Rick DiPietro attempts to clear up 'suicide' comments

Rick DiPietro's attempt to joke about the depression he's suffered during his injury-plagued NHL career was taken seriously by many, so he's since attempted to make it clear he was being facetious.

A tweet by New 12 Long Island's Kevin Maher mentioning DiPietro's injuries, hatred of fans and thoughts of killing himself caught the attention of national media and NHL writers.

https://twitter.com/KMaherNews12/status/307196053118152705

DiPietro quickly reached out to say the suicide reference was not serious.

https://twitter.com/KatieStrangESPN/status/307222692908634113

https://twitter.com/KatieStrangESPN/status/307224195119579136

In a statement from the Islanders, general manager Garth Snow said the team would look into the comments:

We are aware of Rick’s comments today and the severity of them. We will handle them internally as we do with all player matters. This is an opportunity for Rick to play lots of games in Bridgeport.”

DiPietro, who waived last week by the Islanders, signed for $4.5 million a year through 2021, but was limited by injuries to just 47 NHL game appearances during the past four seasons.

On Wednesday, he told Newsday that he was excited about being able to play games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

"The last couple of years, with all the injuries, if it's taught me anything, it's that I need to enjoy what I do," DiPietro said. "It's a good opportunity to play a lot of games and get sharp. At the end of the day, you want to compete. You want to win. That's what I want to do. "It's just playing games. You can't replicate games, game speed. I'll be able to do that here."