Sean Avery has set back the image of the NHL and even relations between pro athletes and women to a point that it will take years to undo the damage.
By now you are likely sick of the unsavoury Sean Avery so I will not dwell on his latest antic, and subsequent apology.
At this point they simply don’t matter.
What matters – aside from the unfathomable and unwanted publicity directed at Elisha Cuthbert – who did absolutely nothing to deserve having such despicable remarks linked to her— is the fallout from the remarks and they are bigger and more multi-faceted then you might imagine.
First up is the suspension. It’s not exactly clear how far Commissioner Gary Bettman will opt to go under By-law 17, article six of the NHL constitution, but likely anything more than the one game Avery has already missed is going to be an issue with the NHL Players Association (PA).
It’s not that the PA endorses what Avery did and, if possible they likely want to condemn him for it, but by rule, the PA is charged with defending its players no matter how unsavoury their words or actions.
This is a major problem for the PA because they simply can’t win, not in the court of public opinion and, perhaps, not even in a legal court. If Bettman comes down hard on Avery for conduct detrimental to the game and the league, (and 20-25 games are the high end of speculation today) he will surely be setting a precedent that the PA can’t help but protest.
That puts the PA in the apparent position of defending Avery’s unsavoury comments regarding women, a position that is simply indefensible.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Dallas stars co-general manager Bret Hull was under fire for bringing Avery to Dallas and upsetting team chemistry even before this incident occurred. Now Hull, who defended both acquiring Avery and signing him to a four-year, $15.5 million dollar contract, could be in danger of losing his management position.
This signing and now this action upset the team and has now embarrassed Stars owner Tom Hicks, a situation that would make it ridiculously easy for Hicks to demote Hull and turn over control over of the team to the more experienced and more prudent co-general manager, Les Jackson. Even if Hicks doesn’t publicly demote Hull, it’s likely that Hull has lost status with Hicks because of the money, the team’s play and now the attendant negative publicity.
That would swing the balance of power to Jackson, further diminishing Hull’s input into the day-to-day operations of the team which in turn damages his status should he seek to someday be a general manager elsewhere.
Thanks for that Sean.
Coach Dave Tippett has made it crystal clear that he doesn’t want Avery back in his locker room and various comments from senior members of the team seem to support Tippet’s take.
That puts Hicks in a position of having to either suspend Avery for at least the remainder of the season (likely setting up a court battle), send him to the minors (an action that would make Hicks responsible for a major league contact without the services of a major league player) or buy him out.
The buyout would actually be a windfall for Avery who is in the first year of the deal as he would get the bulk of his money without having to play another game.
Almost as bad and maybe worse for the Stars, Avery’s salary counts against the team’s salary cap, limiting its opportunities to bring in a replacement. The Stars are already damaged by injuries and have salary cap issues.
This is a financial disaster for Hicks, so thanks for that as well Sean.
Oh, and there’s one other thing.
There are two things under this current collective bargaining agreement that have many NHL owners angry. One is that Bettman appears to have moved too quickly to lower the age of free agency, a move that has caused salary for young players to rise substantially the past three seasons.
Avery has no play in that, but the other item that rankles owners is that the league made no move to end guaranteed salaries.
That’s huge because Avery, by his actions, is likely no longer welcome in Dallas and because he’s also worn out his welcome in Detroit, Los Angeles and New York, there likely isn’t another team in the league who would touch him with a 10-metre radioactive pole.
Yet he still gets paid for the life of the deal or the excessive buyout portion of the deal. You can rest assured that owners are going to use that as a rallying point in the next negotiations and the players and the PA will be at a distinct disadvantage because of it.
Thanks for that as well Sean.
You’ve set your teammates, the man who hired you, the owner who pays you, the union that is forced to defend you and a league that has given you both fame and fortune against you.
You’ve handed ownership a contract weapon and you’ve set back the image of a league and even the nature of relations between pro athletes and women to a point that it will take years to undue the damage.
You did it with just 49 words and in 32 seconds.
Saying you're sorry a million times and for as long as you live can’t undo any of that.
Tell me, which part of all of that was worth it?