FTS - 12/15/08

TOP STORY

ALONE IN THE LONE STAR STATE

(Photo Credit: AP)

While this photo was only taken a mere few months ago, Sean Avery's days with the Stars are done

Just 23 games into a four-year, $15.5 million guaranteed contract, the Dallas Stars say they can not move forward with winger Sean Avery. Avery, who was signed as a free agent on July 2, will no longer play for the Stars, and the team will look to help him move on with his career and his life, co-general manager Brett Hull said Sunday. The contract is guaranteed, so there is a chance for the Stars to lose a lot of money. But the fact they are willing to risk that loss shows how much Avery has alienated players and team officials.

"Simply put, I think it was a bad marriage and it was time to separate," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "You can continue to work at something like this, but we felt we had put a lot of work in and it just wasn't moving forward. This way, I believe both sides can move forward." Avery was suspended for six games by the NHL for conduct detrimental to the league on Dec. 2 when he made an unsavory comment to the media about the relationship between his ex-girlfriend – actress Elisha Cuthbert – and Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf. The suspension expired Sunday, and Avery was eligible to return to the team. However, the Stars said they took the time away from Avery to discuss their relationship with the agitating winger and decided the organization would be best served if Avery did not return. They also said they would not try to nullify the contract by saying Avery broke morality clauses.

Avery is in a behavioural modification program run by the NHL Players Association and is getting treatment for anger management. One of the stipulations of the program is that the Stars must communicate to Avery through his representatives, Hull said. As such, they will await an update from Avery's agent, Pat Morris, to see if there is a time this season when Avery would like to return to play hockey.

While I think this move is a little extreme, I understand why Dallas is doing this. The main question here is whether or not Avery should have been given a 2nd chance. In most situations, I think there should have been at least one attempt to work the player back in to the locker room and see if he can mesh with the team a 2nd time around. But, when Avery was first suspended, the vibe that was coming out of the Stars locker room was relief. If you go back and read the quotes, they were basically saying "Finally, we can focus on Stars hockey now." Avery wore out his welcome within two months in Dallas, which has to be some sort of record.

I am a Sean Avery fan. I love what he brings to the team on the ice, both talent-wise and verbally towards the other team. While what he said wasn't the smartest thing in the world, it wasn't necessarily wrong. That being said, Avery needs to develop the smarts and brains on what to open his mouth about and when to open that. If he can do that and learn how to be more of a team player, he can be a valuable asset to a team. Until that point though, he is going to be seen as a big cancer to any locker room and is going to have to put in extra effort to be accepted on whatever team he ends up on (Dallas will take some tape and practice pucks for him at this point). Avery has to be on a team where there is at least one indisputable leader of the clubhouse that even Avery will listen to. When he was on the Rangers, he had Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan in the same room to hold him accountable. Mike Modano and Brendan Morrow, while they are both great players, don't have the same effect. When an AHL team like the Manitoba Moose say "Thanks but no thanks" on taking a guy like Avery on their squad, that should sum up how bad the problem is.

OTHER HEADLINES

-San Jose Sharks center Jeremy Roenick probably will be out for three weeks because of a shoulder problem that landed him on the injured list Sunday. Roenick was hurt in the first period of the NHL-leading Sharks' 2-0 victory over Anaheim on Thursday night, crashing against the boards on a hit by defenseman Brett Festerling. Roenick returned to the game, but later tests revealed torn cartilage in his shoulder. San Jose coach Todd McLellan said Saturday that Roenick, who's in his 20th NHL season, will likely be out until January. Roenick has three goals and five assists during limited ice time in 28 games for the Sharks. He has thrived on San Jose's fourth line during his two seasons with the club, mentoring his young teammates and providing veteran leadership. With Roenick sidelined, the Sharks recalled forward Lukas Kaspar from their AHL affiliate in Worcester before Saturday night's 5-4 win over the St. Louis Blues.

LAST NIGHT'S RECAP

Chicago Blackhawks (15-6-7) over the Columbus Blue Jackets (13-14-3) 3-1
TOP PERFORMER = Blackhawks G Cristobal Huet - 31 saves
-Frederik Modin put Columbus on the board in the 1st period, but Patrick Sharp would tie the game on the power play with :01 remaining in the 2nd period. Martin Havlat scored the game winner halfway in to the 3rd period and Brent Seabrook would add an empty net goal. Duncan Keith had two assists in the win. Chicago is 8-2-2 in its last 12 games. Columbus has only one win in its last six games against Chicago.

Anaheim Ducks (17-11-3) over the Minnesota Wild (15-13-1) 4-2
TOP PERFORMER = Ducks D Chris Pronger - 2 Assists, +3, 25:26 ice time
-Ryan Getzlaf (13th of the season) and Corey Perry put the Ducks up 2-0 in the 1st period before Marc-Andre Bergeron cut the lead in half on the power play. In the 2nd period, Eric Belanger would tie the game up, but Brendan Morrison and Bobby Ryan would each score to put the Ducks ahead for good. Chris Kunitz chipped in with two assists for the Ducks while Jean-Sebastian Giguere made 26 saves for the win. Josh Harding turned away 30 shots in the loss. The Ducks have won five straight home games and are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games. Before this game, Minnesota had not scored more than one goal in its previous four games.

Vancouver Canucks (17-11-3) over the Florida Panthers (14-13-3) 5-3
TOP PERFORMER = Canucks RW Pavol Demitra - 2 Goals
-The Panthers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to goals from defensemen Nick Boynton and Jay Bouwmeester. Darcy Hordichuk made it 2-1 before the end of the 1st period. In the 2nd period, Pavol Demitra scored back to back goals (one of them on the power play), Kyle Wellwood added a power play goal and Ryan Kesler scored shorthanded to give Vancouver a 5-2 lead heading in to the 3rd period. Michael Frolik scored the Panthers last goal in the 3rd period. LW Cory Stillman returned to the Florida lineup after missing 13 games with post-concussion symptoms, but lost C Stephen Weiss to an upper-body injury late in the first period. Weiss, who has five goals and 16 points on the season, did not return and was taken to the hospital for X-rays.

RUMOR MILL

-Mats Sundin took in Saturday night's encounter between the New York Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes and met with Rangers brass following the game. The 37-year old Swede and his Swedish representation Claes Elefalk sat down with Rangers' President and general manager Glen Sather, Senior advisor to President & GM and Director of U.S. Scouting Mike Barnett and Rangers' head coach Tom Renney. The meeting was described as relaxed and informal. While the Rangers have not made an offer; team representatives have made it clear that they want Sundin in the Big Apple.

AROUND THE BOARDS

-Phoenix Coyotes forward Brian McGrattan has voluntarily entered stage 1 of the NHL and NHL Players Association Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health program. The right winger will receive his full salary and benefits under the terms of the program providing he complies with the prescribed treatment under Dr. Dave Lewis of the NHL and the NHLPA's Dr. Brian Shaw. McGrattan, 27, appeared in only three games for Phoenix this season without registering a point and accumulating 12 penalty minutes. For his career, he has posted two goals and eight assists with 299 penalty minutes over his 146-game NHL career with the Coyotes and Ottawa.

-The Anaheim Ducks traded forward Brian Sutherby to the Dallas Stars for the rights to collegian David McIntyre and a conditional draft pick. Sutherby is playing his seventh season in the NHL, putting up 29 goals and 39 assists in 321 career games played between the Ducks and Washington Capitals. McIntyre is a member of the Colgate Raiders at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, where he leads the team in points; five goals and seven assists in 14 games.
-The Toronto Maple Leafs assigned defenceman Anton Stralman to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. Stralman has played in 21 games for the Maple Leafs, recording one goal and six assists. He also posted a plus-one rating while averaging 15:51 of ice time. His lone goal of the season was the game-winning marker as the Leafs defeated Boston 4-2 on the road on October 23rd.

TONIGHT'S ACTION

% Colorado (14-14-1) @ Detroit (20-5-4) - 7PM
San Jose (24-3-2) @ Los Angeles (13-12-4) - 10:30PM

% = Game of the Night
^ALL TIMES EASTERN


*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out tonight

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out Wednesday evenings

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