Rafal Ladysz at the Hockey Writers gives his Top 10 Dirtiest Players in the NHL and Sean Avery checks in at #3...3) Sean Avery (New York Rangers)
Verbally, Avery has done the most damage in the league. Instead of high hits or boarding, the pest prefers waving a stick in front of a goalie or simply slashing him in the back of the head as he skates by. The Ontario native believes the NHL needs to market their villains. Well, Avery has seen plenty of the spot light courtesy of his mouth.
Verbally, Avery has done the most damage in the league. Instead of high hits or boarding, the pest prefers waving a stick in front of a goalie or simply slashing him in the back of the head as he skates by. The Ontario native believes the NHL needs to market their villains. Well, Avery has seen plenty of the spot light courtesy of his mouth.
References: Brendan Witt (spear), Simeon Varlamov (sucker punch), Elisha Cuthbert (sloppy comments).
...you can call Avery a villain or a smart ass, but I'm sorry he's not a dirty player. This is another example of Avery's reputation out of control.
...h/t to Puck Daddy.
5 comments:
Avery flirts on the line of a 'dirty player' but I would have to agree with you... a 'dirty player' does 99% of this stuff DURING PLAY. The majority of Averys antics occur after the play.
Do I think he steps out of line on occasion? Yes, absolutely. But hes not a dirty player.
I was int he TD Garden when he 'slashed' (thought it was not a slash) Tim Thomas and I was beyond embarrassed... Wearing a NY jersey in Boston is hard enough on any given day... that didnt help... at all.
Chris, i definitely shook my head with embarrassment when that happened, but i also shook my head when they called a penalty on him BASED ON THE SCOREBOARD REPLAY. The refs never saw anything on the original play.
I'm sure nothing will change this year...he will continue to get murdered with cheapshots to the back when he's already down, etc., but nothing will be called. Pronger however somehow gets some sort of fearsome reverence despite being suspended plenty of times including during the playoffs for dirty hits.
Agree 100% ... he takes more than his fair share of punishment for his reputation. Unlike some other people.
Also agree on calling the penalty based on the scoreboard replay. The guy I was talking to all night (Bruins fan) agreed that what Avery did was beyond stupid but that calling the penalty afterwards was lame.
The whole debacle in Dallas was ridiculous. Suspending him and making him go through sensitivity training (or whatever it was) and all that just because he had a smart-assed remark about his ex-girlfriend going out with another NHLer? That was so absurd it was beyond words.
If Im not mistaken that was the only time that an NHL player has been suspended for an Off-Ice incident, correct?
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