"So Long" to Sean Avery and the N.Y. Rangers

New York Rangers fans are saying "So long!" to their team until fall, and I am saying "So long!" to Sean Avery and the Rangers, too. They gave us a great season.

It has been a terrific run, I'll say that. It's every sportswriter's dream to pick a team and follow them down the stretch run and into the Playoffs. Besides that, it's every literary writer's dream to be a sportswriter.

My plan was to pick one player to give my articles, stories, recaps, predictions, and humor pieces a focus. This year I selected Sean Avery and the New York Rangers, and I had a blast.

Who knew Avery would turn into the best story in the NHL this year? I did!

I've been following his career since he played Jr. A hockey for a team called the Platers (now the Attack) up in Owen Sound in the Ontario Hockey League. I met him while I was working up there.

His story grabbed me at the end of the hockey season last year with the creation of "The Avery Rule," and I watched events such as his announced death, his summer at Vogue and Men's Vogue, and the deal with Dallas unfold.

I followed the Sean Avery story as he got involved in controversies with the Stars, especially in Nashville and Calgary, which led to suspension by the NHL, getting dumped by Dallas. He then underwent anger management and had a big comeback, played in the AHL, and then rejoined the Rangers.

What a year!

For a writer, Avery is a very good choice for a topic, as he is often controversial. Also, he is a fan favorite, hated by opponents, and a man that plenty love to hate.
 
Since I began centering my content on the "King of Pests," I've written over 400 articles for Bleacher Report, collected them in six books, and also written a young adult novel using all my research. You might want to get it for a kid you know who likes hockey (or who needs anger management).

After a few months with Bleacher Report, I was ranked No. 1 in the New York Rangers category, No. 1 in the Dallas Stars, No. 2 in NHL Atlantic, No. 3 in Washington Capitals, No. 4 in Toronto Maple Leafs, No. 5 in Pittsburgh Penguins, and No. 5 in NHL.

I was in the top five for the Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers, and New Jersey Devils for a little while, too. I was even No. 1 in the AHL for a bit.

I wrote a few non-hockey articles, trying my hand at football, baseball, basketball, and "outdoor sports" (fishing). Soccer could be next.

I'm up to around 65,000 reads registered for my articles, and half a dozen of my columns got over a thousand reads each. Some have been picked up by CBS Sports, Fox Sports, T.O. Sports, and others.

The top one was called "Sean Avery, Jennifer Aniston Get "Basted" in New York and Boston". The lead sentence was "Sean Avery of the New York Rangers has been lambasted repeatedly in recent games and in the media even though he has changed his role from third-line agitator to first-line scorer and performed with Zen-like calm on and off the ice."

It had 1726 reads, the last time I looked, which was a second or so ago.

It was exciting climbing from member to contributor up to scribe and analyst, all the way to columnist. I've been a columnist for a number of print and online publications, but none of them compare to B/R, for me, this season.