Former Dallas Stars' and now Rangers forward Sean Avery was arrested in Los Angeles Friday. Not a stretch of the imagination for Dallas Stars fans.
Around one a.m. Friday morning, the Los Angeles police arrested Avery on a misdemeanor charger of battery. TMZ says Avery is accused of shoving a police officer responding to a complaint about noise from a house party and the Los Angeles Times reported that Avery argued with police officers then pushed one and slammed the door. More officers were called to the home and Avery was arrested, but released after posting $20,000 bail. This was the second time the cops had been to his home for noise.
The Rangers club had no comment.
What are Avery's Rule of 3? According to the website Laws of the Universe, they are:
Trouble strikes in series of threes, but when working around the house the next job after a series of three is not the fourth job -- it's the start of a brand new series of three.
Avery is nothing if not newsworthy.
In 2008 with the Dallas Stars, he was forced to undergo anger management after making vulgar statements referring about Dion Phaneuf and Avery's former girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert.
After being instructed by then Dallas Stars Coach Dave Tippett not to speak to the press, Avery called the media to him, saying, "I'm just going to say one thing. I'm really happy to be back in Calgary; I love Canada. 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, but enjoy the game tonight."
Thankfully, Avery was traded to the Rangers, but it cost the Stars as they still had contract commitments. Still, most in Dallas believe it was worth every penny.
Also in 2008 in Dallas, during the November 1 game against the Boston Bruins, Avery was accused of unleashing obscenities at a heckling fan while Avery sat in the penalty box. A complaint was filed by the NHL, but no action was taken.
In 2005, Avery commented on French-Canadian players after Denis Gauthier of the Phoenix Coyotes bodychecked Avery's LA Kings teammate and foward, Jeremy Roenick, a concussion. “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,” he said. That was a little much for the French-Canadian public and caused much controversy.
Later that season, Avery denied calling Georges Laraque of the Edmonton Oilers a monkey during one of the games. The incident was never proven and Avery denies the occurence.
Also in 2005, Avery was fined $1,000 for intentionally diving during a game and then fined another thousand for publicaly criticizing the NHL's director of hockey operations, Colin Campbell.
In 2006, Avery, then a Los Angeles Kings player, said that Brian Hayward, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks broadcaster and former Montreal Canadiens goaltender, was an "embarrassmment", a "terrible announcer," and was a "terrible player." Hayward's response was, "How would you know? When I played, you were in your third year of eighth grade." And so the argument began. The Kings suspended Avery near the end of the season supposedly because Avery had an argument with assistant coach Mark Hardy after refusing to participate in a practice drill.
As if hockey didn't hand out enough concussions, last season, Avery punched Edmonton's Ladislav Smid after Smid had turned to skate away from him, giving Smid a concussion.
In 2007, Avery was accused by Howard Berger, then announce for a Toronto radio station, of making a remark concerning Jason Blake's diagnosis with a rare form of Leukemia, according to the NYDailyNews, "to instigate Saturday night's dust-up that began with Avery and Darcy Tucker exchanging trash talk." . After serving the radio station CJCL with a notice of libel, they retracted on air its allegations made about Avery.
And also in 2008, the famous "Avery Rule" was implemented. Lest we think Avery was a Dallas Star, this occurred while Avery was a Ranger in the 2008 playoff series. Standing in front of Martin Brodeur, Avery waves his stick to block and distract Brodeur. While not explicitly covered in the rulebook, this was blatant poor sportsmanship all around.
Every sport has its standouts, its goldenboys and girls, as well as its misfits. In hockey, Sean Avery fits 2 out of 3.
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