Hey Jim, is Sean Avery returning to the New York Rangers the answer to their problems?
They seem to be just a shell of themselves since he left. — Chris Smith, North Collins, NY Well, Chris, they have been a shell of the team they were last season, but don’t forget that Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan are also gone, and they had a heck of a lot more to do with the success of the Broadway Blueshirts than Avery ever did — or will should he return. New York’s problems are fairly obvious: they have second-line players in first-line roles (Chris Drury and Scott Gomez being obvious examples). They have a blueline that’s not very efficient or deep and it hasn’t improved despite the highly expensive addition of free agent Wade Redden. They have trouble getting the puck into the offensive zone and keeping it there, and teams have started to figure out goaltender Hendrik Lundqvist. GM Glen Sather has a history (and somewhat mixed success) of reclamation projects and Avery will be his biggest one to date. But even at the top of his decent game, Avery isn’t the end-all of New Yo
