You knew it was only a matter of time
Posted by Scott on December 3, 2008
Before Sean Avery would open mouth and insert both feet. On Tuesday the NHL suspended Avery for comments he made to the media in Calgary before the Stars game against the Flames (won by the Stars 3-1). Avery in his typical style couldn’t resist taking a shot at Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf by saying.
“I am really happy to be back in Calgary, I love Canada,” Avery said on camera this morning in Calgary. “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.”
I warned my friends who were Stars fans when they signed Avery, that the guy would cost them more than he would benefit them. There was a 50/50 chance that he’d piss off his teammates, and be alienated in the locker room. Things that happened to Avery in all three of his previous stops in Detroit, LA, and New York. I really think there is an obvious connection between the Stars winning Tuesday night, and Avery being indefinitely suspended pending his meeting with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. Or maybe it’s the vaunted Sydor effect that I told those same Stars fans about last spring.
Regardless it was a good move for the NHL, as it’s a league trying to gain fans and mainstream appeal to get closer to the rest of the “Big 4″ sports. There are a lot of thoughts that go through players minds that are better left inside their heads.
