Sorry for the lack of a witty or cheesy post title, but I think it appropriately describes a day like today. We have a few little stories, but as small as they may seem, they are certainly worth mentioning.
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| Lookin' fresh as always, Mr. Avery |
The National Hockey League's most-wanted man and the poster boy for agitators everywhere,
Sean Avery, cleared re-entry waivers at noon earlier today. Some are reporting we may see him on the ice in a Rangers uniform as early as their next game on Thursday against Anaheim. Avery's stint so far this season with the AHL's Connecticut Whale was a very short one, so why call him back up so soon? Did the Rangers succumb to mounting fan pressure, after disgruntled fans loudly chanted, "WE WANT AVERY!" during the 3rd period of New York's home opener? Probably not. Tortorella does things
his way, not the fans' way. If he didn't want Avery here to begin with, no number of nacho-popping, New Yorker season ticket holders are going to change his mind. Avery's return is probably the result of the criticisms coming from across the league that the Rangers have been lacking a sense of grit down the roster.
Almost simultaneously with the news breaking of Avery clearing re-entry waivers, it was reported that the Rangers offer to Swedish defenseman
Anton Stralman, a 1-year, one-way contract, made earlier is still on the table. Stralman, who is still in Sweden, would provide a minor boost to the New York blue line, but would definitely give their roster more depth upon the return of All-Star defender Marc Staal. Don't look for Stralman, a Jekyll & Hyde-esque player during his last season as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, to make any significant impact to the Rangers if he were to decide to accept the deal in front of him, but that still wouldn't necessarily make it a "useless pick-up" by New York. He could help if they needed him to, not to mention it's a better situation for Anton Stralman himself, instead of just sitting on his couch in Sweden.
The other story of the day isn't about someone's return to the NHL from overseas or the AHL, but rather if they will stay in the NHL at all. Anaheim's 19 year-old 4th liner,
Devante Smith-Pelly, may not have impressive numbers on the scoresheet, but he has been very effective grinding it out on the Ducks' bottom two lines through the first nine games of the season. Smith-Pelly, an Anaheim 2nd round draft pick in 2010 who no one seemed to be talking about coming into this season, has outlasted talk-of-the-town youngsters Mark Scheifele, Ryan Strome, Brandon Saad, and Mika Zibanejad... but still has received no owrd on whether he's staying with the squad or not. Smith-Pelly skated on the 4th line during the Ducks' morning skate today, and with reporters swarming to find out if he knew whether or not he'd be staying on the team or not, he didn't really know what to tell them. Tonight's game against the Washington Capitals (a nationally broadcasted Versus game, mind you) would be his 10th game of the year. If I were a betting man, I would say Smith-Pelly gets to stay with the Anaheim Ducks' for the rest of the year and hopefully continue to add some sandpaper and strong forechecking to the team. But I'm not a betting man. I'm a blogger. So what do I know?
16 wins is all it takes. After 82 games spanning from October to April, the teams that were good enough to qualify for the playoffs only need 16 wins to achieve their childhood dreams and lift the most iconic trophy in the world over their heads as champions. Easy enough, right?
