Avery Goes Way Offside
December 3, 2008 by Big Tony
Note to Sean Avery; keep your mouth shut! On Tuesday before the Dallas Stars were to face-off against the Calgary Flames, controversial center Sean Avery lived up to the billing with some off-color comments directed at Flames defensemen Dion Phaneuf. In the locker room Avery sought out the media and said “I just want to comment on how it’s become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don’t know what that’s about. Enjoy the game tonight.” For those who do not know, Phaneuf is dating Avery’s former girlfriend, actress Elisha Cuthbert. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman promptly suspended Avery indefinitely prior to a meeting that will be held later on to determine his ultimate punishment. Avery has a history of being an antagonist on the ice, and although he has walked the razor’s edge in the past, he went way overboard with this comment. Hopefully Avery is taught a valuable lesson by this and maybe he will realize that if he only keeps his mouth shut, and uses his skills on the ice, he will be much more of an asset to his team. Despite his reputation, Avery is actually a very skilled hockey player who most think would be valuable to any team with what he brings to the ice. Depending on what Avery’s punishment is, he should probably be very careful the next time Dallas and Calgary lockup.
You think AVERY went way overboard? Do you overreact much?
How about Bettman going “way overboard”? Indefinite suspension is a term that’s only thrown around the sports world for extreme drug usage (see: Richard Dumas; NBA), or real-world violence [remember, Todd Bertuzzi was charged with assault for an in-game incident]. Bettman has suspended Avery indefinitely because of “comments not related to the game.” Weakest argument ever!
Is Avery’s hilarious comment worthy of Bettman’s career-disparaging actions? Not a chance. Regardless of how long the suspension turns out to be, “indefinite suspension” has a stigma to it. By the way, I completely agree with Avery’s statement. Icesluts are everywhere, and for him, he didn’t just get to Cuthbert first; many of his other celebriladies are bouncing around the league these days too. I also agree with this adage: “Put a mic in front of someone’s face, and don’t be surprised at what you hear.”
Long live Avery; King of the “Avery Rule”-Lacrosse Defense! The only man in the history of any sport to affect change in the rules of that sport a day after improvising a game strategy. Mid-playoffs! …but don’t get me started on THAT.
As it turns out Avery ended up getting 6 games while receiving credit for games he missed in the gap between the comment and the hearing. With that in mind it was not so much what Avery said that got him the immediate and ultimate 6 game suspension but that it was Avery who said it. I think it was smart of the NHL to keep Avery off the ice and away from Phaneuf that night, otherwise it would have been a really ugly and potentially dangerous scene.
As far as comparing the initial punishment of “indefinite suspension” to incident like what Bertuzzi did I don’t think comparing the magnitude of events to determine its ultimate punishment is holds any weight. Each time a player behaves in a manner that is potentially punishable by suspension it should be determined on the merits of that case alone. Avery has ostracized himself over the years to the point where both NHL and AHL teams want nothing to do with him. And whether you agree with his statement or not it was in fact offensive and that needed to be addressed. Gary Bettman is in a position where he has to consider a lot of things and the image of the league is one of them. When someone like Avery keeps pushing the envelope (in this case by making an offensive comment) he has to take action to show that such behavior will not be tolerated. Bettman also has to keep Avery from continuing to push the envelope even further than he already has.
I realized I’m writing this response after the length of suspension was determined so you can say what you think about that. But the point is, even before I knew the length I agreed with Bettman’s course of action. This coming from someone who disagrees with Bettman on a TON of issues. Thanks for the comment, hope you keep reading Sportsroids.com