The Whale are Sinking

New York is riding high today. A big Giants victory, plus a huge Rangers win, put a spring in the step of every New York sports fan. However, just up the road in Hartford the Rangers minor league team, the Whale, have turned belly up and appear to be sinking. Things look pretty grim in Hartford for the team and for our anti-hero, the Grate One, Sean Avery. This report from the local Hartford hockey blog sets the scene.

Paul Doyle / Whale Tales:
Another Lost Weekend --

We begin Week 4 of 2012 and the Connecticut Whale are still looking for their first victory of the year.

The winless streak reached nine with losses at the XL Center over the week. It started with an overtime loss to St. John's Friday night and continued with a shootout loss to Norfolk Saturday...

Wade Redden has been out since mid-December with a lower body injury and he probably won't be back until after the Jan. 29-30 all-star break. Mats Zuccarello has been out with a leg injury and it's unclear when he'll be back...

Will we see Sean Avery on the XL Center ice this weekend? He was a healthy scratch Friday and Saturday, after playing sparingly the previous few games. Seems like it's time for the Rangers to do something with Avery. He doesn't want to be in Hartford, so why leave him on a struggling team?

Stay tuned...