Stars Dismiss Avery

Reports are that the Dallas Stars have decided to severe their ties with Sean Avery after his most recent comments and subsequent suspension. What Brett Hull and the rest of the Dallas Stars expected from Sean Avery when they signed him escapes me. Avery’s reputation preceded him and is part of the reason so many teams did not want to sign him but Hull and company took a chance on him and Avery should have known he was on a tight leash as a result. With that in mind, the comments Avery made were punishable without a doubt (and I agree with the suspension) now he has served that punishment; but the Stars getting rid of Avery I think is going too far. Antics were sure to follow Avery to Dallas as would have been true anywhere, and this most recent antic was embarrassing to the team and the league but let’s face it Avery did not break any laws, he did not attack anyone beyond the rules of the game on the ice or even cost them to lose any games. Dallas is not having a very good season and I refuse to believe they would be cutting ties with Avery if they were near the top of the Western Conference. More or less the Stars are making Avery the scapegoat and trying to use this as “motivation” to somehow make a push toward the playoffs. Maybe Dallas should think about getting rid of some guys who are aiding in their awful performance thus far instead of throwing Avery under the bus for some comments he made.

Avery Goes Way Offside

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.

Where Has Marty Turco Gone?

On Thursday night the Dallas Stars lost to the Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 6-3. The Stars have lost three of their last four and now sit last in the Pacific Division with 15 points in 18 games played. The more alarming stat is that they have given up a league worst 68 goals, and that begs the question what has happened to Marty Turco? The last few years Turco has been considered one of the best goaltenders in the league and rightfully so. Turco has a career save percentage of .911 and goals against average (GAA) 2.21 which are both incredible career numbers. However, thus far this year he is way off those numbers with a .867 save percentage and a 3.67 GAA. Sure the Stars have a lot of talent and that talent combined with the brilliance of Turco drove them to be Western Conference finalists before they ran into the brick wall that was the Detroit Red Wings; and although that talent has scored a below league average 51 goals (league average is 54.4 total goals) they still need to get a lot more from Turco if they expect to be contenders. Despite his rocky start Turco is probably the Stars’ best chance at making the playoffs so there is no logic that supports demoting him at this point but if the old Turco does not show up sometime soon it will be a very long season for Dallas who are on pace to miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2001-2002 season.