Rick DiPietro out indefinitely with knee swelling

UPDATE: After working out, Rick DiPietro just talked to reporters about the swelling in his knee. DiPietro sounded upbeat and said his trip to the doctor was  "precautionary"

DiPietro was relieved to hear that all tests showed that his left knee is structurally sound and surmised that the issue resulted from kicking it into high gear after 7-8 days off for the Olympic break.

"You don't want to turn something minor into something major," DiPietro said.

DiPietro said he first noticed the stiffness yesterday afternoon after practice and, with the advice of the team's medical staff, decided to get it checked out this morning.

"We've come so far that to do something stupid would not be good," DiPietro said.

DiPietro said his visit eased his concern about the situation.

"It's like anything, you fear the worst and hope the best and this is as close to the best as possible. This is a big thing we're battling back from here and we don't want to do anything foolish to ruin all the hard work we've put into it."

UPDATE: Rick DiPietro is out indefinitely with swelling in his knee. He will not play tomorrow.

DiPietro, who began rehabbing a surgically-repaired knee back in August, did not practice Monday afternoon. Instead he paid a visit to the doctor to get his leg checked up.

At this point, the assumption is that the swelling is his left knee, but that has yet to be confirmed.