The Avery Factor

Monday, 20 April 2009 08:19

Forget the banks and auto companies, the Capitals are the ones in need of bailout the most in Washington. Down 2-0 heading into MSG makes this look like a series that may not make it back to the Nations capital. Sean Avery has been effective through the first 2 games, generating some offence, finishing checks, drawing penalties and generally distracting any Capital that pays him any attention.

This is quite a feat for a player who looked like the only ice he may see this season was the one in his vodka cranberry. He was rescued by the Rangers, the only team thus far that seems to be a fit for him on and off the ice. Maybe it’s the city or the other players in the room but Avery the player and the Rangers seem to thrive with him in the lineup. It’s hard to tell an athlete to accept less to stay where they are most comfortable but Avery should have taken less to stay in New York, and the Rangers should have offered more to keep him. Glen Sather has emerged from a decade long brain cramp and made some moves at the trade dead line a coaching change and reacquisition of Avery have proved he didn’t retire after he left the Oilers. Has there been anyone, besides Michael Jackson, that has lived off their success in the 80’s more than Slats?

In the event that you were one of the senior citizens who did not make the cable switch in time do digital and you missed the comments that led to Avery’s exile you can Google them. I personally didn’t think it was that bad. Now I wouldn’t want anyone to talk about my daughter, wife, sister or mother in that fashion but I found the media’s reaction a little over the top. I’m sure that most men have made a comment like that or worse or shared a laugh or joke at the expense of a female. Stick Martha Burk in a locker room for a few hours and she would think Augusta National’s policy on women was cutting edge.

I don’t know Avery but I’m sure he didn’t expect the backlash he received. He deems the NHL to be to vanilla so he took his shot to launch himself into mainstream media. He saw how Dennis Rodman branded himself and has now been able to transcend basketball and become a pop culture icon. I think Avery was looking for the same result. Things may not have worked out in Dallas but the mutual success enjoyed by both the Rangers and Avery may help torpedo a second team’s season, the Capitals.

Slice