The Bruins won yesterday, clinching the Eastern Conference title. So you'd think we'd all be happy today. Well, speaking for myself at least (and I know many of you feel the same), I'm far less than happy. In fact, I'm irate. Irate that a little puke like Sean Avery (that's as politically correct as I can be) can run around constantly taking cheap shots, and NEVER have to answer for them. I'm irate that after he blatantly whacks Thomas in the back of the head...DURING A TV TIMEOUT, that the best response anyone can muster is a FEEBLE grab by Steve Montador. There are so many things that are pissing me off this morning, that I suppose I should break them down individually. So here goes. AVERY-
Absolutely the biggest COWARD, little rat bastard I've ever seen on skates. He's EASILY up there with the likes of Ulf Samuelson and Claude Lemiuex (I spoke to Lyndon Byers between periods yesterday, and as he put it, "Avery is just another Claude Lemiuex, but with a lot less talent").
There are four things that make Avery worse than those two in my mind though:
1)He yaps CONSTANTLY, on and off the ice. The other two gave you cheap pokes and jabs, but were at least a little quiet about it. Just Avery's mouth would be enough for me to take a swing at him.
2)He (as Thomas said too) clearly has no idea "where the 'lines' are". Trying to get under an opponents skin during the course of play, or immediately after a whistle is one thing. But sneaking up on a goalie during a tv timeout, WAY after the whistle, is an entirely different matter. It's beyond unacceptable.
3)After each and every dirty act he commits, he has the balls to sit there and give you the "I didn't do anything" look. Hey, if you're going to be an A-Hole, at least man up and say "yeah, I did it...you caught me". He looks like a five year old child that you just caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Everyone in the room knows he did it, but he still tries to play innocent and deny it.
4) EVERYTHING he does is all about himself. I know his (few) advocates say he's helpful to his team. I'll set aside that argument for later. But regardless of the outcome of his actions, his motivation is purely selfish. Watch him on the bench and how he interacts, or more accurately, doesn't interact with his teammates. He always sits at the end of the bench (closest to the opposing team, all the better to yammer away as they make line changes). When the period/game ends, he lets the entire team leave the bench area before he gets up to leave, ensuring that all eyes are on him. He's an egomaniac to the highest degree.
The thing about Avery, and his type, that I can never understand is....don't they have ANY pride? How can you act the way he does, then run and hide every time someone challenges you? He obviously has no respect for anyone else, but it's equally obvious that he has no self-respect. A grown man acting like a child and never accepting responsibility for his actions? I'm no shrink, but clearly this guy needs some serious time on a couch to work through his "issues".
I found myself focusing on this dirty bastard every time he was on the ice,and it's amazing to watch. He never ever misses a chance to throw that extra little push, shove, hack or slash....generally from behind. Most of that I can live with. It's annoying, but for the most part somewhat within the rules. I stress the "somewhat", as he's always teetering on the edge, wavering between "annoying" and "dirty". It's a line he goes back and forth across a dozen times per game.
As Don Cherry said on last night's "Coach's Corner", a leopard never changes it's spots. So what do we do about this "Avery problem" we have? Suspending him, banishing him to the minors and forcing anger management training certainly did nothing to erase those spots. No, something harsher needs to be done. And there are only two possibilities I see. One, he needs another long suspension. I'd say he should be banished, but that will never happen. But since the Rangers were the only team willing to take on this cancer after his falling out in Dallas, I don't suspect there would be a line of suitors waiting for him to return next time. So in effect, a lengthy suspension could end up being that permanent ban I'd like to see.
The other "solution" is far more drastic and potentially difficult to pull off on a large scale. But it certainly can be done (and should have been yesterday) on a more "local" scale. When this dick crosses the line, someone, anyone....needs to absolutely pound the tar out of him. No mercy, no God Damn "code". Just an unrelenting flurry of hay-makers. Sure, MAYBE he won't learn his lesson the first time. But if this coward thought that EVERY time he got out of line, he had a beating coming, I guarantee you he'll decide it isn't worth his effort anymore. I'd be willing to bet he's quit the game if it was made obvious that the league's players weren't going to put up with his bullshit anymore. It won't be long before his teammates tire of rushing to his defense either, so he'd pretty much be on an island. ......Siiiigh.....but alas, I know that isn't going to happen either. But hey, I'm allowed one fantasy per post, and dammit that one is a doozy.
So, in reality what do I expect/hope comes out of yesterday's incident? Honestly, I think the NHL should suspend him for at least one game. It wasn't a viscous shot that was going to hurt anyone. But it was clearly intentional, premeditated and so far after the whistle, that the NHL HAS to send the message that that stuff will not be tolerated. With Avery allegedly being on a very strict "zero tolerance" policy, it's time for the league to prove they mean what they say. If that cheap shot didn't cross the line, nothing will. I'm not sure exactly what he was told by the NHL, but whatever further "corrective actions" they told him would be in place, should be applied for this act.
BRUINS LACK OF REACTION-
So, after the above rant, you'd probably assume I've spent all my venom on Avery. Well, you would be wrong. Equally upsetting to me, if not more, is how the Bruins responded. Oh wait, that's right....they didn't respond. Other than Thomas having to once again defend himself, nobody did anything about it. This is becoming a disturbing trend. Timmy gets run behind his net in Columbus, nobody says a word. Avery hit him in the head during a timeout, and the best response anyone could muster was Steve Montador simply grabbing and hugging Avery? PATHETIC and embarrassing.
MONTY- WTF were you thinking? I don't care if Montador saw exactly what Avery did or not. He clearly saw Thomas chasing down Avery. Did he think nothing prompted that? Did he think Avery was deserving of the benefit of the doubt? I know what his defense will be. "It was a one goal game so I didn't want to give them a power play". BULL! If ever there was a "green light" opportunity to hand this fool his ass, that was it. And honestly, Monty was probably the perfect guy for the job. Let's face it, he hasn't exactly done much to win over the locals since his arrival. So the Garden crowd would have loved to see him tee off on that rat. Besides, he's more than likely going to be the healthy scratch come playoff time anyway. Why not do a service for your team while you're around? In that situation, I could care less about him taking an instigator or anything else. That is one penalty his teammates don't mind killing either. Sometimes you just do what you have to do, and deal with the consequences later. Hell, even if he pulled a nutty on him and earned a suspension, it would have been the right thing. It was shameful what Avery did. But it was embarrassing to see such a lack of response by the Bruins. Not surprisingly, Avery was stapled to the bench for the rest of the game, which didn't allow a Lucic, Hnidy or Chara the opportunity to make things right.
The earliest the Bruins will see the Rangers again is round one of the playoffs. That is looking a bit unlikely now though, as New York has games against Montreal and a hone & home against Philly to wrap up their season. They may need to win all of those games to hold on to the last seed. Which is probably a good thing. As much as I'd love to see retaliation, the playoffs aren't a good venue to settle personal scores. No, the Bruins, specifically Montador, had every opportunity to do that yesterday and failed miserably. So yes, a Conference clinching victory was tainted for me. Let's hope the boys redeem themselves next time they're called on.
Go B's- Kynch
PS- If you read my game preview yesterday, you know I'm not a fan of Colton Orr. I mentioned that I think he's a waste of a roster spot. And I think I was proven correct yesterday. It was a one goal game, so he was of zero value to the Rangers. He managed a whopping 2:35 of ice time. The Rangers have scored the second fewest goals in the league. Are you telling me they don't have ANYONE in the minors that at least affords them the possibility of more offense than Orr?
No comments:
Post a Comment