Did I think it was a mater of Rick’s ego coming into play behind those comments? No, and here is why – the press was clearly pushing in a direction he didn’t want to hear about and he was just as frustrated in the game as anyone else.

There were a bunch of other quotes from DiPietro that were worthy of posting, but I didn’t feel the need to post them as the media used just about everyone one (save for the one I posted). I like to be different when I can.

Groucho, I can see your point of view and agree to a point – there are times when DiPietro SHOULD make an easy save and DOESN’T and I definately hear you on his gaffes while playing the puck.

Interesting stuff on DP. The goaltending position requires such constant energy and attention, it’s got to really piss him off to see so many consecutive poor efforts in front of him while he’s busting his tail.

Thanks for responding and, yes, I am serious. It’s very odd to me that when a game is won people say it was Rick who did it (and he doesn’t argue), but when the team loses he calls out his teammates. I can count many a time he has been out of the net playing a puck when he shouldn’t have been. There are also numerous plays when he was out of the net where one of his defensemen stopped the puck because he was way out of position. The past couple of games, including the Montreal game, he wasn’t even blocked and he was scored on. I am not asking him to have top 5 goalie numbers, but top 20 would be nice.

Let’s call a spade a spade. Your comment assumes that he is seeing more shots than other goalies. He’s really not if you look at stats all across the league. The reason that you have a goalie is to block shots that get by the defense. He’s not doing that. Also note that the save percentage he has, which is mediocre at best, doesn’t rely on the number of shots taken, so all goalies are on a level playing field mathematically.

He’s not terrible, but he certainly is not fantastic. My point is merely this. I watch alot of hockey. I can honestly say that the goalies are few and far between who call out their team, but don’t take some blame themselves. His teammates in Bridgeport used to say that he needed two seats on the bus to away games, one for him and one for his ego. There is no question that he has the right to call out his teammates, but they call it a TEAM for a reason.