The NHL did the right thing suspending Sean Avery, and it sounds like the Dallas Stars wish it was permanent.
Two thumbs up for the NHL.
Its decision to suspend controversial Dallas Stars winger Sean Avery is both justified and a relief. The NHL suspended Avery indefinitely in accordance with the provisions of NHL By-Law 17 and Article 6 of the NHL Constitution for conduct "detrimental to the League or game of hockey."
Yet I have to admit when my cell phone buzzed Tuesday afternoon and I received text from a co-worker who informed me Avery had made a disgusting comment to the media about an opponent and an ex-girlfriend, I was, well, shocked.
In Calgary Tuesday morning Avery said, "I am happy to be back in Calgary, I love Canada. I just want to comment on how it's becoming like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds."
Yuk!
Avery, of course, was referring to Flames defenceman Dion Phaneuf who is dating his former girlfriend, actress Elisha Cuthbert.
If you have followed Avery's checkered career, then you shouldn't be surprised by anything he says or does. The fact of the matter is Avery was asked by the Stars organization not to speak to the media in Calgary, but, as always, he simply can't help himself.
The signing of Avery has been an unmitigated disaster for the Stars who currently sit dead last in the NHL. The Stars signed the unrestricted free agent, who had already worn out his welcome in Detroit, Los Angeles and New York, to a four-year, $15.5 million contract.
Avery marches to his own drummer and I don't have a problem with that. In fact, I have defended his right to do as he pleases in the past because I found him to be somewhat funny. But there is a huge difference between waving your stick in the face of Martin Brodeur to making despicable comments about an ex-flame. You know what I mean.
It makes you wonder what woman, from now until the end of time, will want to have anything to do with this guy? Sadly, I also wonder what his poor mom thinks about this?
Right from the fourth game of the season when Avery stood in front of the St. Louis bench mimicking a Blues coach, who has nervous ticks, he rubbed his new teammates the wrong way. A few weeks later, in Boston, he got into a verbal jousting match with a Bruins fan and unleashed a string of obscenities that could be heard by anyone in the general area. Following the penalty-filled game, Stars veteran Mike Modano said if this is the direction the team is going, they had better find him an office job.
It is clear in talking to sources in the Stars organization, just about everybody is unhappy with the fact Avery is on the team. This latest flap certainly won't help that situation.
"I'll put it this way," one Star told me in a text earlier this season, "From the top of our organization to the bottom, there's only one guy who wants him here."
That one guy is co-GM Brett Hull.
A day after Modano spoke out, Hull appeared on HockeyCentral@Noon and said the Stars were delighted to have Avery on the team and he was popular with his teammates. That, as it turns out, is the furthest thing from the truth.
And even Hull admits as much now. Stars owner Tom Hicks said the club support's the league's decision to suspend Avery and Hull said he supports his owner.
A source insists Avery rarely associates with his teammates. He walks into the rink with an earphone in his ear while on his cell phone; he often spends his pre-game time on his own outside the locker room and he had teammates shaking their heads when he walked into the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia Nov. 24 on a cloudy day wearing sunglasses. Just too cool, this guy.
"If you take just one guy out of the equation, regardless of the team's injury problems, it would be a better team," a source said. "That one guy is Sean Avery."
The NHL's decision to suspend Avery is a good one. It could be simply to take him out of one game against Calgary if the league fears his disgusting comment could lead to an all-out war on the ice (though I doubt there would be any Stars teammates coming to his aid if every player on the Flames decided to jump him), or it could be a last-ditch attempt to get him to keep his big trap shut. Like that'll work.
What remains to be seen, though, is what becomes of Avery. Already there has been talk within the Stars organization of sending him to the minors for the duration of his contract. That is a huge financial hit for the organization, but given the slide the team is on, it may have no choice.
A few years ago, while speaking to Avery on the phone, I suggested he had the potential to make millions in this game, but warned him not to talk himself out of the league. His mom called to thank me. Well, he'll get his millions, but he just may have talked himself out of the NHL.
