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

this is the LA take on the trade:

Kings trade controversial Avery to the Rangers
By Chris Foster, Times Staff Writer
February 6, 2007

Sean Avery's controversy-filled three-plus seasons with the Kings ended Monday when the team traded him to the New York Rangers in a five-player deal.

In return, the Kings received forward Jason Ward and two prospects, forwards Marc-André Cliche and Jan Marek. The Kings also included forward John Seymour, an eighth-round pick in the 2005 draft.

By trading the 26-year-old Avery, the Kings removed a potentially negative influence on players in the team's youth movement. At the same time, the Kings get some value for a player who seemed to have no value at the end of last season.

Cliche, a second-round pick in the 2005 draft, was considered the key player in the deal. "Where he started to impress me was when we saw him in the Canadian national team camp," Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi said. "He seemed like one of those players who would do anything to make the team. The way they put the junior team together, they are cognizant of character guys filling certain roles.

"I'm not saying he's a top talent, but if character is a talent, that's something he's got in abundance."

Avery's time with the Kings, who acquired him in 2003 in a deal that sent defenseman Mathieu Schneider to the Detroit Red Wings, has been pockmarked by controversy. Yet, this season, he kept a lower-than-usual profile. He hired a personal publicist, whose previous clients included comedian Andy Dick and avoided the media — all in an effort to clean up an image tarnished by self-inflicted antics, on and off the ice.

Last season is a case in point. The NHL that September reprimanded Avery for a nasty comment he made about French-Canadian players. The next month, he was accused of calling the Edmonton Oilers' Georges Laraque — who is black — a monkey, a charge Avery denied. In November, Avery was fined for diving, then fined again for criticizing the NHL for the first fine.

Late in the season, he directed an obscenity-laced tirade at NBC announcer Brian Hayward and a week later was finally unofficially suspended by the team, with only three games left, for refusing to do a drill in practice.

Avery's tendency to be a loose cannon was unpredictable. During a game last season, for example, he spotted actor John Cusack sitting near the bench, wearing a Detroit Red Wings cap.

A former Kings employee who was on the bench said Avery mocked the actor throughout the game.

"Sean would come to the bench, he'd scream, 'Hey Cusack, "Must Love Dogs?" When are you going to make a man's film again?' " Kings players had grown weary of Avery's behavior, and his standing in the dressing room improved only slightly this season. But Lombardi re-signed him to a one-year contract last summer, saying at the time that Avery was on "double secret probation."

Meanwhile, Avery was effective in spurts this season, with 10 goals and 28 points. His 116 penalty minutes lead the team but are well off the numbers he accumulated in leading the NHL the last two seasons. He also reduced the number of ill-advised penalties.

"He's learned to be a better teammate and he comes to play every night," Lombardi said. "He's an emotional guy in a good way and sometimes that emotion gets the best of him."

The only reported incident this season was non-confrontational, but resulted in Scott Thornton's breaking his left wrist. The two were "horsing around," according to a source close to the team, when Avery kicked a workout ball at Thornton, who then punched Avery in the back.

Now Avery is a Ranger.

"Let's face it, he's come a long way since last summer. When I first got here, there wasn't much of a market for Sean Avery. He has made progress and there were a number of teams interested in him."

Lombardi said the team would scout Marek — an eighth-round pick in 2003 — who is playing in the Russian Hockey League. Ward, 28, will join the Kings on their current trip. He had 10 goals and 28 points while playing on the checking line last season, but had fallen out of favor with Coach Tom Renney.

from the newsday blog regarding Sean Avery:

"I think a lot of it I brought on myself in the past," he said. "The bottom line with me is that I want to be around a winning environment and I want to win. I'm an emotional guy and in the past, I've said things with the wrong people around and in the wrong situation and at the wrong time. I think that's behind me at this point in my career...I was in the league at a young age and it took a while to get my bearings. My eagerness to win and my competitiveness kinda got down the wrong path at times, now I'm at the point where I know how to handle myself a little better and know who to say things to and who not to."

The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Avery said one reason he wanted to be here was his relationship with Shanahan. "I have a connection with him, we played together in Detroit... In L.A, the Rangers game would be the game that we would watch before our game. I'm excited to play with Shanny and Jags is the best player in the world. I think this team can really do a lot of damage if Jags and Straks can really get going. I don't think there's a better place to play in the league, especially if you win."

Asked what fans should expect from him, Avery said: "I'm just gonna come in and work hard offensively and defensively and bring a little emotion. I'm sure hockey fans know what I'm gonna bring to the table. I know what type of city New York is, it's a sports town, coming from L.A., we had our core group of fansI'm gonna come out there, but I just wanted to be in an environment where people enjoyed coming to games and put pressure on the team to win and hold you accountable on certain levels. I'm a blue-collar guy and try to be the hardest-working guy on the ice every night. New Yorkers and Rangers fans probably appreciate that type of style. "

Jagr has a ghetto booty....it's true.

b's have won 2 in a row

carry on