Thoughts on Sean Avery

By now you all know Sean Avery's transgression and the punishment. But here was my question: How do players feel about the league suspending players for something said to the media rather than what someone did on the ice. Since the government is not involved, this is not a free speech issue. The NHL is a private entity to which teams freely have membership. So, the question is, is it fair?

Since the Lightning's Players Association rep, Jason Ward, is in the minors, and no other player seems to have taken the job, I asked former Lightning captain Tim Taylor, who also was Tampa Bay's player rep.

Taylor said his hip is good. He just ran a 10K race in just over 40 minutes, and plays on a traveling squash team. He also recently put a nail through a finger while helping workers construct his new house in his hometown of Stratford, Ontario. Anyway, Taylor said the NHL approach is correct.

"To be quite honest, and siting back as a fan of the game, I'm glad they did this," Taylor said of the suspension. "I just think it's totally wrong for him to make comments like that when you're trying to market the game, and really trying to go in a positive direction. It's absolutely taking two or three steps back as a league with these comments."

Taylor said selling the game in a positive way is important, especially when trying to lure new fans who only see hockey make news when there is something controversial.

"They can't allow it to happen," Taylor said. "The league as a whole was embarrassed. ... If there would have been an unbelievable game that night, great goals, great saves, the best game ever seen, what would have been shown first on ESPN was his comments. That's why the league had to step in. I feel bad for the guys playing in the NHL. A lot of people who don't live the game, they're going to get what he said, and see his antics and his personality. Everybody will be painted with the same brush."

Lightning defenseman Marek Malik played with Avery with the Rangers said he has "no problem" with the troublemaker.

"That's his personality," Malik said. "He likes to be in the spotlight and be on the edge. That's how he is. That's how he rolls. You just have to understand what he does. He likes to be on that edge. Sometimes, maybe it's good. Sometimes, he gets his teammates going. Sometimes it might be a little bit over the edge, but that's his hockey style."

Malik said he always appreciated Avery's honesty.

"He was a good teammate of mine," Malik said. "we had lots of laughs. we had some arguments but we tried to discuss them. He's a fair guy. There were problems and we straightened it out right away. He was really honest, so I appreciate those kinds of guys."

Still, Malik said of Avery's comments about former girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert, who is now dating Calgary's Dion Phaneuf: "I'm an old-school guy. I like to keep stuff in the locker room and on the ice, don't go through the media. ... But it's up to him. That's him."

On another subject, goalie Olie Kolzig said he is well aware the team is going to lean on Mike Smith for a stretch of games in the next little while, and he has come to terms with his situation. Kolzig has said he did not come to Tampa Bay to sit, but admitted Smith has played extremely well and Kolzig has been spotty the past couple of games.

"Smitty has taken the ball and run with it," Kolzig said. "He's been exceptional. I'd hate to see where we'd be right now if he hadn't played the way he has."

As for his future, Kolzig said he wants to stay with the team, even if it means an even further diminished role.

"I made a decision to make a change," he said of signing with the Lightning after spending his entire career with the Capitals. "I don't really want to make a handful of changes in a relatively short period of time. I've come to grips with my role. My family enjoys it here, and if I did go somewhere else, my family wouldn't be coming with me, nd to me, that's not an option. Come the trade deadline, we'll see. But right now, I have no desire to go anywhere else."

Other stuff from the morning skate: Coach Rick Tocchet said center Chris Gratton has an ankle injury, not a knee injury as was believed. Gratton is skating now and then before practices, but Tocchet said it is a "frustrating" injury that will need time (but not a procedure) to heal. ... Tocchet said it's possible left wing Matt Pettinger (knee) could play on the four-game road trip that begins Monday. ... Tocchet would not reveal scratches for tonight's game but wing Adam Hall stayed on the ice after the skate to work further. ... Tocchet reiterated he still believes the team can make a run at the playoffs or the Southeast title. "I know there's a ton of games left," he said. "We can't keep saying that and dropping games, but there's a lot of time left to get back in the race."

Comments

[leo]

Boltflasher,
Avery DIDN'T keep it between himself, Phaneuf and whatserface. He MADE IT the NHL's business when he ran his mouth so callously.
Imagine how they feel about it in Dalliss. Texas. The Good'ole South. Was a time they'd hang fellers fer disrespectin' their womenfolk.
Guy wants to add a little vinegar to the game, fine. He still could've alluded to the matter without being vulgar.
Subtlity (or however ya spell it) works even better.
"I love Calgary. Got an old girlfriend here. Thinkin' of maybe giving her a call and seeing the city."
Boom. Just as effective. Won't get you into trouble.
P.

[TankerKevo]

I think this is worse than a cheap or dirty check on the ice. Now I really don't root for them to happen, but cheap and dirty checks do create rivalries between teams and their towns...and let's face it, they are apart of hockey's history. Plus, even if your team is on the wrong side of a dirty play, they fuel passion from the fans, and to me that makes for good sport every once in awhile.

But comments like these don't create rivalries between teams or towns, they just lower the NHL's perceived "class". We can expect stupid things to be said from basketball and football players off the field, but hockey is one of the last team sports to still require class from it's players off the rink. It's one of the reasons I respect the game, the league, and the players.

What's wrong with a league that wants to protect that type of pride in its fan base? I say there's nothing wrong with it, and as a matter of fact I think the penalty should have been greater. The only time someone should mention sloppy seconds to a sports reporter is when a player scores their team's second goal but is still down by at least 5 goals.

[Icyrice]

"Free speech" advocates, "What about dirty hits on the ice", and "They're just words"...

OK people, enough already. Stop drawing comparisons of players running other players (head injuries), and the "assault" on Free speech by the League to Avery's suspension. Assinine arguments. Period! He had this coming, even as far back as 2005. He was warned by Bill Daly after his French Canadian players comment that they were "insensitive" and he told Avery that "similar misconduct in the future would result in the imposition of league discipline."

The suspension Avery got is fair and is the overall result of him climbing a step ladder of "over-the-line" behavior over the years, in my opinion. Should it have come sooner? Yes, absolutely. Shame on the League actually for letting it get this far. It should have been done back on November 1st with the verbal altercation with a fan and a lady in the stands when they played the Bruins. If he's banished from the Stars organization then that merely expands and prolongs what he should've had coming to him.

[hockeytalkie]

ntmm,

so it would be ok for players and coaches to use racial epithets when describing opposing players and coaches that are black, french-can, asian, polish, italian, etc. at press conferences?

the whole irony of charles barkley's "i'm not a role model" deal is that in a vacuum he's absolutely right. ie: raise your own kids.but in the world we live in, sadly to many kids do look at athletes and entertainers as role models rather than parents, teachers, etc. for the nhl or any league to NOT acknowledge this very sad truth is to have their collective heads in the sand. but i digress.

avery's comments were as misogynistic as any "ho" lyric in a rap song. sure he has a right to feel that way i agree. if i were to say that to someone they might just role their eyes, walk away and ignore me in the future. the reporters as a collective chose to report his comments. and he rounded them up JUST to say it to a larger audience. he could have EASILY said it to DP while they were on the ice, or as he skated by the calgary bench. and that's the difference. no sports league should be in the business of perpetuating stereotypes of either their athletes or others.

i dislike gary buttman as much as anybody in this blog for what he's done to the game (it's like the nba sent him here as a mole to keep hockey from succeeding). but on the avery deal if he didn't act, the media would be writing about the caveman mentality of the NHL as its problem. david stern, bud selig, roger goodell ALL would have to do the same thing as bettman. of course 25 years ago the comments aren't plastered on espn and tsn. instead the reporters serve as errand boy for avery and deliver the message to dp before the game, but the specific comments never hit the airwaves b/c reporters, editors, producers and directors had an actual sense of what was unfit to print or air.

[Not the Marlboro Man]

Avery is good theatre. Once you start suspending him and giving him more attention, then he becomes more of focal point of conversation than the real villain of the NHL which is Gary Bettman.

Bettman suspended Avery, who is an idiot and a jerk and what ever else you can point out wrong with his flawed character. My premise is this though. Why are we suddenly concerned with what people say in public any more as long as its not fire in crowded movie theatre and call 911 because a cat is stuck in a tree.

Its a dangerous trend we are setting in this country to control the minds and thoughts of everyone in the public and private sectors. As long as we keep giving attention to these matters like Avery's then they give us exactly the opposite effect of what we want to accomplish.

This is not a free speech issue in this country but it should be. Suspending someone for 6 games just for saying something trashy is not solving a thing. Everyone should be entitled to an opinion right or wrong trashy or nice.

[Sarasota Bill]

What Avery said was a perfect example of what he is. Adolescent, arrogant, inappropriate, and disrespectful. Was it true? Doesn't matter. That kind of comment has no place in this game.

Should he have been suspended? Yes and No! I think he should have been allowed to play against Phaneuf instead of suspending him hours before gametime, and be forced to face the music, then been suspended. The NHL can suspend him, with pay by the way, but his greatest punishment would have been to meet Phaneuf on the ice. Just one last time!! Only then could true justice be served. Back alley works OK as well. I wouldn't have missed that game for anything.

Sad thing is, Avery has some skill. He could provide a little grit as an agitator and also provide some scoring. The reason he is so far off the wall is is because of one rule. The "Instigator" rule. We have talked about that enough here so lets not go there now except to say, want to stop the nonsense? Forget about the NHL sanctions. Let the boys take care of their own. That, and only that, will solve the problem of cheap hits, head shots, and little punks like Avery.

[Patrick]

I agree with the decision to suspend him. Regardless of what the league did, the look I saw on Phaneuf's face makes me think he plans to administer his own punishment. On Cobb, I disagree with past bad decisions being used as precedents to make new bad decisions.

[Rob Nugent]

Listen to what our former coach Barry Melrose said about it. He is right on. Guys dont get suspended for 6 games for drilling someone from behind head first into the boards. The NHL says that they want their players to speak out so we can learn about their personalities. This is a prime example of that. Let Phaneuf deal with it on the ice the next time they play each other.

[hockeytalkie]

pete rose was an AH, yaz was an AH. most of the 86 mets were. a lot of people dont like sapp. avery isn't the first but he's using his celeb status to draw neg attention to the league and that's the difference.

he sought out the reporters in the locker "just to make that statement." that's why the league stepped in.

[Boltflasher]

I don't think he should have been suspended. The issue is between Avery, his ex-girlfriend and her current hockeyplayer boyfriend,...not the NHL'S matter. Let the 2 players take care of if on ice if they choose. By these standards, Ty Cobb should have never played a game...