Where in hell did Sean Avery come from? many ask these days.
I come from the same places, and I met him there, so I believe I can answer that question.
And -- no -- we're not related.
I'm getting a kick out of following the career of Sean Avery as he is a professional hockey player my size -- 5 foot 9 inches -- with my last name.
I have been following his career ever since I lived in Owen Sound and he moved in, to play with the Platers, in the OHL, and since I moved to Pickering, which is his old hometown, and especially since he got traded to the New York Rangers and became the catalyst that took them to the Stanley Cup play-offs in 2007 and made them a much better team in 2008. I use a picture of his hockey sweater, number 16, with the name Avery on the back, as my avatar or image on Facebook.
In the new NHL, minus the big goons, Avery has become an enforcer, fighting anyone and everyone, and throwing everybody off their game.
In his first season in the NHL, Avery led the league in penalty minutes, with over 260. During the lockout, he went to Finland to play for the Pelicans, but then went to Detroit to play for the Motor City Mechanics of the IHL. He scored a lot of goals and got a lot of penalties, like Gordie Howe.
He had four Gordie Howe hat-tricks in his first three years in the NHL. He is a very physical player and is considered a pest. After getting traded from the L.A. Kings to the New York Rangers, he scored eight goals and got 12 assists in 29 games. His team was18-9-3 with Avery in their lineup and 9-13-3 without him, in his first full year as a Ranger.
In a recent poll on Bench Report, 25% said the Rangers should re-acquire Sean Avery.
The options were: Fire Renney, Trade Petr Prucha, hire Sundin or Shanny, or reacquire Sean Avery.
One quarter of the votes went for trading Prucha. Nobody wanted to fire Renney.
Most voters agreed the Rangers should re-hire Sean Avery.
Our story begins in peaceful Pickering, on the shores of Lake Onntario, right beside Toronto. It was a small, sleepy town, until they made it the home of the Pickering nuclear power generating station.
When Sean Avery was born, back in 1980, Pickering A, the first of four nuclear reactors in the community next to Toronto, had been shut down and Pickering B would not sart up until 1983.
Pickering is one of the world's biggest nuclear generating facilities, with two CANDU reactors and a total output of 3,100 megawatts -- enough to serve a city of one and a half million people.
The population of Pickering, today, is about 100,000 people.
What impact can a nuclear power plant have on the psyche of a pee-wee hockey player?
Do you think a nuclear power plant down the street from the hockey rink would inspire a young Canadian kid to become a peacenik, a nuclear protester, a non-violent, Zen Buddhist, meditator? Or an explosive hockey player?
Sean Avery is one of the most famous people from Pickering. Also on the list are Glenn Clark, head coach of the Toronto Rock; Glen Healey, who played goal for the New York Rangers when they won the Stanley Cup in





We're going to send you the most entertaining NHL articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.










0 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete