Sean Avery Isn't Enough to Save Rangers

During the third period of the Rangers' nationally televised debacle against the Flyers Sunday, brief chants of "Fire Renney" and "Fire Sather" could be heard from an agitated Garden crowd. You haven't heard that kind of negativity around the Rangers since the lockout, and it's a sign of just how ugly things have become for a team that hasn't done much of anything right of late.

The answer isn't as simple as firing a coach or a G.M., though. Has Tom Renney lost the team? It certainly appears that way, given how lackadaisacal the Rangers have played and how little emotion is evident on the ice. But he isn't to blame for stocking the team with players who are ill-suited to the system, and shouldn't bear all the blame for a group of players who can't or won't be accountable for their own actions. As for Sather, he's survived worse than this, which means calls for his head, justifiable or not, will surely fall on deaf ears.

Sean Avery's imminent arrival would be a step in the right direction, but it isn't going to act as a magical cure-all for the team's many issues. At this point, his greatest asset will be the attention he draws away from the rest of the team. Watching Avery create trouble will be far more entertaining than the rancid efforts the rest of the team is managing.

The easiest answer in the short term is probably Renney's exit. Getting rid of all the players isn't a realistic option, nor is a series of trades that would gut the organization in an attempt at fixing a problem temporarily. He'll be falling on the sword for the sins of many, but that's the way it goes for coaches. It would be silly, however, to believe that a new guy will walk in the door and fix everything that's wrong with these Rangers.