Avery Faces Win-Win Situation With Rangers
While most NHL fans are eagerly awaiting the annual insanity that is Wednesday’s trading deadline, those same fans will get a compelling appetizer today when the Dallas Stars place forward Sean Avery on re-entry waivers with the intention of parting with him forever. Clearly, no tears will be shed in Dallas, even as owner Tom Hicks sees more of his cash circle down the drain.↵↵The erstwhile winger will be packing his bags in Hartford and making about a two-hour drive to Madison Square Garden in order to join the Rangers well in time for Thursday night’s game against the Islanders in the New York Suburbs. That is, if all goes according to plan and no other team decides to spoil the carefully laid plans of New York Rangers General Manager Glen Sather by putting in their own waiver claim on Avery by Noon on Tuesday. ↵
↵↵UPDATE: It’s a done deal. Avery is back with the Rangers.↵
↵↵Of course, this is not the same New York Rangers team that Avery parted with last season when he suffered a mysterious spleen injury that left him hospitalized in the midst of a playoff series with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Gone from that team are Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Martin Straka and all the offensive punch those three provided. ↵
↵
↵But the most important change of all has to be behind the bench, where the mild-mannered Tom Renney has been replaced by the hard-charging John Tortorella. In case you weren't paying attention, Tortorella spent a lot of his time behind a microphone at Canada's TSN earlier this season berating Avery and his approach to the game. Although Sather has assured the hockey world that his new head coach will learn to love Avery the same way he does. Forgive me if I think the relationship has all the potential of the pairing of Latrell Sprewell and PJ Carlesimo. ↵
↵↵Then again, if Avery continues to play his cards right, the potential remains for him to completely rehabilitate himself. Despite the fact that he’s spent the better part of this season in exile, the time away hasn’t cost Avery one red cent, something that won’t change if the Rangers snap him up. If the team reverses its current fortunes with Avery in the lineup, he’ll inevitably get more than his fair share of the credit. If it doesn’t, then everyone will simply conclude that the season was lost anyway thanks to an ill-conceived roster that was put together by Sather. Either way, Avery wins, which somehow always seems to be the case no matter how many franchises want to give up on him.↵
↵
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
See More:
