play the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.