Sean Avery Is Good For The NHL

I don’t like Sean Avery. I root for someone to take his head off with a clean, but devastating, hit (think Tucker-Kapanen.) There are many who do the same every time their team has faced the Kings, Rangers and Stars.

It is because of this I have to agree with you. He’s good for the game because the game needs personalities – good guys and bad. As a Blues and Caps fan (in the DC area) I remember how much everyone hated Dale Hunter and how much we loved him. A guy like Avery is good for the game as long as he doesn’t drft towards NBA/NFL style off-ice problems. He’s an arrogant metrosexual jerk who plays dirty, but I think he’s far from a criminal or thug.

From Wiki: (it’s just too good NOT to share it)
Avery and Anaheim Mighty Ducks broadcaster and former Montreal Canadiens goaltender Brian Hayward had a heated discussion in the Kings dressing room on April 7, 2006, over Hayward’s on air comments during the April 4 Kings vs Ducks game, in which he accused Avery of avoiding a fight with Ducks’ forward Todd Fedoruk. Avery began the argument by uttering that Hayward was an “embarrassment”, a “(terrible) announcer”, and was a “(terrible) player”. Hayward responded by saying “How would you know? When I played, you were in your third year of eighth grade.”

Brad, you really hit the nail on the head right. In a twisted sense, pieces of shit like Sean Avery are good for hockey, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t stop praying to the Hockey Gods that somebody catches him with his head down in the Neutral Zone.

Let’s hope somebody besides Jannsen does it.

There’s a special category for guys like Avery. Douchebags like Simon, Hollweg, etc think that they’re just a player that’s driving hard, finishing checks, and then “whoops! i almost killed a guy”. Avery is calculating… he’s trying to be a dick. And, as far as i know, he’s not dangerous.

phhttt. this is what is wrong with hockey. I mean do i really want to see tyson nash playing against sidney crosby? no.

this ain’t wrastlin. how is having idiots good for the game because it upsets people?

that is like saying dahmer is good for the miusic biz cos the violent femmes got a song out of it.

that nixon is good for politics cos it gave us after school television that wasn’t gilligan’s island and matt groening still can make money out of his disembodied head

or that the office slut is good for morale

if you need a slut like avery to boost your hockey morale you ain;t a fan and need to head to detroit and get fucked

Avery is definitely a marked man, especially coming into tomorrow night’s game. I haven’t heard what was said, but Backes was on the radio last night with Strickland and they were talking aboot Avery talking shit in the media to Andy Murray. Backes basically called it bush league and it looks like Avery will have a bulls eye on his sweater tomorrow night. Here’s to hoping he gets pounded!!

CT, if tyson nash could reduce Crosby’s effectiveness, then you’d absolutely want him out there.

Reg Murray: We got a whole new attitude.

Andy Strickland: What about the Janssen? He’s not just a bully?

Reg: Just a bully? He scares the bejesus outta everybody!

AS: Deliberately? – Well…

Reg: I’d like the folks to come down and watch us cream them punks from Dallas. … I have a personal announcement, though. I am placing a personal bounty on the head of Sean Avery. He’s the chief punk on that Dallas team.

AS: A bounty?!?

Reg: Yeah. A hundred bucks of my own money for the first of my men that nails that creep.

AS: That’s seven thirty Thursday at the Scottrade Center - Dallas and the all-new St. Louis Blues.

———
RING
———

Cam Janssen: Reg? It’s Neanderthal.

Reg: Oh. Hi, Neanderthal.

Cam: I want that $100.

Reg: Well, you gotta earn it, Neanderthal.

nope. and not cam janssen either. i’m pretty sure john wayne gacy reduced 18 year old boys effectiveness, nixon reduced the rebulicans, and sluts reduce work productivity.

so your way off.

i rather NOT win the cup the win it with janssen injuring someone with a board along the way.

and anyone wishing for the reverse really needs to rethink their love of hockey. cos that ain’t love. it ain’t even like. its parasitic scadenfreude.

we need to get the s&m out of hockey and back in the fake dungeon basements where it belongs

and ANYONE who thinks i’d rather have one more health non-blues star than one more blues cup doesn’t really know me that well.

the avery, janssen, dale hunter, mcsorley, tyson nash crap never had a real place in hockey, and its flourising under the fickle finger of fate that is basketball jonesing Buttman has nothing to do with what the game is, was, or should be

and ANYONE who is silent on the topic is putting their hand down buttman’s pants and stocking him with five hamiltons

Perfect explication of how the league is marketed poorly – I touched on a parallel marketing-related topic in my article for tomorrow night’s game, but had neither the space nor the mental capacity to put it like that.

I agree that Avery is good for the league in a similar way that someone like Chad Johnson is good for the NFL – #85 definately has more relative talent to offer to his game, but Avery’s pace of putting up a point in just over every 2 games and a positive +/- rating indicate that at least he has something to offer out there on the ice on top of the love/hate attention that he gets.

Add Avery to the list of embarassing goons that I’d rather have on this team than Janssen… 110 career games, 1 goal (I have to imagine that’s an empty netter), 1 assist, and a -7 rating to go with 227 penalty minutes. Worthless, talentless, fucking embarassing punk.

Milo in ’08!

and ANYONE who thinks i’d rather have one more health non-blues star than one more blues cup doesn’t really know me that well

NOT rather have one more healthy star…

siiigh

and just by -the-by. if the blues need to intentionally, or cost effectiveness a high chance of injury to a star player to win they cup, they don’t deserve to, eh?

I could care less about punks like Avery.

It’s punks like Holloweg, and in his time Brian Marchment, who I’d like to personally meet in a dark alley and end their career.

Take out the instigator rule, problem nearly solved.

if the nhl needs morons like avery to be popular, america is totally screwed up.

Speaking of morons, If you go to yahoo’s NHL page they have who is hot and who is not. Somehow matt walker is the 3rd hottest d-man. Who would have thought.

I disagree with you that the NHL needs a heroes/heels script like WWE. First WWE is totally scripted, and the outcome is predetermined. The spectacle is what’s important. Hockey, is still a sport, not just spectacle. At its best, the excitement is created by the players’ talents, the speed and physicality of the game, and the fact that the outcome of each game hangs in the balance when the puck is dropped at the beginning of the game.

Second, Avery is a very effective player, the antics and agitation he causes aside. But if he had to put his body where his mouth is, I suspect he couldn’t be half the “pest” he is now. In the old days, somebody whose mouth ran could expect to be clobbered and his teammates wouldn’t stick up for him. Alligator mouths on guys with hummingbird balls weren’t tolerated – even by their own teammates.

Hollweg? Needs to be 1) held accountable on the ice for his actions, which is hard to do since he’s thrown out of the game immediately after his illegal, dangerous play, or 2) suspended permanently—ah, that’ll never happen. Bertuzzi damn near killed somebody and he’s still playing. I figure it’s just a matter of time before our version does the same thing. And I’m going to get really depressed about the state of hockey when it happens, because if it happens here, there are going to be a lot of so-called fans who are going to cheer “the hometown boy” when he waves his hands in the air.

If Bertuzzi destroys Sean Avery, he will have totally redeemed himself as a human being and hockey player.

See, this is the point I was trying to make, that Avery is NOT the same as the outright thugs like Hollweg and Simon… Avery gets under your skin, but isn’t a dangerous player. That is the distinction that makes him marketable. His rep brings people to the game, the game itself is what brings them back. It’d be nice if a first-time game attendee could sit down and understand the subtleties of the game, but that ain’t gonna happen. Those are the very people that the league is marketing the game to. And remember, half of Avery’s rep is what he does off the ice. If the NHL could harness a portion of that vibe, it could be useful.

While I’m at it, don’t friggin’ crucify Cam before he’s done anything. Half you guys seem to be ready to tar and feather the dude, and he’s not done anything yet. Lighten up, Francis.

“What Avery is saying is the secret to professional wrestling’s enduring popularity. Every WWE match has a hero and a heel.”

And all this time I thought it was the half-naked chicks with fake tits.

As far as Avery goes, I think it’s undeniable that he does attract attention. However, some of the stuff that he does comes off as borderline retarded. I can’t help but think that if I hadn’t been an NHL fan before the Avery/Brodeur incident that I would have laughed so hard I puked, and then thought “Wow, the NHL must be a joke.”

Who knows maybe more behavior like his would attract fans. As for me, that crap takes a great game and makes it look like childish, bush-league amateurism.

Btw, nice job picking a topic that would get us all worked up Brad.

the sean avery isn’t a goon mentality is not really on mark imho. while he may be entertaining, his goonishness is represented thusly.

his “skill” is 167 points, 8 more than jamal mayers

his goonishness is over 6.5x as many penalty minutes at 1094.

oh jamal has 763. 4,8x as many.

avery is in the tyson nash/ jordan tootoo point vs minutes catagory, not the jamal mayers catagory, and CETAINLY not a “he got himself some skillz and shows it on this ice so without the goofy goonishness he would still be an asset” class

Did you just compare Sean Avery to Jamal Mayers? That’s hilarious.

Jamal Mayers: 598 GP, 159 Pts = .27 PPG
Sean Avery: 381 GP, 167 Pts = .44 PPG

NO comparison

Also of note

Jamal Mayers career +/-: 79
Sean Avery career +/ : +11

Again, NO comparison.

Say what you will about Avery’s antics but, in almost every respect, he is at least TWICE the player Mayers ever was, is, or will be.

i didn’t compare points per game, rather penalty minutes per point. try that same hack job using penalty minutes per game and never back down gutty jamal makes goonie avery look like a pile of buffalo shit on “take a big buffalo shit day”

remeber jammers is NOT skilled and we all now it. avery is according to his mother.

actually just let me save you that time big boy

mayers 1.27 pm/g

avery 2.87

tootoo 1.75

tyson nash 1.79

cam janssen 2.06

bryan “knee job” marchment 2.49 AND A D_MAN TO BOOT!!!!

so you and mrs avery get together and kiss sean’s ass a bit more, okay?

I would rather have a dick like Avery crossing the line with his mouth, than a piece of shit like Simon, Hollweg, Janssen, Downie. McSorley crossing the line AGAIN with a dirty hit.

Is there anywhere with a list of each and every suspension handed out by the NHL?

stats are stats, the important distinction is that nobody’s been almost killed because of Avery’s shenanigans. That may be a backhanded compliment, but i think that’s an important difference.

Avery also can play this game at a trmendous level. I love what he does except when he crosses the line on some of the verbal comments. Surely it’s easy to make fun of a guy without talking about fucking his wife who is dying of cancer or something like it.

What Sean did to Marty last year was awesome. It’s no different than a basketball player on defense trying to shield the guy with the ball’s eyes. I can’t believe the NHL made that stupid rule. Avery was risking himself by doing that with his back to the play and standing in front of the net. But it sure as hell worked.

The other negative aspect is I saw footage of a Dallas practice and everyone is sitting around the coach receiveing instructions and Sean is in the background away from everybody skating around not paying it any mind. He’s a character. He can piss you off. Get you off your game and completely do it when he nets a goal.

Coach Q replacing Savard up in Chicago.

I’d say that adds juuuuussst a little bit to the rivalry

Now that everyone else has had their say, I’ll throw my opinion about Avery out there. I don’t like him, but he’s not the same kind of player as Simon, Hollweg, or Janssen. Avery is a slashing the back of your legs and taunting you about your wife’s miscarrige dirty. Those other guys are potentially neck-breaking dirty.

As for his skill set, Sean Avery is more skilled than Jamal Mayers (shocking huh?). I like Jammer, but he is a fourth liner. Avery has the talent to be a good 3d liner to a decent 2nd liner. His MOST prolific season’s offensive stats are comparable to what Eric Perrin and Steve Reinprecht scored last season, just under 50 pts. The difference is that in Avery’s big season he also had over 250 penalty minutes.

The point is that if he wasn’t such a dick, we would barely know who he is. Instead, there are now 30 posts on a Blues fan site about what a cocktooth he is. This is also the reason why he has played on four different teams since 2003.

Well Said.