Enough of Avery

Whoever defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result," -- and I've seen it attributed most often to Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin -- would have to conclude the following: sending Sean Avery back onto the ice Friday in Washington would be insane. The Rangers keep sending him out there, and they keep getting the same result: one stupid and OBVIOUS penalty after another. The Rangers survived thanks to Henrik Lundqvist.

Indeed, we all know the Rangers will go only as far as the King will take them, but even he needed luck tonight, as an Alex Ovechkin slapper rang off the iron during Avery's first stupid penalty of the third period. The Rangers are in their locker room right now, breathing a sigh of relief and smiling, deservedly, about their 3-games-to-1 lead over the higher-seeded Capitals.

But Sean Avery has done his damnedest to screw this up for his teammates. You can't tell me that no Ranger is looking at him across the locker room right now and seething, even wishing he weren't there right now.

I'm not saying Avery should be cut or released or traded or suspended. He helps this team. He always has. But he's running wild right now and needs to be reined in. John Tortorella should sit him in Game Five to send a message: your antics are killing us, we are winning in spite of you rather than because of you, and your teammates don't appreciate it.