Well HBers. The time has indeed come. There actually IS a Rick DiPietro in goalie pads taking a full practice. I would like to report, as many have before me since they got to a computer WAAAAY before I did today, Rick looked GREAT! Okay, I told him he could at least take some soft scrub to his white pads since they are heavily marked up, but other than that, he did well.

There was no grimmacing and no timid movements. There was even the signature yapping back at those attacking the net. Most importantly, there was the smile in the locker room. Rick is back. This is the Rick that we have all come to know and love.

He sat next to Marty Biron in the locker room chatting, laughing and just being Rick. I haven't seen that smile in so long, I didn't think it existed any more. But that smile is one huge telling factor -- he's almost ready.

As you may have heard, the plan is for Rick to play in Bridgeport for a few games as a conditioning stint. I asked him if he had been there to watch any games, but he said he hasn't. Now, he'll have the best seat in the house -- the net. A lot of outlets are reporting a Saturday night game possibility. Sadly, I can't make that. But if Rick is in Bridge for any length of time, I'm gong to have to make it a point to get there!

The recovery period was so long for this ball of energy, so I asked him whether he took up any new hobbies while he was recouperating. "Well, I read a lot. And I've been cooking. I love cooking."

Uh oh! Chef Bruno has a little competition now! Maybe they can do an "Iron Chef" fund raiser of a sort. I know a lot of people that would show up for that.

So while some reports have Rick being back the middle of December, I'll say, as I have all along, he will probably be the Islander fans Christmas gift. But he better clean those pads... or get new ones.

**Also! Andy Sutton was at practice today in street clothes. When they are now calling for 2 - 4 weeks out for big Andy Sutton, I'm thinking he'll find a way to come back on the low end of that scale.

However, with Frans Nielsen being upgraded to "day - to - day," that doesn't bode well for our spare center, Robbie Schremp, to find any ice time beyond POSSIBLY Thursday. I was going to stay and ask Scott Gordon if Robbie will ever see the ice, but was talked out of it.

Okay, I did spend a good 20 minutes with Garth Snow and a few minutes with Jack Hillen. So I will have to transcribe all of that before I can post it.

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