Upon Further Review

"This type of player has been in the league for a very long time, see Essa Tikkanen, C. Lemieux. These two players at least had respect for other players in the league, or seemed to. I do have a fix for the league and Avery types...rescind the instigator rule and let them think about running the goalie or trying to take out a star player. Just my 2 cents."

This statement just shows that you really dont know anything about Avery, and you are toolazy to research the topic and instead just take other peoples opinions as fact. Avery is not a dirty player at all. He is a pest, to annoy the other team. I cannot remember since Avery became a Ranger him every making a dirty play to try to hurt somebody. He annoys people, but he also is a very talented player, which most people dont realize. I dont get how screening the goalie while facing him is dishonoring the game. Its original and it was effective, they scored on that powerplay. And I am a Devils fan. Shawn Avery can play for my team everysingle day. If it wasnt a 5-3, it never would have happened. People act as if Avery just runs around and swings his stick at people looking for injuries. And fighting is part of the game, it has been forever, so i am not sure how the fact that there is no fighting in football is relevant to avery. Yeah, and its not like football or basketball players complain about bad calls or ever get into fights with eachother. Sore losers. You all wish you had Avery on your team

I dislike him

The series was won by the Rangers. Avery did his job and the better team won! End of discussion. At the end of the day, it is about who wins and who loses. Avery may be a clown to some, but he's actually a pretty smart guy who knows how get under the skin of his opponent. It's Hockey, Emotions run high, and Sean Avery exemplifies this. Anybody remember Eddie Shack????

Your article title states the "NHL needs Sean Avery". If the NHL is relying on expanding the fan base to people looking to "tune in" to what this moron is going to do next....well, the NHL is is serious trouble.

But, at the end of the day, it's all about ratings and profit, so maybe this will be the NHL's best way to increase revenues. Pathetic, really. I want to watch a hockey game, not the WWF.

What Sean did was totally legal, and as the light of my life observed, was exceptionally creative. Hockey is about adaptation and creativity, and like it or not, Sean Avery personifies that.

I don't know what game of hockey some of you are watching, but I couldn't care any less what Avery does. I am not going to go out of my way to watch a game that Sean Avery is in. I enjoy watching games with a beautiful combination of skill and finesse and bone-crushing hits and the occasional fight. If the game of hockey has sunk soo low as to need Sean Avery and his antics, whether seen as creative or disrespecting, then hockey has took wrong turn from the original game. Players like Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Guy Lafleur, Maurice "Rocket" Richard is what sells the game of hockey and attracts people to the sport and it will continue to be those type of players that attract people to the game.
A side note: I am not against what Avery did to Brodeur; like someone said earlier "it was entertaining". I am against turning him into a hero, or to make a priority of following him around with a his own personal camera, that is what turns hockey into a circus and Sean Avery the head clown.

He is a disgrace, sure he can play the game but that is not enough for him. Someone should teach him a lesson, that he isn't bigger than the game. Some of the garbage he tries to pull off is an embarrassement to me as a fan of the game and to the game itself. One word comes to mind when I think of Sean Avery "Punk".

What people outside of Ranger fans don't appreciate is that Avery is the team MVP. Since he arrived they have won twice as many as they've lost when he is in the lineup, and during his two injury periods, they have a losing record. He's like the catalyst in a chemical process. When the catalyst is not there, the process doesn't work.

NY is not a hockey town although out of 8 million people their fan base is bigger than most places but Avery manages to get himself in the news for stuff he's done, like dating a string of gorgeous women, and not done, someone used his name in a high-profile prostitution ring.

More important he's also got three goals in these playoffs and has taken only two penalties. Last night Salvador punched him out into the ice, the refs acted like nothing was happening, and he didn't do something stupid in retaliation -- which would have been called -- to hurt his team.

Ranger fans love Avery and he was doing nothing illegal distracting Brodeur.

"Please spare me the platitudes" - Well Jeff I endured reading at least part of your column so indulge me if you will on my perspective, or are you just too arrogant to even consider that. To a point I agree with what you said about this Avery antic being a spectacle but I think it's surprisingly short sighted on your part, and on the part of those who agree with you, in particular on the goaltender distraction issue, to promote this in the game of hockey. Today it's a mini circus show around the crease, tomorrow it's full blown WWF style entertainment if this type of antic is embraced.

Based on the tone of your opening I assume that I, and all those who might agree with me, are not worthy of having our opinions heard; however, I do appreciate the "pure" hockey skills displayed by the likes of Crosby, Ovechkin, Iginla etc., and, after 45 years of watching the game, expect that I always will.

If you really believe that everyone should prefer Avery antic style hockey over what the game is intended to be, maybe you and the WWF crowd could put your heads and dollars together and try to sell a mutant/circus style offshoot that combines all the finest attributes of roller derby, WWF and Quidditch!
Let me know how that goes will ya.

In the meatime I'll be sticking to the style of hockey that does have a certain sense of integrity and honour amongst MEN (and Women for that matter).

Sorry Gene, but the game of hockey is dangerous. There's no way around that. Would you like players to wear skate guards when they're on the ice as well? Give me a break. The amount of injuries from Icing or Non-Icing calls do not weigh heavy on the minds of the players. If it did, you'd have the NHLPA all over the issue, but alas they are not. Rushing for the puck is part of the game, it doesn't even have to be an icing.

I bet you're one of the people that thinks it was a great idea to put HOT on coffee from McDonalds. Leave your personal fears out of the game and let the players voice theirs when they have them. Why do you care if a player gets hurt doing his job? He doesn't seem to be.

Easy Retort: This is not professional wrestling. Avery's actions are akin to the Iron Sheik waving the Iranian Flag before a match.

G.

You love what Avery did because you lack honour. He's a fool. BUT, he's a good player who contributes often, it's just too bad he's got a dopey side to him.

This type of player has been in the league for a very long time, see Essa Tikkanen, C. Lemieux. These two players at least had respect for other players in the league, or seemed to. I do have a fix for the league and Avery types...rescind the instigator rule and let them think about running the goalie or trying to take out a star player. Just my 2 cents.

I thought the exact same thing about no touch icing during the Minny game... It's too bad there's no way of implementing the rule with an "except if it would change the flow/direction/outcome of the game" clause. And even if they found a way to do it, we'd all complain about it anyway.

As for show biz, I think the best example of this is, as you mentioned, the hockey-related shows themselves. Anyone who thinks Don Cherry wears those suits because he finds them comfortable is being foolish.

As much as I hate to agree with the Avery analysis, you couldn't be more right. If we look back at the most recent newsworthy personalities in hockey, (Hull and Roenick)these are the guys that we can't wait to read their quotes. Love him or hate him, he keeps us coming back for more.

Interesting article. I have to agree with your point about Avery selling the game. Let's face it. He's a clown promoting a circus. As you said hockey is show biz which allows clowns like Avery to promote the game to your average fan. Interesting how other sports don't allow such extreme behaviour in their sports without serious consequences (i.e- fighting, mouthing off repeatedly at the ref, etc). Perhaps, this is why the Sean Averys of the NHL get away with what they do! Send in the clowns or should I say send in the Averys!

With regards to no-touch icing, getting hurt has to take priority over the speed of the game. Okay, maybe no-touch icing slows the flow of the game down, but what would you rather have?? A seriously injured player due to a race for a puck on an icing or a slower game? To me, it's a no brainer. However, like you said, maybe the league should take some middle ground on this issue. Is that possible?

why not suspend players who hurt other players with stupid plays. whether its a hockey play or not, if a guy puts another at risk when the player in a vulnerable spot(open ice and face to face hits excluded) he should pay. "in the old days" if you were coming in on a guy who had his back to you facing the boards, you said "hey Bobby, head-up!" and you grabbed him under the arms and shoved him into the boards. I used to not buy the whole lack of respect thing, but now I'm starting to see it more in that way.

Gene C,

Like every sport, there are risks in playing the game. Should we take jumps out of freestyle skiing to prevent aerial maneuvres? Probably not. Should we remove slide tackles from soccer? Definitely not. A legal maneuvre that can oftern result in broken legs and other injuries. Should we remove the ability for a soccer player to use their head in order to prevent brain damage? No, because it is part of the sport and it is a risk that you take when playing that sport.

Does Avery help sell the game? Yeah, guess he does. But it's a sad testament to the quality of hockey, when, it even NEEDS him to sell the game.

Sean Avery has likely been a bigmouth all his life. The prototypical petulant twerp whose mental makeup requires him to harangue and harass 'the opposition' because he simply can't stomach the thought of anyone else ever being the life of the party. His friends applaud him and he craves their approval, so it just goes on and on.

The premise of this column is an absolute farce. To argue that the NHL "needs" a clown like Avery is to lump it with the WWE as a serious form of sports entertainment. Funny, but I haven't yet noticed a trophy being awarded for Buffoonery By Way Of Camouflaging Limited Hockey Ability. Oh yeah, you're right, Mr. Marek. That's just what the world's supposedly greatest showcase of hockey talent is crying out for, uh-huh.

"So, how many more people will be watching and paying attention to the Devil/ Rangers game four tonight at Madison Square Garden now that Sean Avery has acted like a one-man ticket booth?"

Answer - Rangers/Devils fans and anybody bored of watching the Sens get it handed to them. About the same as before "Avery-gate". As much attention as its gotten, I doubt that its raised the profile of the series (or hockey in general) to anyone who wasn't already paying attention. Hockey is still king (rightfully so) in Canada and small pockets of enthusiastic die-hards in hockey markets in the States, but its not like they're gonna put Avery-cam on the big screen at Times Square. Keep dreaming Mr. Marek.

I LOVE what Avery did the other night! And I think if it weren't Sean Avery, this wouldn't have been as big of a deal as it is being made out to be.

There was no rule against what he did, so what's the big fuss about? And IF they implement a rule/penalty in the future, what would it be for? 2 minutes for Sean Avery-ing?

Many say he should've received an unsportsmanlike conduct, but how was that being unsportsmanlike? He was getting in the opponents face! so what?!

To each their own, but I enjoy being entertained as a hockey fan...and THAT was entertaining!

No one disagrees that the puck race on icing calls may lead to an exciting play and a goal. However, how would you feel if Finger dives head first into the board and breaks his neck just so that he can negate the icing to prevent Rolston from making a play? What if Rolston breaks his neck to beat the icing to allow Bouchard to score? Would you like that? How about if Ovechkin or Crosby suffers some serious injury crashing into the boards to negate an icing that leads to a goal? Will you write in your column that the goal was so exciting, it was worth losing a great player like Ovechkin for 2 months just to see it?

It is unfortunate that so many fans, media people and people in the hockey business are willing to risk injury to players just so once in a blue moon they can see an overtime goal that resulted from a negated icing call. It is for this reason that there will probably be no change to no touch icing until some star player like Crosby or Ovechkin gets some severe injury. One star player will have to be a martyr before the safety of all players will be put above an exciting play that happens once in a while.

Often, icing calls are a result of a team in trouble in their defensive zone. The current penalty of not being able to change is significant enough to create an opportunity for the other team. If you immediately call icing once the puck has crossed the goal line, you can drop the puck faster and the defending team has less time to catch their breath. If you want more excitement, make sure that no TV time out is allowed after icing calls. This ensures that the defending team does not get an opportunity to rest.

Most touch icing calls interrupt the flow of the game anyway. With touch icing, you have to wait for some skater to come back and touch it which will delay the start of the play for a few more seconds. With no touch icing you can start the play off sooner.