Avery and Sacco, not at the hospital.Photo: Getty Images
It’s a testament to Sean Avery’s hard-hitting presence both on the ice and in New York’s club scene that, after he was hospitalized Tuesday with a lacerated spleen from the Ranger’s third-in-a-row loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Bungalow 8 owner Amy Sacco was mixed in with the teammates by his bedside. “I brought him a picture of me so he wouldn’t miss me,” Sacco said at last night’s “Portraits & Polaroids” benefit auction at Phillips de Pury. “He’s doing better, but it’s a devastating loss for all of us to not have him finish the playoffs.” As of this afternoon the Rangers forward remained in the intensive care unit at St. Vincent’s Medical Center, although doctors say he won’t require surgery. “He’s a tough cookie,” says Sacco, a inveterate hockey fan who says Avery is like “a little brother” to her. “He’s already anxious to get back on the ice, so they’re probably have to sedate him and cuff him to his bed until he gets better. He’s ready to go back against the Penguins. That’s my boy!” —Andrew Goldstein
