Avery Rules!

Hockey's No. 1 Bad Boy And “One Of The Sexiest Men Alive”: Sean Avery

There is a lot of speculation about what the Rangers will do after losing Sundin to the Canucks. Some say Sean Avery will become a New York Ranger.
   
Last season, when Avery was in the lineup, the Rangers were 33-14-10. They were 9-13-3 when he was out.
   
The Rangers are first in the Atlantic division and third in the East but seem to be missing a spark in their game.
   
We all know that Avery can handle the New York press and attention, and he has made the team better in the past.
   
Looking at what has happened in the past week or so, it's hard to agree with the NHL's decision, or the Stars' decision, in regards to Sean Avery.

  What Avery said may have been offensive, but not nearly as offensive as what's said or done at ice level.
  
It reminds me of something Gordie Howie once said: "All hockey players are bilingual.  They know English and profanity."
  
A movie appears to be in the works about one of the sexiest men alive who is also the most hated hockey player in the NHL.
  
People love to hate Sean Avery.
   
Sean Avery is the most controversial player in hockey today. Avery the agitator is one of the NHL's most feared players. He was recently Broadway’s biggest star. The self-made hockey hero is getting almost as much attention as Sid the Kid. He is widely recognized for his fiery temper and spirited play, which has made many enemies in many NHL locker rooms.
   
His Hollywood agent is contemplating his comeback.
       
Meanwhile, he is suspended for trash talk and not invited back to his new NHL team, the Dallas Stars.
       
People magazine featured him in their 2007 Sexiest Man Alive issue, and Maxim put him at the top of their list of Hollywood Hookups. He also made People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People issue, which is a rare honour for a hockey player. He' has been an intern for Men's Vogue.
   
The NHL suspended Avery for six games after his crude comments Dec. 2. When he was eligible to return from that, the Stars said he wouldn't play for them again—even though he was only two months into a $15.5 million, four-year contract they are still paying.
   
Avery was suspended for making disparaging remarks about a former girlfriends to the media.

He was already the most hated hockey player in the NHL.

He is known as a super-pest. He's also a former league-leader in penalty minutes.        

His 2008 playoff antics in the crease even led to the creation of "The Sean Avery Rule."

He was part of Detroit's Stanley Cup-winning team of 2002. He has enjoyed three seasons of at least 15 goals since the NHL lockout of 2004-2005.

He is a speedy, bruising, power forward, with soft hands, who has won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings, played for the L.A. Kings and the New York Rangers, and is currently suspended indefinitely from the Dallas Stars.

He had four Gordie Howe hat-tricks in his first three years in the NHL.

As a hockey player, he's best known for his skating days with the New York Rangers, when The Avery Rule was invented, and he was also the boyfriend of Elisha Cuthbert.

Because of his style of play, Avery has made many enemies in the NHL. In a 2007 poll of 283 NHL players, 66.4% said that Sean Avery was the most hated player in the league.
Many consider him a pest.

He is a very physical player, and while some would say that he is too small to be considered an enforcer, he has acted like one on many occasions, to a certain extent. He considers himself a fiercely loyal player, but has drawn criticism for his aggressive style and excessive penalties, however he cut down on penalty minutes by about 65% in 06-07 compared to seasons past.

Maybe he is the Mike Tyson of hockey, the Diego Maradona...What Shane Hollywood Warne is to cricket...if not what Wilt Chamberlain was to basketball. In tennis, the superbrat John McEnroe and Illie Nastase are two names that spring immediately to mind. 
   
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.
   
After getting traded from the L.A. Kings to the New York Rangers, his team was 18-9-3 with Avery in their lineup and 9-13-3 without him.
   
He is the new Eddie Shack. But the guy they called The Entertainer, with the Toronto Maple Leafs, never got voted one of the top 50 beautiful people by People magazine, the same year as being voted Most Hated Player in the NHL, by other NHLers.
He dated Playboy and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Rachel Hunter and Elisha Cuthbert, who plays Kim Bauer on 24.
   
He has made the news for fighting on the ice and for arguing off the ice.
  
Avery pushes the proverbial envelope. The more he does it the more he draws penalties and the more he gets media attention.

How can they nab Avery for a few disgusting words?

The league tolerates lots of other agitators.

Among current hockey stars, Sean Avery has been called the NHL's most desirable bachelor. So far, he has been romantically linked to Rachel Hunter, Lake Bell, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Elisha Cuthbert, who he appeared with on TV's Punk'd.

Hockey wisdom would point to Sean Avery's 5'10" frame as an obstacle. Despite his lack of size and his being passed over in the NHL entry draft, after playing his junior hockey in the OHL, which has given the NHL so many players, Sean Avery eventually smashed his way into the league.

He can skate and score, but Sean Avery's best asset is still his mouth. Among other highlights, he called one opponent "an arrogant little midget,” and suggested that another one's dog "lick his face, not chew it."

He dated Playboy and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Rachel Hunter.

Sean Avery played a small role in the movie "The Rocket" (2005).

Avery appeared in a December 2006 episode of MAD t.v.

He has also been featured on an episode of MTV Cribs.

Sean Avery is definitely an anomaly in hockey. In a sport known for fighting and violence, the two-time league leader in penalty minutes is a guy who also has a strong interest in fashion.

He loves dressing up in the latest fashion. These are not images you normally associate with the brutish and often boring image of hockey players.

Avery keeps things interesting.

As the Rangers found out, Avery is not just a brawler on the ice, but a player. He was a catalyst for a club that sorely needed fresh energy. He put a lot of points on the board—20 of them in just 27 games.
   
While he's in Anger Management, keeping a low profile, meeting with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Avery still makes news as hockey fans in New York City say they him back and sports pundits say the Pittsburgh Penguins should take him if the Rangers don't.
    
The AHL team he joined during the NHL's cancelled season, The Motor City Mechanics, have folded, but maybe there's another place in the AHL where he could play his way back into the NHL.
   
Others suggest returning to the Pelicans, in Finland, where he played a few games during the NHL's freeze-out, or maybe for Malkin's old team, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, in Siberia.