The New York Islanders have started the process of buying out the long-term contract of goaltender Rick DiPietro. The Islanders placed the 31-year-old netminder on waivers on Tuesday in order to use a compliance buyout on the final eight years of his 15-year deal. DiPietro is still owed $36 million on the remainder of his $67.5 million deal that has an average annual value of $4.5 million. The Lewiston, Maine native only played in three games for the Islanders in 2012/13 before being placed on waivers and sent down to the American Hockey Leagues Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Since the 2008/09 season, DiPietro has only appeared in 50 games for the Islanders, as he has battled through numerous injuries and inconsistency. Originally selected first overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft by the Islanders, DiPietro has played in 318 NHL games with the franchise and has a 130-136-36 record and a career 2.87 goals against average. The Islanders stunned the hockey world in September of 2006 when owner Charles Wang and general manager Garth Snow signed DiPietro to the 15-year contract. The deal is the longest in NHL history, at the time surpassing the 10-year $87.5 million deal the Islanders gave to forward Alexei Yashin in 2001. The contract was set to expire after the 2020/21 season. Jason Williams Jersey . After Gasquet beat fifth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-5, 6-3, Tsonga followed up with a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2 win against sixth-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin in an all-French match. Tracy Mcgrady Jersey . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. http://www.cheapmagicjerseys.com/ .In my heart and mind Im competing for India, luge competitor Shiva Keshavan told The Associated Press in an email interview. Every day Im flooded with messages from Indians all over the world telling me they are supporting me. Dwight Howard Jersey . That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. Shaquille ONeal Jersey . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Lewis Hamilton beat Max Verstappen to the fastest time during first practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix as championship leader Nico Rosberg had to settle for third.Hamilton set his fastest time on a set of fresh soft tyres midway through the session and was on an even quicker lap on his second attempt before backing off in the middle sector. The slim margin over Verstappen suggests Red Bull has an opportunity to take the fight to Mercedes this weekend, which could be crucial for the championship if Hamilton can win the race with the two Red Bulls in second and third ahead of Rosberg.But Rosberg, who only needs to finish second or third this weekend to stay on track to beat Hamilton to the title, has had strong form in Sao Paulo in recent years and will be looking to the afternoon session to overturn the 0.230s deficit he had to his teammate in the morning. Red Bulls Daniel Ricciardo will also be hoping to improve after finishing 0.380s off teammate Verstappen and 0.476s off the best time overall set by Hamilton.Valtteri Bottas was a distant fifth for Williams, 1.2s off the pace, as Ferrari took itself out of the running for the top times by opting not to use the soft tyres during the 90 minute session. Williams and Force India look set for another close battle with Bottas just over a tenth ahead of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg and 0.dddddddddddd.189s quicker than teammate Felipe Massa in eighth. The two Ferraris were split by just 0.002s in ninth and tenth as they used the slower medium compound tyre to set times 1.67s off Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel spun off in Interlagos tricky middle sector towards the end of the session, but no obvious damage was done to the car.Carlos Sainz finished the session 11th ahead of teammate Daniil Kvyat, who experienced a puncture midway through the session. Jenson Button led McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso in 13th and 14th, with Romain Grosjean 15th despite admitting he was lost with the set-up of his car towards the end of the session.The Saubers of Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson were 16th and 17th ahead of Manors Esteban Ocon, who was just under a tenth quicker than Jolyon Palmers Renault and teammate Pascal Wehrlein in 19th and 20th. Charles Leclerc was 21st as he drove Esteban Gutierrezs Haas during FP1 while Russian Sergey Sirotkin finished 22nd after an outing in Kevin Magnussens Renault. ' ' '