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Islanders place Rick DiPietro on IR; Mike Mottau’s season is over

rickdipandmott

James O’Brien

Yesterday, we passed along the good news/bad news scenario facing the New York Islanders, as Matthew Martin was suspended for two games (bad) while Kyle Okposo practiced in full gear for the first time since his preseason injury (good).

Sadly, the hard-luck Isles face a double shot of bad news today. The team announced that they placed goalie Rick DiPietro and defenseman Mike Mottau on the injured reserve. While it’s unclear how long DiPietro will be out, the team confirmed that Mottau’s season is over. Mottau’s injury requires hip surgery, so he’ll miss the rest of the 2010-11 campaign.

Both players have been dealing with plenty of adversity, injuries-wise. DiPietro’s had well-documented knee problems for years and swelling in his right knee showed the first signs that he isn’t out of the woods just yet. Mottau missed 10 games with a scary eye injury, but the only good news seems to be that his eyes might not be the issue this time around.

It’s been a dreadful season in Long Island. The only solace they can take is that they’re likely to get another lottery pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. It’s tough to imagine that DiPietro will be much more than an albatross as they try to take more deliberate, painful steps toward respectability.