Rick DiPietro Rick DiPietro ( born September 19 , 1981 in Winthrop , Massachusetts ) is a professional American goaltender who currently plays for the NHL ' s New York Islanders . He studied at Saint Sebastian ' s School but left after his sophomore year to play junior hockey in Michigan . Collegiate career . DiPietro played one season ( 1999 - 2000 ) with Boston University in the NCAA ' s Hockey East . In that one year , DiPietro was named to the All - Rookie Team , named Second Team All - Hockey East , awarded the team ' s Co - MVP and was named Hockey East ' s Rookie of the Year . In addition , DiPietro nearly set the NCAA record for most saves in a game when he stopped 77 out of 80 shots in a 3 - 2 quadruple overtime loss to St . Lawrence during the NCAA regional final ( record is 78 and held by Dick Greenlaw ) . In his one and only Beanpot Tournament , DiPietro was named MVP and won the Eberly Trophy awarded to the tournament ' s top goaltender . Professional career . He was drafted first overall by the Islanders in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft , out of Boston University , prompting them to trade Roberto Luongo . DiPietro was the first goaltender ever to be selected with the number one overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft , and was just the fourth American to occupy the top draft position . Though his NHL debut was widely anticipated , and he played 20 games in the 2000 - 2001 season , he managed to post just 3 wins against 15 losses for a mediocre New York team and was sent to the minors for additional seasoning . He played for the Chicago Wolves of the IHL and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL . He played 10 games the next season ( as well as one playoff game ) before being called up for good in the 2003 - 2004 season . His goals - against average decreased from 3 . 49 in the 00 - 01 season to 2 . 36 in the 03 - 04 season . DiPietro chooses to play the puck aggressively . In contrast to many goaltenders who prefer to either let the puck go around the boards or stop it so that a teammate can pick it up , DiPietro often chooses to make a pass into the neutral zone . In certain situations , particularly on the power play , the pass can reach open forwards and create odd - man rushes or breakaways . Along with Islanders teammates Jason Blake and Mark Parrish , DiPietro was named to the US Olympic hockey team at the 2006 Olympics , held in February . DiPietro was Team USA ' s No . 1 goalie for the tournament , starting 4 of the team ' s 6 games . DiPietro went 1 - 3 with a 2 . 28 goals against average during the Olympics . On September 12 , 2006 , DiPietro signed a 15 - year , $ 67 . 5 million contract with the Islanders . It is the longest official NHL contract ever to be signed , topping former teammate Alexei Yashin ' s contract signed before the start of the 2001 - 2002 season of 10 years . [ Newsday reported that the team offered him a 15 - year contract in September 2005 , but the league discouraged this ; instead , he signed a one - year offer . On March 5 , 2007 , DiPietro broke an Islanders franchise record by making 56 saves in a 2 - 1 shootout loss to the New York Rangers . The previous record was 55 saves , held by both Felix Potvin and Billy Smith . On March 13 , 2007 DiPietro suffered a concussion after a collision with Montreal Canadiens forward Steve Begin when DiPietro raced out to poke check a puck at the blueline at 15 : 41 of the first period . DiPietro returned for four games but then missed the rest of the regular season after he sustained another concussion in game against the Rangers . DiPietro returned to play games two through five of the Islanders ' first round playoff series against the Buffalo Sabres . DiPietro underwent surgery in the 2007 off season to fix a torn labrum in his hip . DiPietro expressed a desire to minmize his impulsive behavior in the locker room and become more of a team leader . He said , " I ' m a competitive person , and I have a tendency to have a short fuse with guys sometimes . That ' s something , as a leader , that you just can ' t do . " International Play . Played for United States in :