Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Tough Words For Avery

Here's a couple of quotes from Sean Avery's Dallas Stars teammates following his comments about Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf, who is dating Avery’s old girlfriend, actress Elisha Cuthbert.


"It's just so disappointing for guys who have been around here for a long time and have taken a lot of pride in how this organization has been perceived," Stars goalie Marty Turco said after a 3-1 win against the Flames. "The disrespect of this morning and other things over the course of the season have been extremely disappointing for us. It's a slap in the face."

"It's unacceptable. Our perception around the league has been tarnished a bit," Stars forward Mike Modano said. "Our attitude with the refs has been rough this year. We don’t get the benefit of doubt because we're very vocal in those areas. In the past, we've been a quiet, confident group, and we simply need to get back to that.''

...it seems to me that since Avery arrived in Dallas his teammates have never given him a chance. If this is the case, terrible job by Stars management not checking with its players before bringing Avery in.

...and as far as Turco and Modano's comments, Turco should worry more about his almost 3.50 gaa and paltry .874 sv % than Avery's antics. And if Modano wants to talk about unacceptable behavior do we need to remind him about a little incident with the United States Olympic Hockey team trashing a hotel room in 1998.

5 comments:

Topher0820 said...

I dont know why you continue to defend this guy. Once again, he proves he's only out for himself. Also, he's been proven overrated this year. The only reason these comments werent coming out of Ranger's mouths last year is because of the tight ship MSG runs (which is good, i think you should never bash a teammate publicly) but lets not fool ourselves into thinking he was really well liked on this team last year.

Unknown said...

I'm for defending Avery. He's a "maverick" (in the parlance of our times; re: an unorthodox or independent-minded person.

Good memory, I totally forgot about the '98 Olympic rock n roll hotel festivities.

These antics would work in NY. Maybe he's bored in Dallas and needs to stir shite up for himself over there.

Overrated this year? I'll agree. I'm not sure he was a highly rated player to begin with, just controversial/buzz worthy.

Kevin DeLury said...

If you go to any Ranger blog or message board you'll find way more Ranger fans sticking up for Avery than bashing him. And contrary to your point that Avery is overrated he is one of the most underrated players in the league.

If you watched him night after night last year, the guy could play. He scored, he was a playmaker and he took the opponent off their game.

Sure he's a handful off the ice. But if he's helping you win on the ice who cares.

And Dallas' struggles this year have nothing to do with Avery. They've had numerous injuries and Turco has been awful.

Topher0820 said...

I just think he gets overrated in the sense that because of all the penalties/stupidity, little is expected of him from a skill stand point. Because he does indeed have some skill, it gets magnified more than other guys who are average point producers.

I can say with certainty that we made a fantastic choice not signing him for 4 years.

Kevin DeLury said...

Chris, I 100% agree with you on that last point. While I think Avery was a great player for us the last two years, signing Avery to a 4 year $15.5 million contract would have been a mistake.

Although maybe if they would have signed Avery it would have prevented them from signing Redden and Rissmiller.