Sean Avery: New York Rangers Forward Crossed Line by Tattling on Wayne Simmonds

After the unceremonious revelation of the fact that the Philadelphia Flyers will host the New York Rangers in this season's Winter Classic, the two teams locked horns in an exhibition matchup.

The game made waves, not because of the Winter Classic announcement, but because of the Rangers' Sean Avery accusing Philadelphia's Wayne Simmonds of hurling a gay slur toward him.

New York Rangers forward Avery said that Flyer forward did, in fact, use a gay slur toward him. Simmonds countered by saying that he didn't remember exactly what was said during the exchange, but he stopped short of denying it:

"

Honestly, we were going back and forth for a while there. I don't recall everything that I did say to him, but he said to me some things I didn't like, and maybe I said some things that he didn't like. I can't recall every single word I said.

"

While Simmonds maintains that he doesn't know exactly what he said, this video from Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! Sports seems to clearly show Simmonds mouthing a gay slur toward Avery, though there is no audio to verify it.

This situation is incredibly bizarre when you consider the fact that Simmonds was involved in controversy last week as well, when a fan threw a banana peel on the ice during Simmonds' shootout attempt in London, Ontario, in a blatant, racially charged act.

While it was wrong of Simmonds to use a gay slur (if he actually did), especially on the heels of what happened to him in London, it was equally wrong of Avery to make it public. I would never support the use of a gay slur, but what is said in the heat of the moment during a professional sporting event should stay between the players.

It is quite possible that Avery was genuinely offended by the slur since he has spoken out for gay rights in the past, but it still doesn't excuse him for outing Simmonds in public. Perhaps no NHL player has been more outspoken than Avery in recent years, as I'm sure most will remember his "sloppy seconds" rant with regards to Dion Phaneuf and his ex-girlfriend, Elisha Cuthbert.

To Avery's "credit," he was at least forthcoming when he made those comments, but it stands to reason that he has said some pretty despicable things on the ice during his career. Despite that, nobody has ever gone to the media and complained about it.

Simmonds was wrong, and he should be more sensitive to such issues, especially after the banana incident, but Avery has no right to damage the reputations of others when he has made a career out of being an agitator and, quite bluntly, a jerk.

Update: Considering Simmonds' outright rejection of Avery's account, and the lack of substantial evidence, Colin Campbell, the NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations, stated the league is unable to take disciplinary action at the moment. Campbell released the following statement Tuesday:

"

[T]he National Hockey League holds, and will continue to hold, our Players to higher standards with respect to their conduct both on and off the ice. While we recognize that the emotion involved in certain on-ice confrontations may lead to the use of highly charged and sometimes offensive language and commentary, certain lines cannot be crossed. [...]

With that as background, we have looked into the allegations relating to the possible use of a homophobic slur by a Flyers player in the Rangers/Flyers preseason game last night in Philadelphia. Since there are conflicting accounts of what transpired on the ice, we have been unable to substantiate with the necessary degree of certainty what was said and by whom.

Specifically, Flyers Player Wayne Simmonds has expressly denied using the homophobic slur he is alleged to have said. Additionally, none of the on-ice officials close to the altercation in question heard any inappropriate slurs uttered by either of the primary antagonists. In light of this, we are unable at this time to take any disciplinary action with respect to last night's events.

To the extent we become aware of additional information conclusively establishing that an inappropriate slur was invoked, we are reserving the option to revisit the matter.

"