Sean Avery meet karma

Sean Avery and Elisha Cuthbert

Once again the NHL’s big mouth heavyweight decided to say something stupid… as usual. Ever since his first days as a rookie with the Detroit Redwings in 2002 Sean Avery has been known as an agitator and the proprietor of a rather large and obnoxious mouth. In his first 75 NHL games Avery spent 188 minutes in the penalty box. Tuesday Avery decided to talk to the Calgary media, the topic was not hockey, not the game that him and his Dallas Stars team mates would be playing against the Calgary Flames, but how “it has become a common thing for guys in the league to fall in love with my sloppy seconds.” Those “sloppy seconds” that Avery was referring to is Canadian actress Elisha Cuthbert, his ex-girlfriend and the current girlfriend of Calgary Flames defenseman, Dion Phaneuf. The NHL suspended Avery indefinitely and scheduled a hearing with league commissioner Gary Bettman for Thursday at noon ET.

The suspension comes as no surprise since Avery has eluded NHL suspension multiple times before. In 2005 he made comments about French Canadian players who wear visors after being hit by Denis Gauthier. “I think it was typical of most French guys in our league with a visor on, running around and playing tough and not back anything up,” Avery received no punishment for this comment. During the warm up in a 2007 game against the Leafs Avery got into an altercation with Darcy Tucker and was fined 2,500$. In 2008 Avery waves his hand in front of New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur to cause a distraction during a Rangers vs Devils playoff series, forcing the NHL to invoke a new rule making Avery’s tactic illegal.

That was the shortened list, every time he has gotten off lightly, now it seems that the NHL has had enough, after Avery called out Bettman and his NHL hierarchy, personally calling the league “a joke,” just a few months ago and now the “sloppy seconds” incident. Finally the “its just Sean,” excuse has been overused and the NHL are not the only ones who think so. “Sean crossed the line,” Dallas Stars head coach Dave Tippett said. “We’ve always professed that there is nobody bigger than this team. My job is to build a team; I do not think I can build a team if Sean came back into that dressing room.”

The rumour floating around the media and the NHL is that the Stars will try to trade Avery, the rumour is all that more believable with Tippett’s comment in hand. No matter how much they try, it will be difficult for the Stars to trade the NHL’s biggest stain. Avery signed with Dallas to the tune of a four-year 16 million dollar deal. Yes the Stars are paying four million dollars per year, for 33 points and 154 penalty minutes. Isn’t that a great lesson to the hockey youth? As Don Cherry would say “Now look here kids, if you can tie your own skates, be a loud mouthed obnoxious jerk to other players, disrespect the game of hockey, continuously get into confrontations with the media and most importantly of all, consistently put your team on the penalty kill. You too can earn four million dollars per year in the NHL.”

At this point in his career who will want that kind of baggage, not to mention that out of the ten years Avery has spent in the league, his team has only made it to the playoffs twice, and they never got past the first round. The sexual image that comes to mind, with the words “sloppy seconds” should be enough to scare the other 29 teams in the NHL away from Avery, just like the kid with “coodies” in elementary school. Hopefully the NHL will suspend Avery forever, even though it is highly unlikely. It does seem however that all of Avery’s past has caught up with him, and maybe Gary Bettman will introduce Avery to his new enemy. Not Martin Brodeur, or even Dion Phaneuf, but karma, who after a long absence in his life will finally come full circle and slap Avery in the behind. The Dallas Stars are last in the Western Conference, and cannot possibly go any lower from there, Avery will certainly either be traded or have his contract bought out.

Maybe he will go and join fellow diva Ray Emery in the Kontinental Hockey League, where Emery is earning two million dollars per year tax free with Atlant Mytishchi. Players of Avery’s type and attitude have no place in hockey. Avery tried Broadway with the New York Rangers but oddly enough the only stage he was allowed to play on was the Madison Square Garden ice. At the end of his contract the Ranger’s could not throw him out the backstage door fast enough. Finally the NHL has realized that Sean Avery is more interested in being in front of the camera like his ex’s in Elisha Cuthbert and Rachel Hunter

The king is home

This past Saturday the greatest North American goalie to ever play the game finally closed the book on his career. It remains a dark day in many Canadiens fans memory, December, 2, 1995 the day the greatest goaltender in NHL history left the Canadiens for Colorado after a 12-1 loss to the Detroit Redwings. A scene that replays in my mind over and over again, and as it does with many others, Roy walked past Canadiens coach Mario Tremblay to team president Ronald Corey and told him he had played his last game with the Canadiens. The next day Roy and team mate Mike Keane were members of the Colorado Avalanche, traded for Jocelyn Thibault, Andrei Kovalenko and Martin Rucinsky, three players who never did anything special for the Canadiens. The very next year the Avalanche won a Stanley Cup with Roy. The Avs won once again in 2001 and Roy won the Conn Smythe as the most valuable player for his team in the playoffs for a record third time in his career, due to his great play against Martin Brodeur. Known as “Le Trade” the Canadiens gave up the player who almost single handedly won them the cup in 1986 and 1993. With Roy in nets the Canadiens surprised the league in ’86 and then again in ’93 where the Habs won a record 10 overtime playoff games, Roy won the Conn Smythe trophy both times. After the trade many Canadiens fans had rejected Roy saying that he had “betrayed” or “quit” on the team. One thing that most people do not understand about professional sports is that for the athletes it is a job. If you do not enjoy your job and you have 29 other “companies” willing to pay you to go and work for them wouldn’t you leave as well? With his Canadiens loyalty in question, the Habs never the less decided to have Roy’s #33 retired this season leading up to their centennial. With the darkest day in Canadiens history 13 years in the past, Roy, the media, the Canadiens staff and the fans themselves wondered how the “King” would be treated on November 22. Sitting in my seat just above the Desjardins boxes, right behind the Boston net, I awaited the ceremony giddy like a three year old on the first Christmas morning where he actually understood what was about to receive. I was there to see the greatest goalie to grace the ice, the hero of millions, my hero and the reason I love hockey. The atmosphere was intense and full of nerves, with grey cup village down the street the Bell Centre was buzzing. On the jumbotron was game five of the Stanley Cup finals in 1993, the last time the habs won the cup. When the clock hit zero, the building erupted as if we had actually won something. Unfortunately we were living in the past, wishing it was now. The video brought back memories long forgotten, of a local hero, a man who commanded a nation with his glove and drive for success, the man who brought a city and people to tears, a man who was finally going to come home. As soon as the video finished with a team picture, and the cup in Roy’s lap, Dick Irvin’s voice came over the loud speaker and introduced to the Canadiens fans for the first time since his last game in 1995, Patrick Roy. Heads turned in every direction, mostly to the Canadiens entrance to the ice, but it was on the jumbotron once again where our attention was directed. The de la gauchetiere entrance was on the screen, all of us in the building were still waiting for his entrance. Then the legend himself walked through the front doors for the first time in 13 years, as if nothing had happened, wearing his #33 Canadiens jersey looking ready to hit the ice. Roy walked through the concourse, through the crowd and behind the bench, in the reverse order as he had done on December 2. After shaking hands with Jean Beliveau, he walked back on to Canadiens ice for the first time in over a decade, and back into the heart of millions of fans, even though he had never really left. From the moment his face flashed on to the screen the building erupted for a six minute standing ovation, he walked onto the carpet and once again commanded all attention, as he had done during his 11 years with the Canadiens organisation. His speech was like any other time he spoke to the media, brief but with plenty of fire and heart. He spoke about how he still hears the “foule du Canadiens” screaming after winning the cup in ’86 and ‘93. Roy thanked us, the fans for welcoming him into our hearts, as a 20-year old rookie with hopes of a Stanley Cup, which later that year he would deliver. The most important thing he did that night was apologize in the best way that he could, for leaving on “such short notice” as he put it. He told us that he would have loved to finish his career in Montreal, and who wouldn’t believe him. Quebec is where he was born, where he fell in love with the game, where he played, where he was drafted, where he got married, where his kids were born and where he played for as he put it “the greatest hockey team in the world le bleu-blanc et rouge.” He spoke seemingly to every Canadiens in the world fan that he left too early explaining how the next day he was ready to put the incident behind him and return to the Montreal crease. At the end of his speech he reminisced about “the nights we made the forum tremble and Montreal shake.” With a tear in everybody’s eye, including a full out sobbing on my part. He finished off his speech, in a way that put closure in not only my heart, but the heart of all hockey fans, “finally tonight you welcome me back into your building and hearts, like you did when I was just 20, and yearning for success. Tonight you will allow me to have my jersey retired, and I am glad to say, that after 13 years on the road, tonight I am coming home.” It was the perfect ending, to the perfect speech, from the man who made a career of goaltending perfection. His #33 was raised to the rafters next to Lafleur, Dryden, Plante and the Richards among others, cementing his place as one of the Canadiens greats. Walking in the tunnel towards the Canadiens dressing room, to the roar of the crowd, Roy made his last appearance in a Canadiens uniform, leaving the way he should have all those long, dark and cold December nights ago, finally the “Roi” is home.

All-Star game stupidity

The logo for the 2009 All-Star game in Montreal

It’s that time of year again, when NHL fans all around the world, sit starry eyed, with cofee in hand, glaring at their computer screens stuffing the NHL’s online ballot box, hoping that their favorite player will start in the all-star game. Unfortunately for all 108 players on the ballot, they don’t all have a fair chance. With the all-star game being played in Montreal for the first time since their last stanley cup victory in 1993, and the Canadiens celebration of their centennial, the players other than the Canadiens six on the ballot, have no chance of starting…unfortunately. All six (6) of the Canadiens players on the ballot are in the starting positions, with sizeable leads as well. Carey Price leads the league with just over 203,000 votes, thats more than anyone in the NHL, even Crosby, Ovechkin, Semin and Luongo. Who all seem more deserving than lets say; Kovalev, Koivu, Tanguay and Komisarek as well. If the all-star game were to be played right now, the Habs would have all the starting positions in the eastern conference to themselves. The only true all-star the Canadiens have on their team is Andrei Markov and even he could start behind Mike Green as the second ranked defenceman, but in usual fashion us Canadiens fans cannot resist filling up the ballot box screen with the blue-blanc et rouge. It really is too bad that no one elses fans seem to care as much as Montreal’s, because if that were they case, the NHL would be in great standing. The starters in the east should be easy to identify, at (F)-Alexander Semin, (F)-Sidney Crosby, (F)-Evgeni Malkin on (D)-Andrei Markov, (D)-Mike Green and in (G)-Henrik Lundqvist. At the end of the day, Canadiens fans need to realise that its for the best players in the world, not the most popular, because then every backup goalie would be starting and so would shaun avery. Now im going to go and vote…with all six (6) going to the blue-blanc et rouge…(yes im a hypocrite)