Exit Vinnie - enter Seanny?

With Vaclav (his name is not Vinnie) Prospal out for at least 10 days after knee surgery - a slot has opened up on the Rangers top line - next to Gaborik and Dubinsky.

And you know what I think. I think it is time to bring Mr. Sean Avery back up where he belongs

Why Sean? Well, he has played up there before when Dubinsky was hurt and showed himself to be a perfect compliment to Marian Gaborik.

1 - Avery digs in the corners and behind the net and has this uncanny ability to deliver the puck to a shooter just where he needs it. And when that shooter is Marian Gaborik - who scores on one of every five shots, well - you do the math.

2 - Sean also has no problem standing in front of an opposing goalie - screening him, annoying him, getting his attention. All of those things help Gaborik work his magic

3 - And also - Sean is the ultimate distracter. Opposing players hate him. They don't like the horrendous things he says - the antics he pulls - and his general personality. If you put Sean on line 3 he distracts opponents from, say Lisin or Drury. But on Line 1 Sean would distract opponents away from Marian Gaborik - which is a much better idea.

4 - Avery has the best plus-minus of any Ranger forward other than our top liners: Dubi, Gabi, and Vinnie. And he's managed that without being on ice for most of Gaborik's 25 goals. The reason his plus-minus is so much better than Drury's or Callahan's or Kotalik's or Lisin's or Boyle's or Higgins is that Sean works hard - on offense and defense. He's a 2 way player who hustles and hits shift after shift.

So there you have it. John Tortorella - the Blueshirt Brothers are imploring you (editor - that means asking). Please promote Sean to Line One. And keep him there for at least a week or two. I'm sure you'll see results.
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Loose Pucks: the New York Times coverage of Vaclav Prospal's arthroscopic surgery? Non-existent (editor - Dave Pucks means there wasn't any).

And a shout out to Mike, a mighty Blueshirt Brothers reader who pointed out that I was incorrect yesterday in posting that Prospal has the 2nd highest number of goals scored on the Rangers with 8. It's really Ryan Callahan with 9. Thanks for the assist Mike.
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Where We Stand: Still in 9th place. Tied with 8th place Atlanta with 40 points and just 1 point behiind the 7th place Montreal team that has played three more games than we have.