Rick DiPietro earns a regular show on ESPN New York Radio

Rick DiPietro's budding radio career began Aug. 11, when he first joined Alan Hahn to form a summer fill-in team on ESPN New York Radio.

Less than two months later, the former Islanders goaltender appears to be on the road to a serious post-playing career in media.

The station is set to announce a new daily lineup Friday, and it includes Hahn and DiPietro as the 7 to 10 p.m. co-hosts. Ryan Ruocco and Dave Rothenberg will be heard from noon to 1 p.m. and Mike Lupica from 1 to 3 p.m. Ruocco also will become a regular contributor on Michael Kay's 3 to 7 p.m. show.

On many nights during the autumn and winter, Hahn and DiPietro will be pre-empted by Knicks or Rangers games as well as other events such as the Major League Baseball playoffs. But the assignment culminated a rapid ascension that began with the pair getting positive reviews from their first week on the air.

Hahn, a studio analyst for Knicks games on MSG, has known DiPietro well since his days as the Islanders beat reporter for Newsday. He said earlier this month that he long had suggested to DiPietro that he would be a sports talk radio natural, and convinced him to come along this summer.

DiPietro, 33, who lives in Oyster Bay, has not played since a minor-league game in Charlotte last November. He has not officially retired, but he told Newsday in early September his health will not allow him to play for now.

"Everything's kind of in flux," he said. "Mind says yes, body says no . . . If the opportunity arises, it's something I might think about. But it's been a struggle for the last couple of years trying to figure that out because everything's falling apart. I do not want to play if I can't perform at the level that I think is acceptable."

SEE PHOTOSThe ups and downs of Rick DiPietro