Murphy’s Law: Avery a coward, but let him pay the price

Greetings and Happy Holidays from Murphy’s Law! Plenty going on in the NHL this past week: Peter Laviolette was replaced by the coach he replaced — Paul Maurice in Carolina — and the Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks basked in the glory of an Original 6 renaissance as two of the best teams in the NHL.

But the main event this week — as it is on many occasions in the NHL — was Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery. Many mixed opinions on the latest Avery incident, and while I agree the NHL overreacted by suspending him immediately, Avery had done enough damage to a team that reached the Western Conference Finals, but thanks to his antics looked like an AHL team thus far. Therefore, he deserves the scrutiny he is under right now. Not to mention he completely denigrated women, and specifically, a woman who was verbally defenseless in this situation.

Let’s go to the tape, shall we? On Tuesday, Avery claimed he was trying to “build excitement” for a game between the Dallas Stars and the Calgary Flames when he decided to call out Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf and his ex-girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert, who are currently dating.

“I am really happy to be back in Calgary, I love Canada,” Avery told TSN. “I just want to comment on how it’s become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don’t know what that’s about. Enjoy the game tonight.”

Within hours, the NHL suspended Avery indefinitely for making “inappropriate public comments, not pertaining to the game.” On Thursday, Avery met with the NHL commissioner to determine what the full length of suspension and fines would be, with a decision due out on Friday.

Avery released a full apology via his agent on Wednesday (one has to wonder if he even wrote it): “I would like to sincerely apologize for my off-color remarks to the press yesterday from Calgary. I should not have made those comments, and I recognize that they were inappropriate. It was a bad attempt to build excitement for the game, but I am now acutely aware of how hurtful my actions were. I caused unnecessary embarrassment to my peers, as well as people I have been close with in the past.

“I apologize for offending the great fans of the NHL, the commissioner, my teammates, my coaching staff and the Dallas Stars management and ownership. As many of you know, I like to mix it up on and off the ice from time to time, but understand that this time I took it too far.”

(Uh … how about Elisha Cuthbert?)

Apparently he also sent a letter to his teammates, via his agent, requesting a meeting to reconcile. From the sounds of it, the Stars players, coaching staff and management has had enough of Avery’s act and reportedly management and ownership are exploring ways to release him and get out from under his four-year, $15 million deal.

This from Dallas owner Tom Hicks: “I completely support the league’s decision to suspend Sean Avery. Had the league not have suspended him, the Dallas Stars would have. This organization will not tolerate such behavior, especially from a member of our hockey team. We hold our team to a higher standard and will continue to do so.”

Or about this from his teammates: “We hope it’s the last time we ever see him,” said one veteran to TSN reporters in the dressing room Tuesday.

“Our locker room is the happiest it has been all year right now,” said another player.

“An apology (to the team) won’t work,” says a third player. “There isn’t much he can say to change the way we feel right now. We have a lot of pride in this organization. He isn’t welcome here anymore.”

AOL Fanhouse reported Avery was involved in a shouting match with Bruins fans after a fight-filled 5-1 loss in Boston November 1. Apparently, Avery yelled obscenities at a heckling fan, and then made sexual comments towards the fans wife. That was just another string of incidents and actions on and off the ice by Avery in which he held total disregard for the game, fans and as these comments indicate, his teammates.

“He’s been undermining everything we do,” said another veteran to TSN. “He doesn’t pay attention; he’s not smart enough to play our system. He can’t do some drills properly. He says it’s because he’s ‘independent. Really, he’s just not smart enough.”

Dallas forward Brad Richards did go on record, but chose not to add fuel to the fire. Still, his feelings are clear: “We don’t want to talk about him anymore. Hopefully, it will be handled and that will be the end of it.”

So what does Murphy’s Law make of all this? Well, first off Avery is one selfish individual and what goes around comes around as this incident proves. Obviously, the Stars were waiting for a window to oust Avery, and he delivered it to them on a silver platter. The fact that he walked up to the reporters and asked them “Got a camera? OK get her running” just shows the pompousness of Avery and that this was about him, not the game, not his team. So I’m glad an avalanche of criticism is coming down not only from the media (which he embraces), but also from his peers. Yours truly was told by more than one of Avery’s current and former teammates “It’s about him a no one else.” So apparently that act has finally caught up to Avery.

But, all of this being said, why suspend him for that game? Can anyone deny that would have been one of the most watched games ever? Sure, there was the potential for a Todd Bertuzzi-Steve Moore incident, but if the referees did their job, chances are that could’ve been avoided. So why not let a coward like Avery pay the consequences on the ice and face Phaneuf and his teammates? Let the players police the game, and you would get less ridiculous behavior off the ice.

For more on the above topics and everything else hockey, be sure to get inside hockey this Saturday and every Saturday on the Inside Hockey Radio Show, 2-4 PM on "NHL Home Ice" XM 204, and 1120 AM WBNW in Boston. You can also listen online at www.moneymattersradio.net. Join host James Murphy and co-host Todd Carroll as they take you inside all things hockey. This week they get Inside Hockey with Tracey Myers of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to discuss the after math of Sean Avery’s comments; Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference; Greg Wyshynski (Editor of Yahoo Sports! “Puck Daddy” blog), Patrick King (Rogers Sportsnet), Steve Pleau (Edmonton Oil Kings) and Conor McKenna (Team 990).