The Problem with Sean Avery

People keep saying Wade Redden needs to be in Hartford, that the Rangers don’t have a plan B if he plays well. There are concerns that Redden could be a bad influence on the kids in the A if he does go there. Well, there’s another player that maybe the Rangers haven’t accounted for and that’s Sean Avery. The Grate One has never seemed to click with Tortorella; left wing seems crowded with Prospal, Frolov and Dubinsky all competition at the spot and then there’s Avery’s infamous personality.

It needs to be repeated that Avery can be a very effective player for the Rangers. It could be said that Avery needs to be effective for this year’s club to be a playoff team. The problem is, where will he play? Avery needs minutes. Tortorella banished him to the 4th line once before and he was ineffective. Avery is best when he’s on the 2nd line making a nuisance of himself, going to the corners and being pro active. A line featuring Avery and Callahan on the flanks makes for a nice two-way, forechecking compliment to the Gaborik/Frolov line. Will it get a chance? Time will tell.

Avery needs to make the team or surely he won’t be in New York. Regardless of Redden’s cap hit going to Connecticut it’s hard to see how the Rangers can afford Avery’s cap hit to linger if he isn’t playing. It’s also hard to imagine they want his personality to linger if he’s not playing but right now there really doesn’t seem an opening for him. This is an issue that potentially won’t go away until either Avery plays on opening night or he’s moved (an unlikely scenario). The Coach keeps insisting he sees Dubinsky at wing, Frolov wasn’t brought in to be anything less than a primetime scorer and Prospal won’t be outside the top six (regardless whether that be at center or wing) so really it seems Avery is being tabbed, at best, for a 3rd line job however there seems to be an awful lot of players competing for spots on that line. If Avery doesn’t play do we really see him making his way to Hartford? It’s not a good scenario for any party involved.

Sean Avery and everything that he is, is a distraction. When it’s to the opposition it’s a good thing and the Rangers are better for it but if he doesn’t play, doesn’t play well and often he will become a distraction to the Rangers, and the NY media. It would be an unwelcome distraction.

How Does Sean Avery Fit?

It’s a pretty safe assumption that not many players divide opinion like Sean Avery.

Is he a legitimate offensive threat? Is he a threat to the safety of the opposition or is he just a threat to his own team? This coming season is one of transition for the Rangers and despite the likelihood of minimal change to personnel (at least to start the season) it’s not clear where the ‘Grate one’ fits.

Without debate Avery can provide a unique dynamic to the Rangers and when he’s on he’s a valuable tool that a lot of sides cannot deal with. Avery has a healthy scoring total of 96 points in 144 games for the Rangers over parts of four seasons.  That equates to a 54 point season if you crudely looked for an average and we all know about the famously banded-about stats of  the Rangers with Avery in the line up and Avery out of the line up during his first run on Broadway. The way Avery arrived in New York in ‘07 (scoring 20 points in 29 games) showed what he can do offensively. The way he drove Martin Brodeur to despair in the playoffs showed what he can do antagonistically. So why could Avery not do it for Tortorella? Offensively, last year was a poor one for Avery scoring just 0.44 points per game compared to his Rangers average of 0.66 p/g.  Too often he played what seemed timidly and this is a direct consequence of fearing the coaches’ backlash. Too often we didn’t see the abrasive element of his game and this badly affected the Rangers. However we also saw how valuable he can be to the Rangers. In the game 82 decider in Philly – with both Avery and Callahan missing – the Rangers simply couldn’t establish a fore-check, get sustained pressure in the Flyers end and therefore allowed the Flyers the chance to bombard Lundqvist and the Rangers. If it wasn’t for the heroics of the ‘King’ the game would have been over much earlier than it was. Avery’s presence in that game (assuming he was in ‘Avery-mode’) would have helped.

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No Lineup Changes for Tomorrow

As per the beat writers on Twitter; Ryan Callahan, Sean Avery and Brian Boyle did not skate at practice today and will not play tonight. Also, it looks like coach John Tortorella will be keeping the same lineup as he did against the Islanders, with Matt Gilroy and Enver Lisin being sent to the Prucha Box. So despite playing a combined 15 minutes in the last game, Anders Eriksson and Corey Locke will remain in the lineup tonight tomorrow against Tampa Bay. It is safe to assume the lines will look the same as they did against the Islanders on Tuesday:

Dubinsky-Christensen-Gaborik
Prospal-Locke-Drury
Voros-Jokinen- Parenteau
Shelley-Anisimov-Prust

Henrik Lundqvist will be in net todaytomorrow, for his 800th start in a row.

Practice Tidbits

With the Rangers still mathematically in the playoff hunt, they took to the ice for practice today without alternate captain Ryan Callahan for a second straight day. Sean Avery participated in practice, returning after a one day absence. Both wingers were injured in the Rangers loss to the Bruins on Sunday.

One Swift Kick, Avery Delivers

In case you were living under a rock for the past few days, which is possible considering a ton of people lost power over the weekend, then you missed some Sean Avery drama. First, he was scratched in Atlanta. The reason being that he was not engaged enough, and that he hasn’t been Sean Avery in many games this year. Then, he was reinserted back into the lineup against Philly, a game where both teams had their heavyweights dressed because of that whole Dan Carcillo incident.

What happened during that game was Avery at his best. He scored two goals, he was hitting everyone in sight, he was drawing penalties. He was doing what he is paid to do, be a pest. He coaxed Scott Hartnell into dropping his gloves, drawing a roughing minor on that particular caveman. More importantly, he was a contributing factor in a must win game.

The Rangers now sit just one point out of a playoff spot, but 8th place Boston has two games in hand. The Rangers’ have two of their three games are the most crucial games of the year. They face Montreal, the #7 team in the East, then St. Louis, then they face off against those Bruins. The first and the last games will be the determining factor of the Rangers playoff chances. If they win both, then I think that they will sneak into the playoffs. If not, then, well, I don’t think they can get in. That game against Boston on Sunday is the most important game of the season.

The Avery Effect

“I know what’s been asked of me, so whenever I get my next opportunity that’s certainly the thing I’m going to have to do. I’m gonna keep that to myself.”

Ever since John Tortorella became head coach, Sean Avery hasn’t been himself. At his best, Avery is an agitator, who can chip in scoring. He can make plays, with his mouth and with his stick. For all his antics, he actually is a really good player.

But, we saw that good player under Tom Renney. Renney didn’t have a leash on Avery. He let him go. That’s part of the problem with Renney. Some said he was too soft. Not on Avery.

So, when Torts was brought in, we all thought he would bring accountability. And he has, to some degree. He benched Avery after his antics in Game 4 of the Washington series (I was at that game. It wasn’t that bad. And the Rangers won, so who cares? But I digress). He’s benching him after his recent bad play.

But, Avery hasn’t been himself. He’s not being as physical. He’s not chatting up the other players. And he’s not scoring. Watch this video:

While I still disagree with what Avery did, it serves a greater point. He was agitating the other team, and then he scored. That was a classic Avery shift (side note: I love when Drury sort of punches Avery, telling him to stop screen Brodeur like that. People say he’s an awful captain, but that’s what a captain does). When Avery was on that 5-on-3, he was in the front of the net, making things happen. He doesn’t do that anymore. And part of it is because of Torts.

I think Torts has been an okay coach for the Rangers. But, his odd way of reprimanding Avery for playing his game, has cost the Rangers points. Why do you think the Rangers have such a bad home record? When Avery is at his best, the crowd is fired up. The crowd hasn’t been fired up lately.

We’ll see what this Avery benching does, to the team and to Sean. If it’s just one game, how will Avery respond? Will he come back as his self? Or will he try to impress Torts, and play a conservative game? So much for Safe is Death.

Avery Scratched

Sean Avery will be a healthy scratch tonight. Don’t know who is replacing him in the lineup Enver Lisin is taking Avery’s place. He is not “engaged” enough. Have no idea what that means.

So much for seeing him on the fourth line.

Avery to Fourth Line

Via the beat writers’ twitters (literally all of them), Sean Avery was moved to the fourth line during practice yesterday, skating with Jody Shelley, Brian Boyle, Enver Lisin, and Aaron Voros. Brandon Prust was moved up to a line with Erik Christensen and Chris Drury. This makes line change #13,427 on the year, thus our slogan “More consistent than John Tortorella’s lines”. These will presumably be the lines for tonight’s game against Atlanta.

When Avery was playing under Tom Renney, he was getting solid minutes, and was able to play his game. His game involves getting into a rhythm offensively while disrupting the opposing stars. Under Tortorella, his time has slowly diminished, thus eliminating the “Avery Factor”. Under the new regime, Avery is just another $2 million fourth liner.

Really don’t know what to make of that one.

Avery-isms

As part of my other venture with Stalking Steve Phillips, I penned an article with some good Sean Avery quotes. We Ranger fans love Avery and his antics, and these quotes are pretty solid. Check out the article here.

The Sean Avery Hat Trick

In tonight’s game thread, Jeremy predicted a Gordie Howe hat trick for Sean Avery against his former team. We got one better, as Avery created his own hat trick tonight (this phrase was coined by old BSB author Stas, so full credit goes to him). What exactly is a Sean Avery hat trick? Well, it’s a goal, an assist, and a 10 minute misconduct.

Let us take this moment to congratulate Avery on his own hat trick, it truly is amazing to have your own hat trick in hockey.

Update 9:55pm Quote of the night from Avery:

Stan Fischler: What was different about tonight?
Avery: I was getting paid by two teams.