Understanding Sean Avery

After reading Chris Botta’s accounts of Sean Avery today, I may have to change my tune about Avery’s suspension. If you look at it as a one time thing, as I did at FanHouse earlier, it may be over the top. If you look at it in the context of an entire career and prior incidents, it looks very different.

“Two things shocked me about the incident. I knew Avery was off-center, but always figured the sideshow routine was just a role he played at the rink and for the cameras. During this confrontation, the media were gone from the hallway and there was no one around to entertain. The look in Avery’s eyes told me there was a whole lot more going on with this man.

But what surprised me more at the time was the Rangers’ reaction. As I’ve written, the NHL is a league where the teams take the mantra of you’re-on-our-side-or-you’re-not to cult-like levels. When Rangers higher-ups went out of their way to find Snow and apologize for Avery’s behavior, you realized how seriously out-of-control he must have been for a while.”

Read the full article at Botta’s blog, NYI Point Blank. It’s a good read and sheds light on what’s actually going on in Avery’s head.

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