Sean Avery: From A Clockwork Orange to the Lady Byng Award

Now that Sean Avery has Avery has completed a counseling program under the NHL/NHLPA behavioral health program, will he be a candidate for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy?

The Lady Byng Trophy is presented each year to the National Hockey League "player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."

The trophy is named in honour of Marie Evelyn Moreton (Lady Byng), wife of Viscount Byng of Vimy, a Vimy Ridge war hero who was Governor General of Canada from 1921 to 1926. Lady Byng, who was an avid hockey fan, decided to donate the trophy to the NHL in 1925.

Wayne Gretzky won it five times, Red Kelly had four wins, and Bobby Bauer, Alex Delvecchio, Mike Bossy, Ron Francis and Pavel Datsyuk had three each. Because of Frank Boucher's seven wins, the New York Rangers have won the award the most out of any club—fifteen times.

The voting is conducted at the end of the regular season by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and each individual voter ranks their top five candidates on a 10-7-5-3-1 points system. Three finalists are named and the trophy is awarded at the NHL Awards ceremony after the playoffs.

Avery had 77 minutes in penalties at the start of the season, with the Dallas Stars, before undergoing 'anger management.' Avery agreed to seek professional anger-management evaluation and, if necessary, structured counseling in light of his pattern of behavior, which the NHL has deemed unacceptable and antisocial behavior.

Little is known about the program offered by the NHL and the NHLPA.

The goal of anger management is to reduce both your emotional feelings and the physiological arousal that anger causes. They say you can't get rid of, or avoid, the things or the people that enrage you, nor can you change them, but you can learn to control your reactions.

Violence and fighting in the NHL are issues that have been debated for decades. Trash-talking has been identified with other professional sports.

Many sports fans find it ironic an NHL player could be suspended indefinitely for something he said about Hollywood stars and hockey players while the game remains violent and fight-filled.

When Avery returns, I don't think he will be like Alex in A Clockwork Orange, or a candidate for the Lady Byng. But I'd bet he'll choose his words more precisely when the TV cameras are rolling.