B R O A D W A Y***B L U E S H I R T S

NY PJ1

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."

more in /sports/hockey/rangers

butterfly1

I had the same reaction and so did my wife, who asked, "you can smash the guy with a stick but not wave your hands in his face?"

Rygar

butterfly1 wrote:

I had the same reaction and so did my wife, who asked, "you can smash the guy with a stick but not wave your hands in his face?"

Smashing someone with your stick is supposed to be a penalty regardless.

NY PJ1

Rygar wrote:

Smashing someone with your stick is supposed to be a penalty regardless.

not for marty apparantly (sp)

Rygar

NY PJ1 wrote:

not for marty apparantly (sp)

A lot of goalies get away with it.
Just like a lot of agitator's get away with agitating.

NY PJ1

Rygar wrote:

A lot of goalies get away with it.
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

Rygar

NY PJ1 wrote:

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

hehe, Ovechkin's dive last night looked like Avery's from the vid I posted yesterday

chromiam

Rygar wrote:

hehe, Ovechkin's dive last night looked like Avery's from the vid I posted yesterday

the Chinese judge gave him a 4.7...

Rygar

chromiam wrote:

the Chinese judge gave him a 4.7...

Judge was bribed by the Russians..

Bathgate66

NY PJ1 wrote:

it took the league 14 fricking hours to make a new rule for marty

or is it for Avery ?

NY PJ1

Bathgate66 wrote:

or is it for Avery ?

made for avery at the request of marty

Bathgate66

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.

Rygar

NY PJ1 wrote:

made for avery at the request of marty

haha, I doubt brodeur had much sway

NY PJ1

Rygar wrote:

haha, I doubt brodeur had much sway

cmon now rygar ,stop sticking up for you're canadian friend

u know dam well it happened in part because it was marty

Bathgate66

NY PJ1 wrote:

u know dam well it happened in part because it was marty

AND because it was Sean Avery,...& he wears red white and blue.

NY PJ1

Let's Go Rangers!!

Bathgate66

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-

over here

Lets Go Rangers !

Rygar

NY PJ1 wrote:

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.

kenshunt

I think Avery just needed to keep the stick down, instead of waving it in Marty's face, but everything else was fine with me

orig_long red

why cant the devils clear the fucking puck?!