The Avery Rule Now In Effect

Sean Avery is the worst kind of loser you can find. He not only gets under your skin, but he crosses the line, gets away with it, then lets you know he got away with it. What you just saw in that video was (and I use past tense for a reason) against the rules.

Rule 41 - Abuse of Officials and other Misconducts G) A misconduct penalty shall be imposed on any player who persists in any course of conduct (including threatening or abusive language or gestures or similar actions) designed to incite an opponent into incurring a penalty.

What's that you say? It was in the rule book already? Why the referee did not call it in the first place is beyond me. This is not what the NHL wants to look like. You cannot pick up your blade and wave it in front of another player's face, regardless if you make contact.

I would have been fine with a stern warning if it was anyone but Sean Avery. Another point I have to make is, this only sheds negative light on the Rangers. A leader from the Rangers (if they have any) should have stepped up and told him to settle down. I understand that it is the playoffs and you want to get into the opponent's head, but don't make it as obvious as that.

The NHL has decided to give an interpretation to the rule I quoted earlier, aiming it at Avery's antics.

An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty (Rule 75) will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender's face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play.

For one, I applaud them.

Brodeur Denied #500... Again

Martin Broduer is now in a mini 3-game slump, keeping him stuck at 499 wins, highlighted by a crushing 1-0 defeat to the Islanders tonight. Kevin Weekes got to play in a game during this streak, which he won. I believe the New Yorkers call this the "A-Rod Curse". He knows that there are significantly more eyes watching this game because of the impending milestone, but is he losing because he's nervous? Absolutely not. Remember, this is the guy who won a gold medal with Team Canada, in arguably the most-watched game in Canada in the past ten years.

He's a future Hall of Famer, and has 3 Stanley Cup rings to his credit. 500 wins is just an icing on the cake that is his career, no need to be worried about it. Marty hasn't even been playing bad during this stretch, a stretch in which his team has only scored 11 goals in 7 games.

Rick Di Pietro was fantastic in the 1-0 win, stopping 26 shots. There was also a good fight between David Clarkson and Tim Jackman which added to an overall exciting game despite the lack of offense. Yes, it is possible to have an exciting 1-0 game!

Marty Brodeur just has to sit back and relax, win #500 will come soon enough, but hurry up already will ya? You're killing my fantasy team!

Eggshmeg's Story

So we have an Avs fan from Calgary, what's better than that you say? How about a Devils fan from Hamilton! There's no competition of the fan furthest away from his team going on here, it's just the way we are dammit! My story is a little simpler. Martin Brodeur is the guy who drew me to the devils. I am also a goaltender you see, and many of my blogs will be about them. His pure athleticism and love for the game had me in awe when I was a young kid growing up (seeing him score a goal was just icing on the cake). I collected hockey cards growing up, and I cherished every Marty Brodeur card I could find. Now I'm sixteen and have a sort of shrine in my room with a blown up picture of him on team Canada, along with the many cards that I own. That may sound creepy, but hey, he's the greatest ain't he! I also own a copy of his book "Beyond the Crease"(which is a great read by the way, for any hockey fan). Now that many of the other great Devils who I admired have moved along I have felt my intensity for the Devils wane. I am a fan of hockey in general. Anyone who treats the game right, and plays hard, I will respect. I'll talk about any subject that catches my eye, regardless of what team is involved. Of course I'll want to talk about the Devils, but I understand that not everyone is a fan of their... traptacular style of play (Hey! It wins games doesn't it?). I will always have a soft spot for goalies, but I also love to critique them. I teach at many goaltending schools despite my young age, and I hope to get into a coaching position down the road (That is if my career doesn't take off!).

But that's enough about my story, let's talk blog. I hope my analysis of goalies will create discussion down the road, I'm always willing to converse about them. We have a great crop of hockey minds here at Everything Hockey, and I hope it will continue to grow. I look forward to the weeks to come, as we will be making great strides in getting this blog seen by more and more hockey fans!