No Avery vs. Capitals

However, Sean Avery believes he should be available for Sunday's afternoon match with the Ducks. Avery skated today in an orange, non-contact jersey and said afterwards he's just trying to be careful.

"I think I'm just going to give it a couple of more days to make sure I'm as close to 100 percent as I can be," said Avery, who later added there's some lingering soreness but nothing out of the ordinary.

"I would say, barring anything happening from here to there, it's a pretty good chance," Avery said of playing Sunday.

Avery, who participated in some "battle drills" today for the first time since spraining his right knee on Sept. 21, said, in the past, he's come back perhaps too quickly from hand and shoulder injuries. Avery said he would skate after tomorrow's morning skate in Washington, then get a full practice in Saturday. That sounded like the Rangers might be off Friday but we won't know that schedule until late Thursday.

"I'm not saying I'm not effective at 85-90 percent but it's not fair to the team and to myself to do it this year," Avery said. "It's not game 80 of a playoff race."

"I think it's better for the team and better for myself in the long run," Avery added.
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The question, of course, is where does Avery fit in when he returns. His career would suggest he's a third liner, even though he has underrated skating ability and good scoring instincts. So would that make Avery-Artem Anisimov-Ales Kotalik?

Or, could you tinker with everything? Originally, I thought the Rangers might move Prospal to center to free up a left wing spot, which would eliminate Boyle's spot in the lineup. But Prospal with Brandon Dubinsky and Marian Gaborik has been good enough to not break up.

First off, today's lines stayed the same:
Vinny Prospal-Brandon Dubinsky-Marian Gaborik
Christopher Higgins-Chris Drury-Ryan Callahan
Enver Lisin-Anisimov-Kotalik
Donald Brashear-Brian Boyle-Aaron Voros
Wade Redden-Matt Gilroy
Michael Del Zotto-Michal Rozsival
Marc Staal-Dan Girardi
Assuming Henrik Lundqvist gets the start. (The guess here is that Steve Valiquette plays Monday against the Maple Leafs at the Garden after Lundqvist starts Sunday against the Ducks).

"He's such a good skater, he's such a good athlete," captain Chris Drury said of Avery. "In this system, he's going to create a lot of havoc for the other teams. When he and the rest of us nail this whole total system that Torts is teaching us, I think he's really going to flourish. He's going to do well at it. One of Sean's biggest assets is he gets up in the play and finishes his checks with the best of them."

Comments

[LI Joe]

sounded like avery is maturing with his comments

i think he should not play sun and mon but rather 1 or the other. his 1st 2 games should not be back to back - coming off a knee injury. he would also be subjected to 3 in 4 days by following that up with wednesday.

maybe valley will play sun since its a western team? instead of against toronto.

[LI Joe]

someone on another blog said with blueshirt bulletin having issues they were running out of rangers info.

i don't go to this too much but i think they're pretty good and provide a few links along the way. they even had this nugget if you scroll down on their site. BOB is very very happy today.

"During last night’s 6-5 overtime win over the Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers center and former Ranger Blair Betts separated his shoulder and will be out a month.

http://www.snyrangersblog.com/

[LI Joe]

meant another thread here not another blog

[Mike]

Yea I saw that. He went down awkwardly after a face off, and tried to brace himself. You could see the grimace on his face... ouch!

[Matty]

Too bad about Blair, I saw that and it sucked for him ... he's had shoulder issues in the past before he became a Ranger ... The Flyers are such a weird team when it comes to injuries ... *knock on wood*

[Charles]

LI Joe, was that comment about Bob really necessary? Please practice what you preach.

[Mark]

LI JOE- Is it true that Dubi is retiring from blueshirtbulletin, and they have another guy taking over the site and magazine?

[Chris QCT]

LI Joe - Thanks for the link. (It was me who wrote that on the past entry here).

Mark - Yes it is true that Dubi is leaving the Bulletin...although he said he would still be contributing for a while.

But something funny is going on over there. Their new page is just a mess right now (and has been for days). It did not launch on time and isn't really working yet. And they provided next to no coverage throughout the summer and training camp. I think they also might have lost their credentials, cuz they do not appear to be at the games or practices. Maybe they're just having some major glitches, but I must say I have been disappointed with my first (and probably last) subscription.

But Andrew has really picked up the slack here. This blog has been exceptional to say the least and has become my go-to site for NYR info.

[LI Joe]

Mark - i think he is - in phases. still wrote for what he calls BB+ after the last game. I pretty much went there for the links as his opinions did not jive with mine and after his his last one which i just skimmed its better if i don't bother except for the links. The new guy seems like a great guy handling regular BB. but right now things are in flux re where to get info re links

[LI Joe]

chris Q - must be something in the name chris as you also are a good poster.

re Bob - i think he'll be the 1st to say how glad he is that betts is injured and wished a lot worse on him. and he'll proudly say that. i've seen bobs writing s for last 2 or 3 yrs whether its here or newsday. if i'm wronmg on this one than bob i apologize for jumping the gun

[LI Joe]

and lohud too re reading bobs comments (under different names)

[Mark]

Thanks for the answer guys.

[graves9]

Sprained mcls are usually a 4-6 week injury no? He got hurt around september 21st so I expect that he'll be back in a week or ten days. That gives guys like Lisin and Anisimov and Voros another week or so to show something. Sadly Voros has probably outplayed those two guys the first three games.

[graves9]

Bob doesn't like Betts but I never recall him wishing he got hurt or anything like that just released or traded.

[alan]

Dubi sold BB.

[CP (Chris)]

Betts played over 13 minutes last night. Even an asset in Philly...

[Charles]

LI Joe, you know Bob better than I, so you may even be right, but then again you might be opening up another Betts discussion with that response ... and I know how tired you are from all the negative Drury talk.

Graves, I don't think it was a muscle sprain unless the knee is a muscle. I think 2-3 weeks is normal for this type of injury.

[graves9]

Charles I've been on the same boards as Bob for a couple of years and I don't recall him ever wishing an injury on Betts. Watched The Caps-Flyers game and it was an entertaining game but boy are both teams really bad in net. Varlamov looked good vs the impotent Rangers offense last year but he was terrible vs the Pens as he got beat like a rented mule glove side time after time. Bet they trade for Roloson at the deadline.

[CP (Chris)]

I don't see anything wrong with what LI JOE referring to Bob as a happy man. Bob frequently makes poor comments about Betts, which in some case, are just as bad as wanting someone injured.

[Charles]

Goaltending is almost always a giant intangible for most teams, except for those 10 goalies or so that have a consistent track record. We are blessed, even if HL always has that "New Year" 2-4 week stretch of inconsistency. Varlamov is young, maybe he hasn't found his rhythm yet ... Emery is Emery, he can be streaky good but can he ever put a full year in without imploding? Knowing Philly fans they'll be all over him within a couple of months and Boucher is a poor choice as a back up who'll have to play a lot. I agree that both teams may be in the market come the new year for a goalie, but I think Philly will need one more despite their abysmal salary cap situation.

[graves9]

CP umm there's a huge difference between wanting a guy being traded or released vs injured.

[CP (Chris)]

Graves, I didn't say traded or released. Of course, that's not comparable. Saying someone's efforts is garbage, and he's terrible, is just as bad, especially when he was a big asset. That's all I've heard from Bob. Are you, Bob, and Charles friends outside of this blog? I don't understand this comradery for those who make comments on the wrong end of the spectrum regarding the abilities of some of these guys.

[graves9]

uhh no Joe claimed that Bob is happy that Betts is hurt and that in the past that Bob has stated he'd like Betts to get hurt. I just stated I never recall him posting that. Don't brand people please cause that annoys me and Charles made fair points on Drury and Joe suggested that he go to another board.

[LI Joe]

graves drop it already. see above. if i was wrong then i made my apology to Bob.

[Charles]

Chris, one could say the same for you and LI Joe. It's as if you two speak with one mind, so much so that maybe you're the same person. I'm joking here, so please don't get insulted.

I don't support Bob's positions all the time, in fact I argued with him about Betts ... and Sjostrom. I liked and wanted both to be retained. I don't completely disagree with him about Drury, although I really do think much higher of Drury than he does --- not a hard thing. lol

In any event, it's a big stretch to go from hating someone as a player because you think their talent level stinks to wishing ill on them --- which I might understand if said player intentionally injured someone you liked, etc. To use one of your phrases Chris, LI Joe's comment about Bob being "happy" about Betts injury was a tad "snide". Actually logic would dictate that Bob would favor Betts playing for the Flyers, unless he's a Flyer fan or something.