Dallas Stars Inhibitor Sean Avery Was New York Rangers Catalyst

The Dallas Stars credit Sean Avery for their success, after he left the team, but he was a catalyst playing for the New York Rangers.

Team chemistry is a curious thing. One player can be a catalyst with one team and an inhibitor with another.

There is an old saying that goes "All guests make us happy, some by arriving and some by leaving". That's another way of saying team chemistry can be improved by adding a catalyst or removing an inhibitor.
   
A catalyst is something that makes a chemical reaction happen faster.

The opposite of a catalyst is an inhibitor. Inhibitors slow down reactions. Some of them are found in snake venom and are dangerous for our nervous system or heart.

The Stars started the season in turmoil, going 6-10-4. After the departure of Sean Avery, Dallas got back in the saddle again. They started winning right away, beating Calgary by a score of 3-1 the day Avery was sent home.

The Stars are now 28-21-7, good for second place in the NHL Pacific, and 13th overall, with 63 points in 56 games, and another 26 to go.

Rookie Fabian Brunnstrom scored the winning goal and Marty Turco made 36 saves as Dallas beat the Calgary Flames 3-1, capping an emotional day in which the NHL suspended Stars forward Sean Avery.

Avery was suspended by the NHL for conduct "detrimental to the league or game of hockey" after the outspoken forward made disparaging comments about Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf after the Stars' morning skate. Phaneuf is dating Canadian actress Elisha Cuthbert, one of Avery's ex-girlfriends.

The Stars' penalty-minute leader was immediately sent home by the team.
The Stars struck first in the game that followed, scoring at 6:14 of the first period. Stephane Robidas had his shot kicked out by Kiprusoff, but the rebound into the slot landed right on the stick of Petersen, who put it in the open side.

Calgary outshot Dallas 37-22, and gave Turco full credit for the victory.

After Avery was acquired by the Rangers from the Los Angeles Kings in 2007, the Rangers had a 51-23-16 record with him in the lineup—as opposed to an 8-10-3 record when he wasn't.The Rangers were 28 games over .500 over a period of a year and a half with Avery.