No more yellow jersey for the Rangers’ instigator extraordinaire.
Sean Avery yesterday discarded the no-contact color and skated in a full practice for the first time since spraining his left shoulder in Ottawa on Oct. 6. Avery’s status for tonight’s game at the Garden against the Capitals is going to be a game-time decision for Tom Renney, but the possibility of playing is enough for the feisty winger.
“Boy, it’s going to be exciting to just be back in a jersey,” Avery said.
It’s going to be exciting for the Rangers, as well. Since Avery went down in the second game of the season, the Blueshirts have gone 3-5-1 and find themselves last in the NHL at 1.73 goals scored per game. With a boatload of talent and not a lot to show for it, the Rangers have to see some changes if they want to live up to the Stanley Cup aspirations they set for themselves.
“(Avery) brings a lot of energy,” said Brandon Dubinsky, who centered Avery and Petr Prucha yesterday on a hypothetical third line. “We’ve needed a spark and that’s exactly what he brings.”
Avery tested his shoulder as best he could when he took a run into the boards late in practice. Afterward in the locker room, he held his arm above his head and rotated the shoulder to show that his range of motion is not a problem.
“I think that [hit] was a good test – I got hit pretty hard – so we’ll see how it feels in the morning,” Avery said. “It’s sore, but I just don’t think that’s going to go away.
“I think Tom has a pretty good balance when dealing with me,” Avery said of his coach. “It’s his call and I think he can just gauge it by looking at me.”
Renney, who is missing two other key forwards in Martin Straka (broken finger, may play Monday against the Flyers) and Ryan Callahan (sprained knee, out indefinitely) said he was going to have to consult head trainer Jim Ramsay tomorrow morning concerning Avery.
“He had no contact Tuesday,” Renney said, referring to Avery’s two-hour conditioning workout with assistant coach Perry Pearn. “[Yesterday] he had some contact, so we’ll see in the morning how he feels and how we feel. There’s no problem whatsoever with his attitude.”
Sean Avery? Attitude?
“I’m going to come back and everything’s going to be OK,” Avery said, comically stoic. “Don’t you feel it?”
bcyrgalis@nypost.com
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