And 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.

The NHL was fairly swift in moving to suspend Avery, ensuring he would not play in last night’s matchup with the Flames.  The media reaction to the suspension today has been all over the map.  I’ll play along.

I have a few issues with this whole incident.  For one thing, this is not an isolated occurence.  Avery has consistently shown he has no idea where to draw the line when it comes to “trash talk”.  It’s one thing to be yapping in an opponent’s ear to get under his skin during a game (see: Brodeur, Martin).  It’s quite another to openly trash a player and his family and loved ones in the media.  Avery did it with Brodeur and his messy divorce, and this is no different.  It has no place in the NHL and is NOT the kind of publicity the league wants to be associated with.

Secondly, and a point I’ve seen ignored in a lot of places – Avery didn’t just happen to find himself in front of a camera after his pregame skate yesterday morning.  He called the media over to set himself up to make these comments. This was absolutely a planned move.  The fact that he went out of his way to antagonize his opponents when the game was still hours away raises him to an all new level of idiocy.

As for the suspension – I think the NHL, for once, handled this absolutely correctly – and I am not one to stand up for Bettman & Co.  After being brought in to handle an incident between Avery and some fans in Boston earlier this year, the league has to have increased the Avery watch.  Sean can only expect to get away with so much.  His comments were inappropriate, demeaning, and probably the last straw for those in the league offices.

Mirtle said it best over at From the Rink:

That is not how you build a brand. It’s a sideshow, plain and simple, and if you rely on the Averys of the NHL to determine where the line is and if they can cross it, we’re heading into ugly territory indeed.

And, at some point, someone might even try to make Avery the league’s latest version of Steve Moore.

I think that, really, goes to the heart of the issue.  Avery is making a living annoying the ever-loving-shit out of people, and eventually, someone is going to snap.  The league stepped in last night to make sure that someone wasn’t Dion Phaneuf or anyone else on the Flames roster, and to send a message to Avery that his brand of publicity wasn’t what the league wanted.

I’ve heard the argument from a lot of people that in taking Avery out of that game, the NHL blew a great marketing opportunity – that more people would have tuned in to the Flames/Stars game anticipating the Phaneuf/Avery showdown.  A lot of the same people have also argued that an “indefinite suspension” for mouthing off while all the serious headshots we’ve seen lately are only getting 3 or 4 games is sending a terrible message.  Stop and think about that.  You want the league to come down harder on headshots – I completely agree.  But then you want them to use Avery being an idiot as a marketing gimmick by letting him go out and potential get creamed?  Doesn’t that seem like a terrible message too?

Avery has a hearing with Bettman on Thursday.  My guess is he’ll only get a 2 or 3 game suspension handed down from the league, particularly in light of the apology he’s issued tonight. The bigger question will be how soon the Dallas Stars welcome him back, as it sounds like both management and the Stars’ locker room are rather frustrated with his antics already.  That 4 year contract isn’t looking like such a great decision anymore.

Should be interesting to see on Thursday, that’s for sure.