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Questions began to arise in the last few days after Rick DiPietro wasn't even dressed during the last three consecutive games playing for SC Riessersee in Germany. Scheduled to play last Thursday, he wasn't dressed yet again.

DiPietro had played two poor games, giving up a few soft goals and mishandling the puck. He didn't exactly make the debut he and the team had hoped for.

Then it came. A post of an article on the official Facebook of SC Riessersee, roughly translated, reveals that DiPietro is out do to a groin injury.

It wouldn't be a far stretch to say that this is more than likely the same groin problem that sidelined DiPietro for the remainder of the 2011-2012 season.

While it doesn't come as a shock to anyone that DiPietro is injured again, what the repercussions will be if the lockout ends are unknown. As the bargaining talks continue, if an amnesty buyout clause is included it will begin to look more and more attractive if DiPietro can't stay healthy for more than two measly games.

No one questions the guy's desire to play. At the same time, if it only took 120 minutes to find him once again sidelined by injury, it may be time for the Islanders organization to finally accept the fact that his body can no longer handle game play.

At this point, it would be foolish to not consider a discounted buyout instead of hanging onto hope that he shows up for a few games this season, only to be injured again and then be bought out at full price.

It comes down to this: Did we really expect him to not get hurt while playing in Germany?



Edit: Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post apparently spoke to Rick and he denied there being any injury stating it's "not true at all."

Suffice to say, that either a newspaper article posted on the teams very own facebook was dishonest, or Rick is being dishonest.

Why would he not start a game he was slated to start and not even be dressed for three before it? Only Rick and the team knows the real answer.