If you guys haven’t heard the news yet, here it is:

Wade Dubielewicz has signed a one-way contract for the 2007-2008 season.

I know it’s not Ryan Smyth or Jason Blake, but Dubie has earned the right to remain on the Islanders and it’s great that the organization did the right thing here and rewarded “Yoda” for playing his heart out during the last week of the season. Again, while the Islanders will have bigger fish to fry [no fish sticks pun there, I just like the cliché] trying to hold on to Smyth, Blake, Poti and a few other players from going elsewhere this offseason, signing Dubie was a must.

For one, the guy has spent his whole entire professional career in the organization and has always played well whenever he has been called upon. I don’t know how you guys feel about this, but I come from the school of thought that you have to help people that really go above and beyond the call of duty and stick their necks out for you and in the case of Dubie, he’s been nothing short of stellar for the Islanders and without him, I dare say they may have not made the playoffs.

Another reason why I love this deal is because Mike Dunham managed to wear out his welcome pretty fast and proved down the stretch, despite some solid games earlier in the season, that he was no longer capable of backing up DP. At times, it just seemed like he didn’t have the killer instinct and composure the Islanders [or any other team in the NHL for that matter] need out of their backup goaltender.

I mean, lets be honest here, it takes a special type of player to be able to play 15 games a season and know that regardless of how great you play, that’s all you’re going to get. Dunham wasn’t that guy. Dubie on the other hand, deserves this opportunity and I believe is more than capable of providing DiPietro with a breather every few games and can even provide the team with a boost emotionally in the process.

The only season why Dunham was signed last year is because I believe Islanders management felt that DP still had some growing up to do. Now however, DP has proven this season that he doesn’t need an experienced veteran to back him up and he can take hold of this team and be responsible for his actions of the ice [all concussions aside]. With that being said, I think DP’s dominance this year was as much a reason in Dubie’s contract signing as was his own stellar play over the last week of the season.

Despite that, it always feels great to see a hard-working guy get rewarded for his hard work. Today, one of the hardest-working players in professional hockey just got the biggest reward in his life and just shook off the label “career minor-leaguer.”

Congrats Dubie!

Now with the goaltending situation under control, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens next.