Dallas Stars Still Wondering About Sean Avery and Rangers

Now that the Sean Avery show is a hit in New York City, after opening out of town in Hartford, many people wonder why it didn't fly in Dallas, Texas.

In Dallas, they are saying, "It's not me, it's you," apparently.

"Why couldn't Dallas Stars and Avery make it work?" asks Mike Helka in the Newsletter of the Dallas Stars, in the Dallas Morning News.

There is much to study about the Stars in the off-season, he says. Trying to see if the way the Avery situation was handled may help the organization better understand how to move forward.

He asks a lot of questions:

1.Why has Avery been so successful in his return to New York this month?

2. Is it because he tries harder there?

3 Is that he fits in better there?

4. Is it that he learned his lesson in Dallas and is a new man now?

5. Or is it simply that the Rangers know how to handle him and the Stars did not?

6. Why did the Stars not know how to handle him?

7. Is it because the two organizations are philosophically different?

8. Do the Stars preach team over everything, while the Rangers allow for individuality?

9.  Why the Stars weren't able to adapt to Avery?
"He obviously has talent. He can skate, he can agitate," Helka said. "And he can score goals."

10. Could Avery have been the final piece if the team was healthy or was it simply the wrong player at the wrong time?

11. When you watch him now and see what his high-end potential is, do you cut Brett Hull a little more slack for liking what he saw?

12. If Hull was allowed to pursue his vision of a team, would it work out?

13. Would he be able to blend the many personalities the way the Rangers seem to be doing right now?

14. Would Hull take the Stars in a different direction and push it over the top?

15. If a different point of view is not going to fit in a very structured organization, then what good is it?

Good questions!

He does not answer all those questions, but he does come to a conclusion. He said, "My take is Avery did not fit in Dallas and did not like Dallas.

"I also think the Stars did not like Avery and did not have the patience to take the time to see if they could make him fit in."

So much for the philosophy that suggests "If you can make it here (in New York) you can make it anywhere."

Hekla says, "Avery fits in New York...it might be the only place he fits."

In other words: "Only in New York."