Restraint was never Sean Avery’s strong suit.
So it comes as no surprise that the retired NHLer, with no ambitions of a returning to the league, would feel free to let loose in his book “Offside: My Life Crossing The Line”.
Avery was a guest on The Jeff Blair Show Tuesday where he covered various topics from his celebrity lifestyle, to his boisterous playing career, to unrest in the NHL Players’ Association.
“I used the schedule as a way to trigger my memory,” Avery said of his book-writing process. “So I started at the first training camp and I would go through the schedule and I would look at the penalty minutes column and see, ‘All right, we were in Chicago that night and that’s the night that (Bob) Probert tried to kill me or was going to kill me and Scotty Bowman saved my life.’
“So then I would start to reminisce on some of the bigger moments: the first suspension or the first fine when I said something about French guys in L.A.”
Avery is referring to his comments made after then-teammate Jeremy Roenick was hit in pre-season by Denis Gauthier.
“What did I get out of it? There’s definitely a lot where I thought, ‘Should you have done it?'”
The 37-year-old last played in the NHL in the 2011-12 season, where he was waived by the New York Rangers.
He gave some insight as to what it’s like seeing your playing career wind down.
“Your first half, you’re untouchable,” he said. You’re never going to get hurt, you’re never going to not be playing this game. Money’s always going to be rolling in and life is good.
“And then you know, the game starts to pass you a little bit, (and) the smart ones start to think about: ‘What am I going to do when I walk away from this?'”
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