Sean Avery

Sean Avery
Date of birth	April 10, 1980
place of birth	Pickering , Ontario , Canada
size	175 cm
Weight	84 kg
position	Left wing
number	# 16
Shot hand	Left
Career stations
1996-1999	Owen Sound Platers
1999-2000	Kingston Frontenacs
2000-2002	Cincinnati Mighty Ducks
2001-2003	Detroit Red Wings
2003-2007	Los Angeles Kings
2004	Pelicans Lahti
2005	Motor City Mechanics
2007-2008	New York Rangers
2008-2009	Dallas Stars
2009–2012	New York Rangers

Sean Christopher Avery (born April 10, 1980 in Pickering , Ontario ) is a retired Canadian ice hockey player who played 608 games for the Detroit Red Wings , Los Angeles Kings , Dallas Stars and New York Rangers between 1996 and 2012 in the National Hockey League on the position of the left winger . During his time in the NHL, Avery was considered one of the most notorious "plagues" of ice hockey.

Career

Sean Avery began his career in 1996 in the Canadian Junior League Ontario Hockey League with the Owen Sound Platers , where he played for two and a half years. He then played in the OHL for a year and a half with the Kingston Frontenacs . Since Avery was not drafted , he signed a contract with the Detroit Red Wings in 1999 as a free agent . In autumn 2000, he joined their AHL - farm team , the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks on.

In the 2000/01 season he played exclusively in the AHL and stood out there especially because of his physically tough game. He spent a total of 304 minutes in the penalty box in 58 games. In the 2001/02 season he was used for the Red Wings 36 times, which won the Stanley Cup at the end of the season . However, Avery was not part of the Detroit squad in the playoffs . After starting the 2002/03 season with the Red Wings, he was transferred to the Los Angeles Kings in March 2003 . From the following season he had a permanent place in the NHL roster of the Kings and led the league with 261 penalty minutes. He was also able to set a new personal best with 28 points.

Sean Avery in the jersey of the New York Rangers (2007).

The 2004/05 NHL season fell out because of the lockout , and Avery moved to the Finnish SM-liiga for the Pelicans Lahti , where he only played two games, in which he scored three goals and received 26 penalty minutes. He returned to the United States and played the rest of the season in the United Hockey League for Motor City Mechanics , where stars like Bryan Smolinski , Derian Hatcher , Chris Chelios and Kris Draper were active at the time. In 16 games, Avery got 26 points and 149 penalty minutes. He also scored two hat tricks .

Avery had made few friends before, because he didn’t mince his words and often checked opponents on the ice hard and not always fair, he went even harder in 2005/06 . In a preparation game against the Phoenix Coyotes , Avery's teammate Jeremy Roenick was checked hard by opponent Denis Gauthier , so that Roenick suffered a concussion. Avery then made negative comments about Gauthier and the French Canadians , which angered Franco-Canadian fans. A little later, in a game against the Edmonton Oilers , Avery is said to have called the Afro-Canadian player Georges Laraque a "monkey" . During the season, he also received a fine of $ 1,000, as it in a game, the challenge had faked an opponent. He was finally suspended by the Los Angeles Kings towards the end of the season. The reason for this is said to have been a discussion between him and assistant trainer Mark Hardy because he refused to take part in a training exercise. Still, this was Avery's most successful season with 39 points, and he again led the league with 257 penalty minutes.

In the summer of 2006, Avery received a new one-year contract from the Los Angeles Kings, but was transferred to the New York Rangers in February 2007 . In the last 29 games of the season, Avery scored eight goals and prepared twelve goals. Especially in the playoffs he was a valuable player for the Rangers due to his tough style of play.

In the summer of 2008 he finally signed a four-year contract for $ 15.5 million with the Dallas Stars . On December 2, 2008, he was suspended a few hours before a game against the Calgary Flames after he had made derogatory comments in front of representatives of the press about his former partner Elisha Cuthbert , the current girlfriend of opponent Dion Phaneuf . The Stars' team owner Tom Hicks then distanced himself from Avery in a press release and supported the league's decision. There was also sharp criticism from team circles, and some players said to the Canadian TV station TSN that Avery was no longer welcome in the team. Two days after the suspension, Avery publicly apologized and had to comment on the incident in front of the league management on the same day. On December 5, he was finally banned from the NHL for six games and required to undergo an anger management counseling. A final decision on how the team officials should proceed with Avery was announced on December 14th, stating that he would not return to the team and that further steps regarding Avery's future had to be clarified.

The "Sean Avery Rule"

Avery gestures to block goalkeeper Martin Brodeur ; Reason for the "Sean Avery Rule".

In the first play-off round of the 2007/08 season in the series between the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils , Avery showed again why he is referred to by many opponents in the NHL as a " plague ". On April 13, 2008 he practiced a completely new tactic of blocking the view of the opposing goalkeeper. With a 5-on-3 majority for his team, he completely ignored the ongoing game and began to move his hands and stick back and forth in front of Martin Brodeur's face in order to obstruct the view of the puck and the game . Although this approach was described by many experts as unsportsmanlike, it was not prohibited at the time because he kept enough distance from the goalkeeper. The next day, the NHL passed an amendment to the unsportsmanlike conduct rule to prevent future practices such as those carried out by Avery. Many therefore spoke of the "Sean Avery Rule" . The incident led, among other things, to Brodeur refusing to shake hands with Avery after the series win by the Rangers.

Away from sport

• Sean Avery played a minor supporting role in the film Maurice Richard , which tells the story of the ice hockey player of the same name . He played Bob Dill .
• He was dating Rachel Hunter for a long time before she separated from him in 2005. After that he was with Elisha Cuthbert for a long time .
• In April 2008 it was announced that Avery would take up an internship at the well-known fashion magazine Vogue the following summer . This is in agreement with his own statements in interviews that he would like to continue working in the fashion industry after his NHL career. As of June 23, 2008, Avery was also guest editing Mensvogue.com , the US-based Men's Vogue website .

Career statistics

				Regular season						Play-offs
season	team	league		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM
1996/97	Owen Sound Platers	OHL		58	10	21st	31	86		4th	1	0	1	4th
1997/98	Owen Sound Platers	OHL		47	13	41	54	105		-	-	-	-	-
1998/99	Owen Sound Platers	OHL		28	22nd	23	45	70		-	-	-	-	-
1998/99	Kingston Frontenacs	OHL		33	14th	25th	39	88		5	2	2	4th	26th
1999/00	Kingston Frontenacs	OHL		55	28	56	84	215		5	2	2	4th	26th
2000/01	Cincinnati Mighty Ducks	AHL		58	8th	15th	23	304		4th	1	0	1	19th
2001/02	Cincinnati Mighty Ducks	AHL		36	14th	7th	21st	106		-	-	-	-	-
2001/02	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		36	2	2	4th	68		-	-	-	-	-
2002/03	Grand Rapids Griffins	AHL		15th	6th	6th	12	82		-	-	-	-	-
2002/03	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		39	5	6th	11	120		-	-	-	-	-
2002/03	Manchester monarchs	AHL		-	-	-	-	-		3	2	1	3	8th
2002/03	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		12	1	3	4th	33		-	-	-	-	-
2003/04	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		76	9	19th	28	261		-	-	-	-	-
2004/05	Pelicans Lahti	SM-liiga		2	3	0	3	26th		-	-	-	-	-
2004/05	Motor City Mechanics	UHL		16	15th	11	26th	149		-	-	-	-	-
2005/06	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		75	15th	24	39	257		-	-	-	-	-
2006/07	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		55	10	18th	28	116		-	-	-	-	-
2006/07	New York Rangers	NHL		29	8th	12	20th	58		10	1	4th	5	27
2007/08	New York Rangers	NHL		57	15th	18th	33	154		8th	4th	3	7th	6th
2008/09	Dallas Stars	NHL		23	3	7th	10	77		-	-	-	-	-
2008/09	Hartford Wolf Pack	AHL		8th	2	1	3	8th		-	-	-	-	-
2008/09	New York Rangers	NHL		18th	5	7th	12	34		6th	0	2	2	24
2009/10	New York Rangers	NHL		69	11	20th	31	160		-	-	-	-	-
2010/11	New York Rangers	NHL		76	3	21st	24	174		4th	0	1	1	12
2011/12	New York Rangers	NHL		15th	3	0	3	21st		-	-	-	-	-
2011/12	Connecticut Whale	AHL		7th	2	1	3	39		-	-	-	-	-
OHL total				221	87	166	253	564		14th	5	4th	9	56
UHL overall				16	15th	11	26th	149		-	-	-	-	-
AHL total				124	32	30th	62	539		7th	3	1	4th	27
NHL overall				580	90	157	247	1533		28	5	10	15th	69
SM-liiga total				2	3	0	3	26th		-	-	-	-	-

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; ¹  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

Commons : Sean Avery  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Sean Avery at legendsofhockey.net (English)
• Sean Avery at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Sean Avery in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ tsn.ca, Stars face Flames minus suspended Avery
2. ↑ stars.nhl.com, Stars Owner Supports Avery Suspension
3. ↑ tsn.ca, Avery's teammates hope 'indefinitely' means 'forever'
4. ↑ nhl.com, Avery apologizes for remarks
5. ↑ nhl.com, Avery banned six games
6. ↑ stars.nhl.com, Avery's Days Done With Stars
7. ↑ sports.espn.go.com, NHL amends unsportsmanlike conduct rule in response to Avery's antics
8. ↑ wwd.com, Memo Pad: And His Qualifications Are? ... Eye Of The Beholder ...
9. ↑ mensvogue.com, In The Crease ( Memento of February 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive )