Considering the NHL is the same league that's given us the face wash, the high stick, the hip check, the crosscheck, some amazing adventures in dentistry, the unique nightly phenomenon of legal bare-knuckle fistfighting and those unseen backstage seamstresses who stitch up players' faces and send them flying back to the ice after barely missing a shift, it was comical to hear how many folks in the NHL were outraged, just outraged, I tell you, about the novel stunt that Rangers instigator Sean Avery pulled against Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur on Sunday.
"Idiot," hissed Pittsburgh forward Gary Roberts.
"I was embarrassed," said ESPN analyst Barry Melrose.
"Something you'd see in a bush league," said New Jersey coach Brian Sutter, who at least has a dog in this fight.
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In case you missed it, Avery - a Rangers winger who also collects A-list girlfriends, frequents Fashion Week shows and hipster clubs, and fancies himself so much of a renaissance man he once boasted, "I'd hang myself if I had to talk sports all the time" - did something to Brodeur the other day that nobody in the NHL can remember seeing before. This is Avery's gift. This is his genius. Six years into his NHL career, he still seems able to find unique (not just uncouth) ways to push people's buttons. You'd think his shtick would have lost some sting by now. But no. Everyone knows what he is. And he still drives opponents crazy, anyway.
As teammate Martin Straka said yesterday, "It works."
On Monday, smack in the middle of the first round of the playoffs, the NHL moved swiftly to outlaw the new way that Avery face-guarded Brodeur during the Devils' 4-3 overtime win Sunday.
When the two teams meet again tonight at Madison Square Garden with the Rangers leading the series 2 games to 1, Avery (and anyone else in the league) will now get an unsportsmanlike penalty for turning their back to the action and blatantly facing a goaltender to block his vision without trying to make a play on the puck.
Blocking a goalie's sight in front of the net is an age-old trick. But Avery also waved his stick and hands in Brodeur's face again and again and, still facing him, moved from side to side every time the Devils' goaltender did during a five-on-three Rangers' power play. Avery was also yammering at Brodeur so much that Brodeur went helmet to helmet with the Rangers winger, angrily barking back at him through his goaltender's mask.
Were the stunts cheesy? Sure. And Avery only made the Devils angrier when he scored moments later to give the Rangers a one-goal lead.
But since when did so many hockey people get such delicate sensibilities? This is the same league that already had a rule against hair pulling. This is the same sport that determines penalty minutes based on whether the offender did or didn't draw blood. In hockey, the only bad rabbit punch is the one that gets penalized. And what constitutes "unsportsmanlike conduct" has always been a fluid thing. Isn't the entire culture of hockey built on some not-so-subtle condoning of bending the rules?
It makes you wonder if the uproar about Avery since Sunday is really just about what he did? Or the fact that it was Avery who did it?
When the Hockey News took a poll last year to determine the most disliked player in the league, Avery's peers voted him No. 1 in a landslide. That explains how Rangers star Jaromir Jagr could insist yesterday that Avery made "a smart play" while Sutter, the Devils coach, called it bush.
Avery almost surely has some choice thoughts on all this. He's just not saying. Yesterday, he continued his recent embargo on speaking to reporters. But you could understand if the guy is a bit confused about the message the NHL is sending: Smacking someone in the face? Yes. Face-guarding like an admitted jerk. No?
"I think [the league] had to do something or the goaltenders would have been unhappy - they're always whining, anyway," Jagr needled.
With Game 4 ahead tonight, Rangers coach Tom Renney wasn't interested in talking any more yesterday about what someone drolly called Avery's "resourcefulness."
It was just Avery being Avery. And who knows what he'll come up with next?
"He never used to bother me when I played against him," Straka shrugged. "But then, I couldn't understand a thing he said."
it took the league 14 fricking hours to make a new rule for marty
or is it for Avery ?
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That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
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The reading today insinuates that the mood in the lockerroom is calm, cool, and light hearted.
Jagr is such a jokester !
Jaromir Jagr of course joked about it, and Chris Drury went out of his way to make sure that his part in the farce was not misinterpreted as a rebuke of his teammate. See the Daily News, Newsday, Times, Record, Ledger, and AP. In the Post, Larry Brooks takes it to the NHL for action as inappropriate as Avery's, while Newsday takes it to other holier than thou hypocrites who piled on. The News makes a big deal of Avery flipping the bird at a TV camera.
Elsewhere, game day stories and Game 4 previews from the Rangers' perspective can be found in the Daily News, Journal News (on Ranger rookies), Newsday, MSG.com , NYR.com, Rangerland, and Prospect Park. For the Devils' point of view, see the Daily News, Post, Record, Ledger, MSG.com, with additional notes from the Ledger. A Vancouver paper reports that Ranger GM Glen Sather has interviewed for the opening in Toronto and may also consider doing the same in Vancouver. The Wolf Pack begin their playoffs tonight -- Howlings has an in-depth series preview; see also the Courant here and here. Oh, almost forgot this one: a British journalist's paean to Ranger fans.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
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u know dam well it happened in part because it was marty
AND because it was Sean Avery,...& he wears red white and blue.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
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There still is many bright spots to take from the prior game- even withg that dreadful overtime sidden death loss.
Brandon Dubinsky- need I saty more ? First 2 NHL Playoff goals- this kids doing well- maybe because hes out there with Jagr ? ( Jags assited on all 3 goals the other night )
Callahan ! Tough Break
Marc Staal
we loss the game cuz of a fluke play that went off his skate- but wow-
this guys been steady ( has he been paired with Girardi ? ) and under the radar - but the guy is clocking major time and lead the team with played minutes--- 26 minutes the other night ! 26 ! ! ! ! Those are Brian Leetch Numbers man !
the morning skate has this and a bucch more on avery-
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
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cmon now rygar ,stop sticking up for you're canadian friend
u know dam well it happened in part because it was marty
No, it happened cause it was Avery.
90% of the goalies in the league get away with the same BS Brodeur pulls.
I don't think there's a vendetta against the Rangers in the NHL. At least no more than any other team not wearing black and yellow...or blue and white.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
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my only complaint........ avery should have finished that play late in the third right before staal's goal. he was right on top of the crease and had three feet of empty net to hit. but right before the puck got to him, he had his arms up in disgust because of a non call, the puck came to him and he just wasn't ready to receive the pass because he had his arms up in the air and he shot it right back into brodeur.
i like what he has been doing to get inside of brodeurs head, but you still have to be in a position to get a rebound or shot. you can't do that when you are waving your stick around in the air with your back to the play.
my only complaint........ avery should have finished that play late in the third right before staal's goal. he was right on top of the crease and had three feet of empty net to hit. but right before the puck got to him, he had his arms up in disgust because of a non call, the puck came to him and he just wasn't ready to receive the pass because he had his arms up in the air and he shot it right back into brodeur.
i like what he has been doing to get inside of brodeurs head, but you still have to be in a position to get a rebound or shot. you can't do that when you are waving your stick around in the air with your back to the play.
see you at the rock friday, rangers in 5!
yea he should of buried that and you're right his stick wasnt on the ice quick enough
but luckily it didnt cost us
Comments
"Idiot," hissed Pittsburgh forward Gary Roberts.
"I was embarrassed," said ESPN analyst Barry Melrose.
"Something you'd see in a bush league," said New Jersey coach Brian Sutter, who at least has a dog in this fight.
Johnette Howard Bio | E-mail | Recent columns
In case you missed it, Avery - a Rangers winger who also collects A-list girlfriends, frequents Fashion Week shows and hipster clubs, and fancies himself so much of a renaissance man he once boasted, "I'd hang myself if I had to talk sports all the time" - did something to Brodeur the other day that nobody in the NHL can remember seeing before. This is Avery's gift. This is his genius. Six years into his NHL career, he still seems able to find unique (not just uncouth) ways to push people's buttons. You'd think his shtick would have lost some sting by now. But no. Everyone knows what he is. And he still drives opponents crazy, anyway.
As teammate Martin Straka said yesterday, "It works."
On Monday, smack in the middle of the first round of the playoffs, the NHL moved swiftly to outlaw the new way that Avery face-guarded Brodeur during the Devils' 4-3 overtime win Sunday.
When the two teams meet again tonight at Madison Square Garden with the Rangers leading the series 2 games to 1, Avery (and anyone else in the league) will now get an unsportsmanlike penalty for turning their back to the action and blatantly facing a goaltender to block his vision without trying to make a play on the puck.
Blocking a goalie's sight in front of the net is an age-old trick. But Avery also waved his stick and hands in Brodeur's face again and again and, still facing him, moved from side to side every time the Devils' goaltender did during a five-on-three Rangers' power play. Avery was also yammering at Brodeur so much that Brodeur went helmet to helmet with the Rangers winger, angrily barking back at him through his goaltender's mask.
Were the stunts cheesy? Sure. And Avery only made the Devils angrier when he scored moments later to give the Rangers a one-goal lead.
But since when did so many hockey people get such delicate sensibilities? This is the same league that already had a rule against hair pulling. This is the same sport that determines penalty minutes based on whether the offender did or didn't draw blood. In hockey, the only bad rabbit punch is the one that gets penalized. And what constitutes "unsportsmanlike conduct" has always been a fluid thing. Isn't the entire culture of hockey built on some not-so-subtle condoning of bending the rules?
It makes you wonder if the uproar about Avery since Sunday is really just about what he did? Or the fact that it was Avery who did it?
When the Hockey News took a poll last year to determine the most disliked player in the league, Avery's peers voted him No. 1 in a landslide. That explains how Rangers star Jaromir Jagr could insist yesterday that Avery made "a smart play" while Sutter, the Devils coach, called it bush.
Avery almost surely has some choice thoughts on all this. He's just not saying. Yesterday, he continued his recent embargo on speaking to reporters. But you could understand if the guy is a bit confused about the message the NHL is sending: Smacking someone in the face? Yes. Face-guarding like an admitted jerk. No?
"I think [the league] had to do something or the goaltenders would have been unhappy - they're always whining, anyway," Jagr needled.
With Game 4 ahead tonight, Rangers coach Tom Renney wasn't interested in talking any more yesterday about what someone drolly called Avery's "resourcefulness."
It was just Avery being Avery. And who knows what he'll come up with next?
"He never used to bother me when I played against him," Straka shrugged. "But then, I couldn't understand a thing he said."
more in /sports/hockey/rangers
not for marty apparantly (sp)
Just like a lot of agitator's get away with agitating.
nah marty is way above the law
and he knows it also
we called him out on his diving earlier in the season and he grinned and smiled and shrugged his shoulders like an arrogant ass
the Chinese judge gave him a 4.7...
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5/23/2011- An utter embarrassment... ticketing failures too many to list.
or is it for Avery ?
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
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made for avery at the request of marty
Jagr is such a jokester !
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
cmon now rygar ,stop sticking up for you're canadian friend
u know dam well it happened in part because it was marty
AND because it was Sean Avery,...& he wears red white and blue.
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
Brandon Dubinsky- need I saty more ? First 2 NHL Playoff goals- this kids doing well- maybe because hes out there with Jagr ? ( Jags assited on all 3 goals the other night )
Callahan !
Tough Break
Marc Staal
we loss the game cuz of a fluke play that went off his skate- but wow-
this guys been steady ( has he been paired with Girardi ? ) and under the radar - but the guy is clocking major time and lead the team with played minutes--- 26 minutes the other night ! 26 ! ! ! ! Those are Brian Leetch Numbers man !
the morning skate has this and a bucch more on avery-
over here
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
90% of the goalies in the league get away with the same BS Brodeur pulls.
I don't think there's a vendetta against the Rangers in the NHL. At least no more than any other team not wearing black and yellow...or blue and white.
Toronto 2011 night 2
Hamilton 2011
London 2013
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
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told u he is a diver
go for a swim marty ,ya girl
staal
in case anyone forgot
Rags in 5.
my only complaint........ avery should have finished that play late in the third right before staal's goal. he was right on top of the crease and had three feet of empty net to hit. but right before the puck got to him, he had his arms up in disgust because of a non call, the puck came to him and he just wasn't ready to receive the pass because he had his arms up in the air and he shot it right back into brodeur.
i like what he has been doing to get inside of brodeurs head, but you still have to be in a position to get a rebound or shot. you can't do that when you are waving your stick around in the air with your back to the play.
see you at the rock friday, rangers in 5!
yea he should of buried that and you're right his stick wasnt on the ice quick enough
but luckily it didnt cost us
You rang ?
The ONLY thing better than a glass of beer is tea with Miss McGill
A protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers
???
im on 3 hours sleep and im abit slow today lol
I share the same last name with the Staal brothers
My name is spelled slightly different (one letter off) but pronounced the same
The ONLY thing better than a glass of beer is tea with Miss McGill
A protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers
Stall???
Admin
Social awareness does not equal political activism!
5/23/2011- An utter embarrassment... ticketing failures too many to list.