Sean Avery has officially reported to the Connecticut Whale in the AHL and it seems like as of right now he'll be spending the rest of the season there unless something unexpected happens. Avery's agent Pat Morris was looking at options for Avery to possibly play in Europe this season, but according to Andrew Gross, those negotiations never got very far and Avery and his agent ultimately decided he'd earn more money playing out the final year of his contract in the AHL.
The Whale play the Devils' AHL affiliate in Albany on Friday, but it remains to be seen if Avery will be in uniform for the game.
Also, Marc Staal is continuing to receive treatment for headaches he's been experiencing as a result of the concussion he suffered last February. John Tortorella said yesterday that he hadn't spoken to Rangers trainer Jim Ramsey about Staal's progress in two days. Staal is rumored to be receiving acupuncture treatments regularly, but the Rangers have been very hush-hush about Marc Staal's recovery so far.
Apologies for not being around over the weekend. By now, everyone knows that the Rangers have started the season 0-0-2 and are finally back in the US. They'll have a full week of practice under their belt before they play the Islanders in Long Island on Saturday night. Courtesy of Andrew Gross, here were the lines at practice yesterday were as follows:
Dubinsky-Richards-Gaborik
Fedotenko-Anisimov-Callahan
Boyle-Stepan-Prust
Rupp-Christensen-Zuccarello
McDonagh-Girardi
Erixon-Eminger
Del Zotto-Woywitka
Michael Sauer's right shoulder is still banged up, so he missed practice for maintenance. Wojtek Wolski will likely miss his second consecutive game on Saturday with a groin issue, while John Tortorella said the Rangers don't expect to have Marc Staal join them at any point for practice this week. To be honest, I think the fact that there's even the slightest possible chance Staal could play on Saturday is a good sign. He won't suit up, but the fact that Torts didn't officially rule him out yesterday makes me hope/believe that means he's getting better. It's still nearly impossible to predict when Staal will be good to go, though.
Can't say I like the idea of John Tortorella already messing with the lines just five periods into the season. These guys need time to play together if they're ever going to develop any chemistry with each other.
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