The need for Sean Avery

Sean Avery

The start of this still very early NHL season was a rollercoaster ride for one of the most despised players in hockey, Sean Avery of the New York Rangers. On October 4th, 2011, Avery had been waived by the Rangers, due mainly to his lack of offensive production during the preseason and for the fact that New York has an abundance of better talented and younger players than Sean Avery. Upon clearing waivers and not being picked by another team, Avery was subsequently assigned to the Rangers' AHL affiliate the Connecticut Whale. This demotion of Avery irked me at the time, but more on that later.

After an injury was sustained to Rangers tough-guy Mike Rupp, New York felt the need of Avery's services and thus called him back up from Connecticut to join the club. Similar to Rupp, though much less physically imposing, Sean Avery can play rough, in-your-face hockey. Avery was called-up on Halloween (October 31st), and after clearing re-entry waivers he would join New York in time for November 3rd game against the Anaheim Ducks (Avery ended up being a healthy-scratch for the game).

I make no excuses for Sean Avery's
ill-behavior.

I will clearly state that I for one am very happy that Sean Avery is back in the NHL. I am referring to Sean Avery the player not Sean Avery the person, though probably for many there really is no difference. The drama he has created at the expense of his teammates, his coaches, the NHL and the fans is inexcusable and of poor taste. The inappropriate derogatory comments he made about his former girlfriends, the poor remarks he directed towards French-Canadian players, his run-ins with the police, his unecessary behavior directed at fans, etc. - all of it is embarrassing, asinine and has no place in the game of hockey. I make no excuses for Sean Avery on this level and I try to disassociate this behavior with his play on the ice.

Stating that, I think that the New York Rangers, or any NHL team for that matter, need Sean Avery, or "a Sean Avery". There is no questioning the effectiveness of Avery's style of play. Avery is likely the most effective pest and agitator in the game today, and arguably one of the best ever. He gets under the opponents skin with the greatest of ease, and gets their minds out of the game and on Avery instead.

Prime example: Sean Avery's shadowing of superstar Ilya Kovalchuk during the 2007 NHL playoffs when Kovalchuk was still with the Atlanta Thrashers and Avery joined the Rangers in February of that season after a trade from Los Angeles. Kovalchuk, maybe the best pure goal-scorer in the game right now, notched 42-goals that season for Atlanta, but saw himself and the Thrashers eliminated in 4 straight games against the Rangers in the 1st-round of the playoffs. In that series, Kovalchuk was limited to just 1-goal and 1-assist in the 4 games, but registered 19-minutes in penalties; most of which included time in the box for going after Avery who was a thorn in Kovalchuk's side all series long. Sean Avery had shutdown one of the best players in the world and took him completely off of his game. To this day there is still no love lost between Avery and Kovalchuk.

And history has proven time and time again that pests and agitators like Sean Avery can help win Stanley Cups. Perhaps the most prolific champion of all-time amongst pests and agitators is Esa Tikkanen who won five Stanley Cups in his career, four with the Edmonton Oilers and one with the New York Rangers. Tikkanen was notorious for getting under opponents' skin while using his insesent "Tikkanese" talk, Tikkanen's own wild combination of Finnish and English, which was enough to madden the opposition. When another team's player took exception to Tikkanen's play and antics, he would torment them further with the question, "How many Cups you got?", referring to all of the championships he had won while the other player likely had not won any.

Another prime example is the first player to garner the title "The Rat", Kenny Linseman. Since Linseman retired in the early-1990s, that nickname has been used too generously with other pestering players (i.e. Matthew Barnaby) but for longtime hockey enthusiasts Ken Linseman will always be the true "Rat". Linseman also won a Stanley Cup with the Edmonton Oilers in 1984 and appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals on three other separate occasions (1980, 1983, 1988).

Sean Avery has a official rule
nicknamed after him.

And as Tikkanen's and Linseman's names will forever be enscribed upon Lord Stanley's Cup, Avery in his own bizarre way will forever being embedded into the NHL records and annals, particularly the NHL rule book. During the 2008 NHL playoffs when Avery's Rangers squared-off against crosstown rivals the New Jersey Devils, Avery did everything amongst his vast array of annoyances to pester and agitate the Devils players, but especially future hall of fame goaltender, Martin Brodeur. During one contest in the series while the Rangers were on the power play with a two-advantage, Avery, who was already in front of the Devils net screening Brodeur, intentionally turned his back on the play and began to wave his hands and stick in front of Brodeur's face in an effort to distract and exasperate the nerminder. Avery would eventually be the one to score the power-play goal against the Devils later during the sequence. Many felt that Avery's antics were unsportsmanlike and uncalled for. But no one could question their effectiveness, as the Rangers would go onto win the series 4 games to 1. During the traditional handshake between the two teams at the end of the series, Martin Brodeur actually refused to shake Sean Avery's hand.

Though at the time when Avery employed this particular tactic there was not any explicit violation of the rules, many hockey experts still felt that Avery's method of screening was in fact unsportsmanlike and should not be allowed. The day following the game when this took place, the NHL issued an interpretation of the unsportmanlike conduct rules which stated that it was an illegal play for a player to intentionally turn his back on the play while screening a goaltender, and that the player's focus must be directed towards the play at all times. This interpretation of the rules was dubbed "The Sean Avery Rule".

Make no mistake, Avery does possess other talents that coincide with his knack for antagonism. Avery is actually fairly accomplished in winning face-offs. And though his offensive skills have diminished with age, Avery has hit double-digits in goals on four separate occasions, including his highest output of 18-goals during the 2006-07 season, all the while racking up over 1500-penalty-minutes. Sean Avery also has on his career 15-points in 28 playoff games, which is not too shabby for a player who has spent most of his time on the third or fourth-lines. During the same 2008 playoffs aforementioned, Avery registered 7-points in only 8 games. Avery brings more to the table than just spunk and diarrhea of the mouth.

The New York Rangers of 2011-12 are a team leiden with talent. And suffice it to say that perennial pests can play integral roles in highly talented hockey teams becoming champions, as Tikkanen and Linseman did. While already possessing the likes of top-notch talent in Marian Gaborik, Henrik Lundqvist, Ryan Callahan, Michael Del Zotto, and the offseason blockbuster acquisition of Brad Richards, the New York Rangers need to blend in various role players that can them a unique advantage over the opposition, the way that agitators and enforcers able to do. There is perhaps no other player in the League more unique than Sean Avery, and he has the capability of playing a role that can change the outcome of a hockey game or series and help his team to win.