A memory that lasts a lifetime

No, unfortunately I didn't meat Shawn Avery.. but a friend of a friend did. And its worth noting that Avery has so much hate for Martin Brodeur that he mentions him in his autograph. Hate runs deep. Good times!

Other news.. the Rangers best lock it up in Game 3 & 4 vs the Pens. Great showing thus far, with neither team out playing the other. Good ol' hockey that could go either way. Lets hope those games go our way so I can see Crosby try a few more of his Greg Louganis impressions. Have a great Monday ya'll.

Avery wears Prada?

Sean Avery is going to intern at Vogue during the summer. According to Courtney Hazlett of MSNBC this morning, "He wrote a letter to [editor-in-chief] Anna Wintour saying he really liked the magazine, and while he's got some time to spare this summer he would like to hone his skills at Vogue magazine. Their spokesperson is saying the 28 year old will be expected to do traditional assistant-like duties."

Lets just hope the off-season doesn't come too soon, shall we.

The Avery Rule

Just when I thought Ive seen it all in hockey... Sunday night happened. In a bazaar move, Sean Avery decided to get creative when screening the goalie during Sunday Nights Devils - Ranger Playoff game. He literally took himself out of the play, during a Ranger 5-on-3 powerplay, put is back to the play and waved his stick and arms around trying to screen the goalie. Watch the Video Here. He scored not long after by the way. I think you have to applaud him for the creativity of the move, although he could have gotten seriously injured.

The funniest part of it all, is the aftermath, which included the NHL amending rule #75 which now states: National Hockey League Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell issued the following advisory on the interpretation of Rule 75: Unsportsmanlike Conduct:

"An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty (Rule 75) will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender's face for the purpose of interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play."

And after all that.. god love the Fans.. you can now purchase the "Avery Rule" on a t-shirt. God I love this game.

Now there is the debate around the hockey world.. did he go too far? Of course people that already hate him say yes. People who don't, realize that he found a loop hole and used it. He found a way to annoy the other team and screen the goalie. Both perfectly allowed. Hell, you have to remember that this game is for entertainment. But the NHL takes itself way too seriously and has to punish him by amending rules. No wonder the NHL isn't as popular as other sports. If the NFL penalized players for waving their arms at the line of scrimmage, what would people say then? The way he should have been dealt with, is someone from the other team should have came and knocked him on his ass. Did they? No. I say All's fair in love and hockey. Play On Boys! Game 4 is Wednesday night.. who's up for wings and beer :)

Avery fights with teammate!

Big thanks to Sam Wienman from his blog:

If I hadn’t seen Sean Avery and Marek Malik throwing punches at one another during practice today, I wouldn’t have believed it.

But what had been a mere one-on-one battle during drills today quickly escalated into shoves and then an all-out fight between the 6-foot-6 Malik and the 5-10 Avery, lasting maybe 30 seconds before it eventually ended. For or those scoring at home, we’ll call it Malik by TKO.

Words were exchanged after that. At one point, Avery could be heard saying, “What are you,a tough guy? Why don’t you play like that in a game?”

Read more about it here: http://rangers.lohudblogs.com/

Avery Update

Back from his wrist surgery and already firing up the offense with some edgy play. Tomorrow, the Rangers visit Toronto for the first time since the last Avery incident with Darcy Tucker. When asked about his return to Toronto after these past few weeks, Avery commented: “I never enjoy playing in Toronto really. Why? I don’t enjoy hockey-obsessed Canadians. The exchange rate is not very good right now. And it’s going to cost me a lot of money for tickets for people I don’t even like. How’s that for a list?”

God bless honesty :)

Avery Sidelined with Wrist Surgery

Well, sometimes hockey players are not always invincible. While playing the last few days with a fractured wrist, my boy is going under the knife and will be out for 1-2 weeks, maybe longer. The Rangers were 17-6-6 with Avery in the line up last season; this year the Rangers are 9-4-1 with him and 4-5-1 without him. Speedy recover you scrappy f*%ker.

Ok Melrose, I like you now

Can't we just all get along

Wow, what a debate this past Saturdays game has caused in the media. All sorts of articles about how trash talking impacts viewer ship, and also how a Canadian Radio station claimed Avery made some comments that was "out of the code of ethics" and now he is filing a libel suite. Bottom line is, the NHL has fined the Rangers $25,000, the Maple Leafs $10,000, Avery the maximum $2,500 and Darcy Tucker $1,000. Well it is what it is. I think its a bit misguided, but what do I know, I'm just going off what Ive been reading. Man, I can't wait till these 2 teams play Thursday, December 6th at MSG. The fireworks will fly!

Hot Water

Thanks to Steve Ziplay for the info:
The NHL has summoned Sean Avery to Toronto on Tuesday for a hearing as part of an investigation into a pre-game incident with Darcy Tucker and other Maple Leafs on Saturday night at the Air Canada Center.

Avery exchanged words first with Jason Blake, and then Tucker, who shoved Avery and the two pointed menacingly with their sticks at the red line. Players from both sides gathered before Avery skated away. Avery and Tucker fought in the first period and Avery refused to talk to reporters after the game.

Hockey is a sport in which trash talking take place. Be a man and own up. Surly Avery was not the only one yappin on the ice. Takes 2 to tango.

Oh that Sean

So apparently the antics of Avery got someone all riled up. The Maples Leafs Wade Belak had this to say about him:
"He's pissing guys off," Belak told The Sun. "He'll bring harm to himself and not too many guys around the league are going to be sad to see it. If he keeps this up, someone is going to kill him. One day he's going to say something the wrong way and he'll be clubbed.

Read the ESPN Article Here

The Avery Factor

For those that know me, know I love me some Hockey. So I often write about it here for everyone to enjoy. Well, anyone who has ever watched a game with me knows how much I like Sean Avery both as a player, and the role he plays on the Rangers team. For those who do not know him, here is a brief explanation.

Avery is the Rangers agitator. What does that mean? Well basically he is the team pest. Every team has one, although none as vocal as Mr. Avery. He yaps at the opposition, basically throwing them off their game, in hopes that his team can capitalize on the chance. Usually, someone will take a swipe, or a run at Avery and draw a penalty and while he sits in the box, the Rangers can go to work on the opposition. Whats more to Avery thou, is unlike other agitators, he can play.. and play well. He can skate, hustle, shoot well and score goals. And while some will argue he does more harm than good and he needs to settle down every once-in-a-while, he is truly an assets to the team. Teammates love him and other teams hate to play against him. Yeah, maybe he can tone down the pre-game chatter a bit, and I'm sure the coaching staff will get on him about the fact that he has gotten in 3 pre-game arguments before the last three games.

What he does provide, for us anyway, is some FUN entertainment. So thats why Im starting a small section of this Blog called "The Avery Factor" (I stole that phrase, so I'm not taking any credit) where I will occasionally post post game highlights of his antics, quotes and maybe a picture or two so keep us all entertained.

So, that brings me to Saturdays game, in which Avery yapped at Darcy Tucker in the Pre-game, got in a little shoving match and he drew the Maples Leaves Agitator into a penalty, then they fought (see above picture) and then proceeded to get a Goal and an Assist on the game.
Read Pesky Avery Bugs Leafs
Quote of the night: "There's a line you don't cross and sometimes he touches the line," Rangers coach Tom Renney.