Sunday, September 21, 2003

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

WHEELING, W.Va. -- Rick DiPietro has been in Marc-Andre Fleury's skates. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, touted as a franchise goaltender and expected by many to step into the New York Islanders' net right away and shine.

Only his story followed a far less glamorous path.

Instead, DiPietro went 3-15-1 in the NHL in the season after being drafted and ended up spending the bulk of it in the minor leagues. The next two years, he spent only 10 games with the Islanders and the rest in the minors. Only now, at age 22, is he finally poised to beat out veteran Garth Snow and become the starter at the NHL level.

Which is why he is advising caution to the Penguins in deciding whether to keep Fleury, the No. 1 overall pick in the June draft, in the NHL this season.

"I've heard nothing but good things about him, that he's talented, a very skilled guy," DiPietro said after facing the Penguins in a preseason game Friday at the Wheeling Civic Center. "But he's 18. He doesn't want to sit on the bench, and neither will Pittsburgh want that for him. He needs time to grow, time to get his games in. This is the time for him to mature."

DiPietro said he understands why Fleury wants to stay in Pittsburgh this season, having felt the same way three years ago. Confident to the point of cockiness after starring at Boston University, he was angry when the Islanders sent him to the minors to start 2000-01. Fleury cannot play in the minors this season because of NHL rules but can be returned to his junior team.

"When you get drafted and you're that young, it's a competitive feeling. You want to prove things. But looking back on the whole thing, it was unbelievably beneficial for me not to play in the NHL right away. I went down and played so much. In playoffs, too. That really helped prepare me for this level. So, my best advice to him is to be patient. Just let it come naturally. You'll get there."

DiPietro seemed to offer less understanding for why the Penguins are entertaining keeping Fleury.

Asked if an 18-year-old can do well in an NHL goal, DiPietro replied: "It's definitely possible with the right team. At the same time, it's such a grind, and I don't know if an 18-year-old is mature enough to do that. He might be."

When DiPietro was asked to clarify what he meant by "the right team," he replied: "If you're an 18-year-old goalie, you need to be with a veteran team that's going to be solid defensively every night."

He was reminded that the Penguins will be one of the league's youngest teams and that they just dealt away Johan Hedberg, their only goaltender older than 26.

"Exactly. And that makes a big difference, too, having a veteran goalie around. I've been fortunate enough to have veterans ahead of me who were a great help. John Vanbiesbrouck. Chris Terreri. Chris Osgood. Snowy now. I learned so much just watching them in practices and games."

DiPietro added that the burden of being a No. 1 overall pick -- a distinction only he and Fleury have among goaltenders since the draft went to its current format in 1969 -- should not be dismissed, either.

"As much as you hate to say it, there's a ton of pressure. I remember how nerve-wracking my draft day was, then reading the papers all expecting a teenager to come in and win 30 games right away. It's unfair, I think. You don't wish that pressure on anyone. That's another part of what Pittsburgh needs to think about. It's not so much whether he can play. It's whether he can handle the pressure."

He paused and shook his head.

"It's going to be a tough decision for Pittsburgh. Good luck to them."

Icy chips

The two players drafted right after DiPietro were Dany Heatley and Marian Gaborik, which has brought countless unflattering assessments of the Islanders' pick that year, and DiPietro is plenty aware of it: "It's tough, but we'll see how it goes. Forwards are more ready to step in, and I think goalies have more ups and downs. You let in four or five goals, and you start doubting yourself."

Brett Hull has set aside his No. 17 sweater this preseason in favor of No. 80 to help raise money for the charitable foundation of Herb Brooks. He is autographing the sweaters -- the 80 is for the 1980 Miracle on Ice -- and donating them. Hull was with Brooks at a U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame dinner the night before he died.

Let the rhetoric begin: NHL officials told the Wall Street Journal that the league's 30 teams lost $300 million last season, up 35 percent from $218 million in 2001-02. The Penguins reported losses of $2 million to $3 million last season.

No player has paid a steeper price than Snow for the NHL's new rule restricting the height of leg pads to 38 inches. He wore 43-inch pads last season, bringing charges from many corners that he was cheating. Now that he has lost 5 inches of protection, he is fuming, saying taller goaltenders such as himself, at 6 feet 3, risk injury: "If you're a Washington Capitals season-ticket holder, are you going to be too happy when Olie Kolzig goes out with a fractured knee for a month? ... What, are we all going to wear the same size skates next year?" The NHLPA has filed a grievance on the matter.

Las Vegas odds favor the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche to win the Stanley Cup, at 4-1 each. The six teams sharing the highest odds at 100-1: Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes, Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets.

Johan Hedberg has been slowed in Vancouver's training camp by a cut above his right knee that required stitches, but he still has impressed the Canucks' management enough that he is viewed as a potential starter ahead of perennial playoff flop Dan Cloutier at some point during the season.

The Islanders complained early in camp about the condition of the ice at the Wheeling Civic Center, Alexei Yashin and Arron Asham going so far as to publicly deem it unsuitable for a player of Mario Lemieux's stature before learning he would not accompany the Penguins there Friday. But reports after the first preseason game were more positive.

Ron Francis, who will be 41 on March 1, is entering his 23rd NHL season and still will not predict when he might end his magnificent career. He is in the final year of a contract that will pay him $4 million and will not make an announcement on his future until after the season. "When I know the time is right," he told the Raleigh News & Observer, "I'll probably send you a fax from some island, someplace where I'm sitting down having a pina colada."

Only 19 days until the puck drops between Lemieux and Jason Allison.

Dejan Kovacevic can be reached at dkovacevic@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1938.

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