NHL

Oft-injured goalie says he’ll play again after Islanders ouster

There was no waver in his voice, no second-guessing, no questioning.

Rick DiPietro wants to play hockey again.

“I’m still a young man,” DiPietro told The Post yesterday, the day the oft-injured goalie cleared waivers and was bought out by the Islanders, the only NHL team he has ever played for. “I think a lot of people think of me as an old, washed-up guy, but I’m only 31 and I haven’t gotten a chance over the past couple years here to get back being healthy.”

After a lengthy list of mostly knee and hip surgeries, DiPietro was able to play only 50 games for the Islanders the past five seasons. General manager Garth Snow placed him on waivers Tuesday, and when he cleared at noon yesterday, the team used its first compliance buyout to wipe off the salary cap the $32 million over eight years it still owed him. As per the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, DiPietro will receive $1.5 million annually for the next 16 years.

But that is not a retirement cushion for the netminder, whom the Islanders made the No. 1-overall pick in the 2000 draft. DiPietro has battled hard times during his injuries, but he feels like he’s not entirely removed from his lone All-Star appearance in 2008 or his job as the starting goaltender for Team USA in the 2006 Turin Olympics.

“I just want to be feeling good on the ice and have no reservations,” said DiPietro, who was working out in anticipation of returning to compete for the Islanders’ starting job. “I’m feeling that way now, so I’m excited for an opportunity. Hopefully something will come up and I’ll get back to where I want to be.”

Now the question is where that next opportunity will arise — if it arises at all. DiPietro was open to signing a two-way contract, meaning he could be sent back and forth from the minors. But he is also not about to start predicting the future, having already traversed a fate that few would wish on their worst enemy.

“I think as an athlete you use every little thing for motivation and give you that edge to train and work,” “The last couple years, you can’t choose to get injured,” DiPietro said. or not get injured It’s just part of the sport and it happens. I’ve gotten to a point now where I feel good and I feel healthy and hopefully that translates onto the ice.

DiPietro played just three games for the Islanders last season before he was demoted to the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers. There, he played in 18 games and finished with a record of 9-9-0, a 2.93 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage.

“It was an extremely tough decision to use the compliance buyout on Rick’s contract,” Snow said in a statement. “His drive to win games and compete at the highest level for the New York Islanders was never questioned. With Rick back at 100-percent health, we wish him nothing but the best as he continues to pursue his career.”

Snow was the GM in name only when DiPietro was handed his landmark 15-year, $67.5 million contract by owner Charles Wang in September 2006. After that, there were some good times, but mostly bad.

Now DiPietro is left without a team, without a contract, and hoping to pick up the pieces. But just as has always been the case, when asked if he wants to keep going, the cocky kid from Winthrop, Mass., would not, could not, hesitate.

“No question at all,” he said, and so it goes.