Sean Avery
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Position | Centre |
| Shoots | Left |
| Nickname | Aves |
| Height Weight |
5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) |
| NHL Team F. Teams |
New York Rangers Los Angeles Kings Detroit Red Wings |
| Nationality |  Canada |
| Born | April 10, 1980, Pickering, ON, CAN |
| Pro Career | 1999 – present |
Sean Avery (Born April 10, 1980 in Pickering, Ontario) is a professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League, currently playing for the New York Rangers. He has also played for the Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings.
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[edit] Playing career
Avery is known around the league for playing hard in all games and his brash and outspoken nature, sometimes making offensive comments about other players in the NHL. He played for the Owen Sound Platers and the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League. Avery is a relatively small player (5 feet-9 inches and 185 pounds) and he was not selected in the NHL entry draft. In 1999, Avery was signed by the Detroit Red Wings and broke into the NHL, playing 36 games, with the Red Wings during the 2001-02 NHL season. The Wings went on to win the Stanley Cup that season.
Midway through the 2002-03 NHL season, the Los Angeles Kings traded Mathieu Schneider to the Detroit Red Wings for Avery, Maxim Kuznetsov, a 1st round selection (Jeff Tambellini) in 2003 and a 2nd round selection in 2004. Sean finished the season with 15 points in 51 games.
During the 2003-04 NHL season Avery played 76 games for the Kings, scoring 9 goals and 19 assists. Avery also led the NHL in penalty minutes with 261. Because of his style of play and how he carries himself off the ice, Avery has made many enemies in the NHL. Many consider him a pest. He is a very physical player, and while some would say that he is too small to be considered an enforcer, he has acted like one on many occasions, to a certain extent. He considers himself a fiercely loyal player, but has drawn criticism for his aggressive style and excessive penalties.
During the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Avery played in the Finnish SM-liiga for Pelicans. In 2 games he scored 3 goals, but then left Finland unexpectedly and returned to North America. He then played in the UHL alongside Chris Chelios, Bryan Smolinski, and Derian Hatcher for the Motor City Mechanics. He tallied 26 points in 16 games, 15 goals and 11 assists. Those 15 goals included two hat tricks, allowing Avery to become the first player in MCM history to record two hat tricks in one season. He also had 149 penalty minutes. Avery made news during the 2004-05 lockout, when he was quoted as saying that the management of the National Hockey League Players Association lied to its members about the lockout.
During the 2005 preseason Denis Gauthier of the Phoenix Coyotes bodychecked Kings forward Jeremy Roenick in a preseason game, giving Roenick a concussion. Avery's response was "I think it was typical of most French guys in our league with a visor on, running around and playing tough and not back anything up," giving way to much controversy with the French-Canadian public. Avery also made news during the regular season when Georges Laraque of the Edmonton Oilers, a Black Canadian, claimed that Avery called him a "monkey" during an October 11, 2005 contest between the two teams. Avery was fined $1,000 by the NHL on November 15, 2005 for intentionally diving during a game, then was fined $1,000 more a day later after publicly ripping into the NHL's director of hockey operations Colin Campbell.
On April 7, 2006 tempers flared as Avery and Anaheim Mighty Ducks broadcaster and former Montréal Canadiens goaltender Brian Hayward had a heated discussion in the LA Kings dressing room. This was the result of Hayward's commentary on the April 4, 2006 Kings vs Ducks game, where he accused Avery of avoiding a fight with the Ducks' forward Todd Fedoruk. Avery began the argument by uttering that Hayward was an "embarrassment", a "(terrible) announcer", and was a "(terrible) player". Hayward responded cleverly by saying "How would you know? When I played, you were in your third year of eighth grade."
Near the end of the 2005-06 NHL season, the Kings decided to suspend Avery, stating that he would not be with the team for the remainder of the year. A source claimed Avery had an argument with assistant coach Mark Hardy after refusing to participate in a practice drill.
On July 24, 2006 the Los Angeles Kings signed Avery to a $1.1-million US, one-year contract. Avery was a restricted free agent, so the Kings avoided going into salary arbitration by signing him to a deal. However, his future with the Kings was in serious jeopardy after Avery was quoted as calling then-coach Andy Murray a "clown".
On February 5, 2007 the Kings traded Avery to the New York Rangers along with John Seymour for Jason Ward, Jan Marek and Marc-Andre Cliche.
On February 20, 2007, in a game against the New Jersey Devils, Avery pushed the Devils' star goaltender Martin Brodeur down into his crease, causing a major scrum around the crease to occur. Avery later shrugged this off saying that he was merely trying to get Brodeur "off his game."
On March 17, 2007, Avery recorded a career-high 4 points in a game against the Boston Bruins. He notched one goal and added three assists to help the Rangers beat the Bruins 7-0.
On March 21, 2007, Avery recorded 2 goals bringing his season total to 16 goals. This set a new career high for goals in a season. As of March 21st Avery has 16 goals 27 assists for a total of 43 points, all career highs.
On April 1, 2007, Avery recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick versus the Toronto Maple Leafs where he had a fight with Darcy Tucker, scored 2 goals and an assist.
Sean Avery instantly became a fan favorite in New York, where fans appreciate his hard work and exciting style of play. Avery said that he looked forward to making the playoffs even though at the time they appeared to be outside of the playoff picture. Many Sean Avery jerseys have already been sold at the Garden in less than 2 months.
On Thursday, April 5th 2007, the New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 to clinch a playoff berth in the NHL's 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as predicted by Avery. Besides coach Tom Renney, many players (including team captain Jaromir Jagr) pointed to Avery as being the catalyst for making the post-season. Playing like a markedly different and improved team, they finished the season a very convincing and impressive 17-4-6 with Avery in the lineup. During that 27-game stretch as a Ranger, Avery accumulated 20 points (8 goals, 12 assists) and had an excellent +/- total of +11.
Also on Thursday, April 5th, 2007, Avery, along with New York Rangers' goalie Henrik Lundqvist, was accused of abusing the New York Islanders' Ice Girls, cursing at them as they cleared snow from the goal crease during a game on April 3rd. The league dropped these accusations.
[edit] Career Statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2001-02 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 36 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 68 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2002-03 | Red Wings/Kings | NHL | 51 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 153 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2003-04 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 76 | 9 | 19 | 28 | 261 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2005-06 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 75 | 15 | 24 | 39 | 257 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2006-07 | Kings/Rangers | NHL | 84 | 18 | 30 | 48 | 174 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| NHL Totals | 322 | 50 | 84 | 134 | 913 | |||||||||
[edit] Outside of hockey
Rogers Sportsnet initially hired him in April 2006 to provide analysis for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but retracted their hiring the next day after serious concerns were raised. Additionally, there is a popular video of Sean Avery doing an interview with the ICE network. What may have had an effect on this decision is the fact that Sean Avery has never been much of a fan favorite.
Sean Avery played a small role in the movie "The Rocket" (2005), as Bob Dill. His storyline in the movie was only one scene, and it was to show how Maurice Richard became a target, not only due to his ability to play great hockey, but also due to him being francophone.
Avery appeared in a December 2006 episode of MADtv with LA Kings teammates.
He appears to be dating Elisha Cuthbert
[edit] External links
Categories: 1980 births | Canadian ice hockey centres | Detroit Red Wings players | Enforcers | Ice hockey personnel from Ontario | Kingston Frontenacs alumni | Living people | Los Angeles Kings players | New York Rangers players | Owen Sound Platers alumni | Pelicans players | People from Durham Region, Ontario | Stanley Cup champions
