Beating the Avery Horse to Death

It’s a relatively slow morning, so why not talk about Sean Avery’s antics in Games 3 and 4 some more? His 3rd period penalties in Game 4 were inexcuseable. They could have cost the Rangers the game, especially if he got a major for almost decapitating Jurchina. If this were the regular season, John Tortorella would have benched him in a heartbeat. He should have been benched after the first stupid penalty, but that’s a moot point.

So what can Tortorella do? He essentially has two options, play him, and deal with any consequences that may come from Avery’s antics and the bulls-eye on his back from the refs. Or, he can do the unthinkable, and bench him. But the problem with this is that if you bench Avery, then Aaron Voros has to play. It’s not that big of a problem, but a problem nonetheless.

So if Avery sits and Voros plays, you have to juggle the lines a little bit. It’s much more complicated than just sliding Freddy Sjostrom into Avery’s spot, and having Voros play LW on the 4th line. Avery was starting on the left side of Gomez and Callahan on that speedy first line. I don’t think Sjostrom can fit in well on the first line. Maybe move Antropov up to wing on that line, and put Sjostrom in Antropov’s spot flanking Lauri Korpikoski? That’s a possibility. But I’m not the coach.

Tortorella has a huge issue on his hands before the game begins. When you think about it, I don’t think any fan can argue with whatever decision Torts makes.