The National Hockey League has suspended Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery indefinitely. Avery has been blogged about a number of times here for both his on-ice antics (causing a rule change during the playoffs by waving his stick near the face of a goalie) and off-ice interests (interning at Vogue magazine).
The reason for the suspension, though, has nothing to do with anything he did on the ice. The Stars are in Calgary for a game tonight against the Flames. After their morning skate, Avery went over to reporters waiting to speak to him about a recent comment he made on ESPN about Flames star Jarome Iginla. Avery said that the league should improve its marketing by promoting its “villains” and added, “Nobody cares about Jarome Iginla and guys like that, they’re just not exciting enough.”
In the locker room today, Avery made this statement: “I am really happy to be back in Calgary, I love Canada…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.”
It’s a reference to Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf, who is currently dating actress Elisha Cuthbert, who used to date Avery (and also has been linked to Montreal’s Mike Komisarek). In addition, another Avery ex, model and actress Rachel Hunter, is now dating Jarrett Stoll of the Los Angeles Kings.
It’s a crude and obnoxious remark, for sure. But is it something that warrants a suspension? And did the NHL take this action because the Stars and Flames are playing tonight and wanted to avoid a potentially ugly situation?
This is a league that is so concerned with preventing fighting but still can’t figure out how to crack down on blows to the head that sometimes cause concussions, which would seem to me to be much more important. This suspension seems way over the top.
on Dec 3rd, 2008 at 12:16 AM
lol i think its hilarious and i guarentee half the guys in the league are laughing their ass off at the comment…..i believe the words “its funny cuz its true” come to mind!! nice to know puck bunnies are still alive and kickin…..
on Dec 3rd, 2008 at 12:21 AM
AMEN and you are the only person who I have seen post a spin that this suspension is bullshit. I am no Avery fan in fact I am a huge Bruins fan from Boston so, I couldn’t care less, and I think its bullshit.
In a league where they absolutely condone and welcome fighting (which would get any of us a night in jail and a day in court) they are going to suspend a guy for what amounts to name calling (when I am sure far worse is said on the ice)? This is a disgrace and the NHL should be ashamed of their actions.
on Dec 3rd, 2008 at 12:34 AM
I am convinced that the average NHL hockey player has more class and respect for others than the proud arogance of most other sport members. Avery and his size ten pie-hole will get old real fast, I feel sorry for his team, they don’t want to rock the boat, they want the cup. This guy is a copycat…..it all started with Geogeous George then Mahammed Ali then who knows? but the funny thing is these big mouths actually accomplished something prior beaking off.
on Dec 3rd, 2008 at 12:38 AM
I don’t think he was suspended just for these comments, to be honest. I think it’s the straw that’s broke the camel’s back. Avery has been running around for years saying ridiculous things, but was never held accountable. As one announcer said “There’s the high road, there’s the low road, and there’s the road that Sean Avery takes.” I’m a Bruins fan all the way, rarely have to deal with Avery (aside from that brawl some weeks back
) but the comments he makes in the press make the players and the league look bad. It’s about time the league did something about it. There’s a difference between what happens in the heat of a game and calling the press over to your locker to essentially call your ex-girlfriend a slut.
on Dec 3rd, 2008 at 12:39 AM
Ranger fan here. Hated to see him go and would take him back in a second. But you can’t insult a woman publicly like that. Next thing you know guys will be digging up dirt on each other’s mothers. Avery would still be in NY where he meshed well thanks to Shanahan and produced well but he got greedy. Now he’s on a team where he’s regarded as a disturbance. What’s the next stop, Omsk?
on Dec 3rd, 2008 at 12:47 AM
I agree with you all, but I would of watched that game tonite if he wasn’t suspended!! Be it just to see him get his ass kicked or not, bottom line is I get what he’s trying to do, however I unlike georgeous george or Ali, this is a team sport and unfortunately neither his team or the league are going to support that sorta behaviour
on Dec 3rd, 2008 at 2:56 AM
Mr and Mrs Avery…………….you must be proud
on Dec 3rd, 2008 at 2:24 PM
There is no way that it is acceptable to refer to any women as “sloppy seconds” in the media. All the moes on this board who think this suspension is “bullshit” should ask themselves how they feel when athletes toss around the word faggot. Then they should shut the fuck up.
on Dec 3rd, 2008 at 6:42 PM
How’s it any different than Coach Reggie Dunlop going on the radio and putting a bounty on Tim McCraken’s head? If memory serves, the Chiefs won the cup that year…
on Dec 3rd, 2008 at 7:10 PM
People should be able to say anything foul & offensive as everybody does it
Why attempt to police it?
Or is it that he is white he can not say certain things?
on Dec 3rd, 2008 at 7:47 PM
I don’t think it is worth a suspension. We really need to get away from this trend of crucifying people for things they say. Grow a set. Don’t be so easily offended. And seriously, if this girl is sleeping around from team to team, then what else would you say?
on Dec 4th, 2008 at 3:18 AM
So it’s alright when some guys walks off the ice bleeding half to death, and it MAY get you kicked out of the game, or maybe just a 5 minute major.
Although anyone with common sense knows who he is talking about, he mentioned no names, which is just a general statement. He didn’t deserve suspension for anything.
on Dec 4th, 2008 at 3:56 PM
The comment was low-class and rude. Sean Avery is a world-class douche-bag. But do his comments call for an indefinite suspension? I don’t think so. Not to rehash the whole “freedom of speech” thing, but words are…well, only words. An indefinite suspension would be appropriate for an on-ice infraction like Bertuzzi’s hit on Moore or McSorley’s stick to the head of Brashear or Pronger stomping on Kesler’s leg. But for a spoken insult, inferring certain individuals but mentioning no names? No. IMHO, any punishment should have been meted out by the Dallas Stars organization to their employee. The League should have stayed out of it and let the team police it’s players conduct.
Not to defend Avery, but what if these remarks had been made by a different player? Supposing it had been said by Sidney Crosby. For sure Bettman’s darling Sydney would not have been indefinitely suspended. The NHL, on Bettman’s watch, has proven time and again that the severity of suspensions is determined not necessarily by the infraction, but by the name on the jersey. Sean Avery was suspended for simply BEING Sean Avery!
on Dec 4th, 2008 at 11:01 PM
Read one fan’s account (a 60-year-old woman) who claims she was seriously verbally abused by Avery during a game:
http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2008/12/04/one-fans-vulgar-confrontation-with-sean-avery/
on Dec 5th, 2008 at 12:28 AM
Well, here I find myself trying in vain to wrap my feeble mind around how offensive Avery’s remarks really were. Aside from how badly reported the actual wording od the quote seems to be, how many women do you know who happen to serially date one man after another in the same profession? Accountant groupies may indeed exist, as well as lawyer, doctor or candlestick maker groupies, but I’ve never heard of them as a social phenomenon that matches the scope of rock star groupies, or NHL groupies, for that matter. Are we supposed to still be feigning to protect the “weaker sex” as manly men? Even were this accomplished athlete & businessman to have used the term “sloppy seconds”, did he name which girlfriend about whom he was commenting? Just how do we know her individual name, if she weren’t publicly notorious already about her prediliction for a microcosmically small percentage of available males in North America? She has to be protected from her own public exhibitionism? I’ll worry much more about the truly innocent humans, both female & male, who don’t seek the limelight of fame, thank you very much!
on Dec 5th, 2008 at 7:33 PM
this is some bullshit, he should not be suspended, it wasnt even that bad what he said, i know ive used the term sloppy seconds before and im pretty sure most of you guys have too. At the most he should have got a fine because he said it on tv. The Stars owner is a coward, he should back up his team no matter what they say, unless it is negative towards his own team or teamates. complete bullshit bettman is a fucin idiot, its good publicity having the players talin smac, it may get the Americans who dont usually watch hocey to maybe turn on the game to see what happens. guaranteed when the stars play the flames next, there will be the most viewers for any flames game ever.