AVERY RUNNING WITH THE PACK 

According to Sportsnet.ca the worst kept secret in the history of mankind has become a “reality.” Sean Avery is headed to Hartford where he will join the team today. So, the “reality” show begins… How it ends is anyone’s guess.

Here are the statements from the two key players in this tale.

"I would like to thank Glen Sather and the Rangers organization for giving me the chance to resume my hockey career  by affording me this opportunity with the Hartford Wolf Pack.  I am looking forward to getting back on the ice,  working my way back to the NHL and playing the game I love.   While I appreciate the many interview requests, at this point in time, I would like to focus on hockey and will not be making any further statements while with the Wolf Pack." – Sean Avery

"Sean and the Dallas Stars approached me looking for an American Hockey League team for him to resume playing, and I am happy to provide him with the opportunity to continue his career.  Sean was a good player for the Rangers during his time here and has worked extremely hard off the ice over the last two months.   He remains under contract to and property of the Stars, therefore, any further comment would be inappropriate." – Glen Sather

The next question becomes where does he play. There are really two schools of thought. Do you want to have Avery try and work on his “scoring” touch? If that’s the case then you put him on the wind with P.A. Parenteau and Artem Anisimov and move Brodie Dupont to run alongside Patrick Rissmiller and Greg Moore. That would probably be a mistake given how effective that line has been.

Then you could try him with Mike Ouellette and Tommy Pyatt. This would make the most amount of sense because in theory, Avery is a more advanced version of Jordan Owens.

The third option would be to put him on the left with Patrick Rissmiller on the right and Greg Moore down the middle.

Option four would be Rissmiller centering Avery with either Owens or Dale Weise on the opposing wing.

The last choice would be pairing Avery with Moore and then selecting from either Owens, Weise, Matthew Ford, Brandon Sugden or flipping Devin DiDiomete on to the right.

It’s going to be a tough call for Head Coach Ken Gernander to wrestle with. The most logical choice would be to put him with Ouellette and Pyatt. Then you get the added benefit of having the checking aspect as well as the scoring and the speed that the two have.

More news as it becomes available.

(Sean Avery photo courtesy of LoHud.com)