Sean Avery's 15 Step Program

"How come I end up where I started?
How come I end up where I went wrong?
Won't take my eyes off the ball again"
-- 15 Step, by Radiohead

Sean Avery recently got around the gag order slapped on him by the New York  Rangers by texting a Maclean's magazine reporter with this cryptic message: "Listen to 15 Step by Radiohead."

"You used to be alright
What happened?
Did the cat get your tongue
Did your string come undone"

Charlie Gillis reported all that in the new issue of Maclean's magzine. Gillis says the Radiohead song is meditation on mistakes, frustraton, and regret, but includes the promise "I won't take my eyes off the ball again."

Avery is described as the guy in the grey cashmere coat, tailored slacks, and patent leather shoes shined to a high glow, and the best-dressed man in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, when he was playing his way into game shape in the AHL just before rejoining the Rangers.

He also said Avery glorified in a "fan-baiting, rule-bending, authority-tweaking persona."

"Facts for whatever
Fifteen steps
Then a shear drop"

Gillis noted that "Properly deployed, he can be a highly effective on-ice weapon, generating offence while driving opponents to team-wide distractions. In past seasons with the Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and Detroit Red Wings, he’s used this combination of abrasiveness and skill to rack up 68 goals in 402 games."

Make that 69 goals, as Avery scored his first goal since returning to the Rangers in their game against the Nashville Predators, to lead them in a 4-2 win.

"How come I end up where I started?
How come I end up where I went wrong?
Won't take my eyes off the ball again
You reel me out then you cut the string"

Radiohead are an English alternative rock band. In 2005, Radiohead were ranked number 73 in Rolling Stone's list of "the greatest artists of all time."

The song 15 Step is on their 2007 album called In Rainbows. Radiohead released In Rainbows as a digital download that customers could order for whatever price they saw fit.

In Rainbows entered the UK Album Chart and the U.S. Billboard 200 at number one and went on to sell three million copies worldwide. In 2009, the record won two Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Special Limited Edition Package.