NHL Referees Are Stalking Sean Avery

Is it just me or does it look to you that NHL referees and linesmen are stalking Sean Avery now that he has returned to hockey with the New York Rangers?

When Avery got an interference penalty at the end of Sunday's game against Boston, he looked shocked but did not retaliate. Rangers head coach John Tortorella said he didn't see Avery do anything wrong.

The fans in the stands reacted with surprise as well.

He was the victim of a questionable interference call with 1:22 left, according to Steve Zippay of Newsday.

Avery got two penalties the following night against the Carolina Hurricanes. In one of them, he fell and ran into someone, so he was sent to the penalty box.

Larry Brooks of the New York Post has noticed the referees and linesmen watching Avery too. A Brooks article has been copied in the Truth & Rumours section of the Fan Nation Web site under the headline "Refs Cracking Down on Sean Avery?"

The Post headline was less subtle. It said "HEY, REFS: GIVE AVERY A BREAK"

Brooks said Avery is being shadowed on the ice by game officials since his return to the NHL.

Brooks reported the referee or a linesman is in his face after most whistles, whispered to him prior to faceoffs, and escorted him to the bench during stops in play."

Maybe they all were rule-book penalties, and maybe they weren't, Brooks noted. He added that there is no doubt at all that the referees working both Bruins-Rangers at the Garden on Sunday and Rangers-Hurricanes in Raleigh on Monday allowed dozens of other far more blatant rule book infractions to go unpenalized.

Avery has done his time for whatever the crime was that he committed, Brooks argues. Now he is entitled to the same equal protection under the law that is applied to every other player in the NHL, even those who have rap sheets for head-hunting and foot stomping.

Brooks also noted the irony in the fact that the NHL is using Avery's celebrity status to get attention. "The NHL may not want Avery on the ice, but that sure hasn't stopped the league from prominently featuring the Avery Saga on its showcase Web site homepage at every opportunity," he said.