Caa-raaaazzzzy....

DiPietro sticking around Long Island for a long time - NHL - Yahoo! Sports The New York Islanders continue to prove that they are indeed Crazytown of the NHL. Mr. Wang, the owner, has decided on a management by committee or something, regime. He has no hockey experience, but to say he is involved on all decisions is an understatement. This resulted in the very experienced GM they had just hired – Neil Smith – quitting over the summer. This was understandable, as the GM is supposed to have the power of hockey decisions, and the owner wasn’t letting him work. So he was replaced by Garth Snow, who had to retire first, because he was the backup goalie at the time. And now today comes word that they have just signed Rick Dipietro – their number 1 goalie – to a staggering 15 year, 67.5 million dollar contract. This is unheard of in the NHL. The money isn’t so bad – it equals 4.5 million per season for a goalie who won 30 games last year – but the length is sheer stupidity. They will be paying Dipietro until he turns 40 in 2022. Not too many goalies are still top tier at 40. The thing is the Islanders were also the ones who handed out the insane 10 year deal to Alexei Yashin. That one was worse financially, and has been an albatross to the organization since it happened. (Kudos to Ottawa who wound up getting Jason Spezza as part of the deal that sent underachiever Yashin to NY). I guess those that don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Should be fun to watch the Islanders this year…