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Injuries, fan hatred made DiPietro contemplate suicide (Updated)

Rick DiPietro

When the New York Islanders placed Rick DiPietro on waivers last week, it felt like “they ripped my heart out, stabbed it, set it on fire and flushed it down the toilet.”

That’s apparently what the 31-year-old goalie told News 12 Long Island in an interview with anchor Kevin Maher.

More disturbingly, DiPietro also reportedly said his much publicized, and oft ridiculed, struggles with injuries -- along with losing, and all the hatred from fans -- made him contemplate suicide.

The full interview will run later today.

(Update: DiPietro tells the New York Post’s Brett Cyrgalis he was being “100 percent” facetious about contemplating suicide.

It should be noted he’s made light of his situation in this way before. Last April,
he told the New York Times: “There were times I was driving over the Throgs Neck Bridge and I thought I’d veer right and end it. It’s tough times. This is a tough business. Physically, it’s hard, but mentally, it’s incredible. I always say you’ve got to laugh to keep from crying, because there are those days when you sit in the stands, and your teammates are like a family.”)

DP didn’t make fun of suicide, instead told @kmahernews12 how important his wife was to him, and w/o her, “I might have driven into a tree.”

— Brett Cyrgalis (@BrettCyrgalis) February 28, 2013


(Update: Click here to watch the interview.)DiPietro -- currently with AHL Bridgeport -- has a contract that runs through 2020-21 with an annual salary (and cap hit) of $4.5 million, though it’s possible the Islanders could buy him out after the season.

I asked DiPietro if he thinks he’s still part of the Islanders future plans. He said, “I don’t know.” @news12li

— Kevin Maher (@KMaherNews12) February 28, 2013