Martin Biron Joins A Wall of Goalies in New York

One has to wonder about the status of Rick DiPietro after the New York Islanders went out and signed unrestricted free agent starting goalie Martin Biron. DiPietro who was taken first overall by New York back in 2000 has been the undisputed number one goalie on the Island and is currently in the mist of a lucrative 15 year contract that doesn’t run out until the 2020/21 season. In recent years this 27 year-old has been haunted by an assortment of hip, concussion and knee injuries. Last year the Islanders came under some heavy criticism for signing DiPietro to such a long- term contract when the eight- year veteran saw action in only four games. Not much has been said about the status of this Mass. native who sat out the last 41 games of the season with a badly swollen knee. While nothing is being said verbally New York who finished 15^th in the Eastern Conference are saying a lot with their actions. On July 1 when the free agent market opened up GM Garth Snow went out and signed veteran starter Dwayne Roloson to a two year contract. This 39 year-old who was drafted by the Calgary Flames back in 1994 started 63 games for the Edmonton Oilers last year where he won a respectable 28 games and posted a 2.77 GAA. At the time of the signing I remember wondering why a goalie who is used to being a starter would eagerly sign a contract to be the number two man. If that wasn’t puzzling enough the Islanders perhaps out of sheer panic at the condition of DiPietro went out and signed another respectable starter in the 31 year-old Biron. When asked about DiPietro management said that he will be skating in August and should be ready for training camp. “Adding Marty gives us three bona-fide number one goalies,” said Snow. “We learned about the importance of stability in our line-up from last year and he now allows us to have another quality starter.” Last season Biron who was drafted first round in 1995 by the Buffalo Sabres is coming off a solid year with the Philadelphia Flyers that saw him win 29 games and post a 2.76 GAA. In signing this Quebec native who excelled in just under three seasons as the starter in Philly (Posting a 65-47-16 record) one doesn’t have to be a genius in figuring out that DiPietro’s knee injury is more serious than the team is letting on.