That didn't take long.
Ranger GM Glen Sather and the man he
hired, Ranger Coach John Tortorella, agree on many things. But Sean
Avery has never been one of them.
Back in 2008, when Sean was kicked off
the Dallas Stars for using the term “sloppy seconds” to describe
two of his famous ex-girlfriends (Elisha Cuthbert and Rachel Hunter),
John Tortorella, whom was a commentator for TSN at the time, had this
to say:
"Enough is enough. Send him home.
He doesn't belong in the league."
And when Glen Sather re-hired Avery the
Ranger GM had this prediction for John Tortorella's relationship with
Sean:
“Over time you learn to love him.”
It is now November 2011 and where Sean
Avery is concerned, Torts is a slow learner.
John cut Sean in training camp – and
sent him down to Hartford, the Ranger's AHL affiliate. We thought
we'd seen the last of Avery as a Ranger – but when the Blueshirts
skidded to 3-3-3, Glen pulled the trigger one more time and Sean was
a Ranger once again.
And after scoring goals in consecutive
games Sean was rewarded with ice time and a promotion to the 3rd
line.
But, over the weekend – the Rangers
were shut out by the Canadiens. Sean Avery had a shot on goal and a
plus minus of zero – about as well as you can do in a 4-0 defeat.
The result: John Tortorella demoted
Sean from the 3rd to the 4th line.
In practice Monday, the Rangers 4th
line looked like this:
Avery-Boyle-Deveaux
Yes – we see that by arranging the
initials we can call this the BAD line – and it is a bad step in
Sean Avery's season. Because, after a series of positive steps –
from Hartford to a healthy scratch on the Rangers, to the 4th line to
the 3rd line – Sean has slipped down a notch. And at
this tenuous moment in his career – there aren't a lot of notches
left.
No comments:
Post a Comment