Game On!

Biting the hand that once fed you —-and fed you WELL, I might add — is one definition of an ingrate.

And if the NHL ever struck a new trophy for Ingrate of the Summer 2008, Sean Avery would qualify.

The Maven has no problem with The Great Gabbo skipping The Apple for big bucks and many years in Dallas. If that's what he wants, fine. As my grandmother would have said if I threatened to leave home, "Go, get out of here. I'll make you sandwiches."

I can't complain about Sean seeking his fortune in The Lone Star State. But I do-do-do take issue with his badmouthing the Blueshirts within minutes after the ink dries on his new pact. Listen up, citizens of Rangerville, and tell me if you agree.

"This (Dallas Stars) is certainly a team that's better than the one I formerly played on," said Gabbo once he pitched his tent in Texas.

And what, pray tell, suddenly makes the Stars better than the Rangers? Avery in the lineup? We'll see about that!

Or, to put it another way: What's the point of giving your former team — which treated you well and catered to your every whim — a gratuitous kick in the derrriere?

"I'm coming to a team that's happy to have me," added Avery with another not-so-subtle zinger directed at Seventh Avenue and 33rd Street. 

Hey, Gabbo, the Rangers were happy to have you. Glen Sather offered you a contract that by reasonable NHL standards was, well,  REASONABLE. That Dallas has come up with crazy dough and more years than virtually any other general manager would deliver is the Stars problem and, of course, your good fortune.

So, why couldn't you simply keep your yap shut and enjoy your Texas welcome? 

No, you have to badmouth Wade Redden and Markus Naslund.

In case you missed it, Blueshirts fans, our old pal added: "Naslund is going to have a tough time and so is Redden. New York fans aren't going to put up with those guys. I don't think they're going to live up to expectations."

We'll see about that or, as someone said in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, "Time will tell."

Avery is in town on October 20. It will be interesting to see just how Rangers fans put up with Sean Avery!

THE NEDVED AUDITION: 

Some Rangers fans — my buddy, Bob Goodman, for one — are less than tickled over Petr Nedved coming to training camp for a tryout with the Blueshirts.

I disagree. It's certainly nothing to get hot and bothered about the way some loyalists have in the past couple of weeks. Clearly, much will depend on how well Nedved performs in camp.

And, as good pal Dan Akeson notes, "If the Rangers can't get Mats Sundin — and I think they have a good chance at getting him — Nedved would be a cheaper alternative to Sundin.

"Am I upset about Nedved coming to camp? No way. There's no harm in letting a player audition for a team. Comebacks happen all the time. Remember Guy Lafleur and the Rangers!"

Sure do. I was there when The Flower bloomed in The Apple!

THE MAVEN TAKES A TRIP:

I'm off — with Mrs. Maven, Shirley — to Israel on Tuesday. We're visiting our younger son, Simon, who lives there with our lovely daughter-in-law, Lilach and two grandchildren, Odel and Ariel. 

I'll be following the NHL scene from The Holy Land and will post blogs if anything worthwhile turns up. Cheerio and Shalom!

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