Man Crush of the Week #2 - Sean Avery

From my seat in Row A of Section 414 at Madison Square Garden, I can see almost everything that happens during the course of a Rangers game. Stationed centrally behind the net at the 8th Ave. end (where the Rangers attack in the 1st and 3rd periods), I get a full view of the ice, and most of the time I watch the puck and the play, like most people would.

But when a certain Ranger hits the ice, I’m transfixed on only him.

He’s unpredictable. He’s fast. He’s a good scorer, a deft passer. He’s a hitter and a fighter. He’s annoying as hell.

He’s Sean Avery.

When Avery became a Ranger on February 6th last season, I knew very little about him. Because Avery played in Los Angeles and the NHL has pretty much zero west-coast TV coverage, he was basically an unknown commodity. I think this was the case for a lot of people.

But since his arrival in New York, I have absolutely fallen in love with Sean Avery…in a totally non-sexual way, of course (come on, I’d have no shot anyway, this guy dated Elisha Cuthbert!), and so has most of New York.

Avery actually makes me laugh out loud when I watch the Rangers, partly because of the way he goes about getting under his opponent’s skin (yapping away from behind his infamous black mouth guard, throwing well-timed body checks, and of course face-washing players during post-whistle get-togethers), but mostly because he’s actually a terrific hockey player. It truly is a joy to watch the guy play the game. Most people can’t get past the agitation factor to recognize this, and that quite frankly is their loss.

Avery is the player that everyone – including even some Ranger fans – loves to hate. His language on the ice is crude, he’s brutally honest during interviews (“I guess fatso there forgot to shake my hand…”) and his goal celebrations are a bit over the top (though I think scoring a goal in the NHL would fire anyone up and I like the expression of emotion).

But I also think that the NHL’s resident bad boy fulfills the cliché, “Women want him and men want to be him.” After all, Avery isn’t just a hockey player…he’s a renaissance man. When he’s not at the rink, he claims he really doesn’t pay much attention to the hockey world and would rather talk about art than sports. His interests include high fashion and indie music. This summer, he’s interning at Vogue Magazine. Guy’s got a pretty cool life, no?

What I think a lot of people, especially over at NHL Headquarters on 6th Ave., are missing is that Avery has become one of the league’s most marketable stars. And in typical NHL fashion, Gary Bettman and Co. have shunned him. In a league that is struggling not only to garner more attention but also to promote its stars, Avery is a lightning rod for attention. He plays the part of the villain perfectly.

Now, many hockey pundits would tell me that the league is trying to clean up its image, that a “villain” is the last thing it needs. They’ll say the NHL is sick of the Todd Bertuzzi/Marty McSorely/Chris Simon moments that seem to happen yearly and give hockey an endless stream of bad press.

My argument is this: Sean Avery is not a goon. He doesn’t hit from behind. He doesn’t swing his stick at people’s heads. He doesn’t engage in slew-footing like Evgeni Malkin did in pathetic sore-loser fashion at the end of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Rather, Avery is a modern agitator with an old-school edge. And he’s a good interview because he’s articulate and will say a thing or two that catches everyone off-guard. He also has a personality off the ice.

I watched the Rangers playoffs with a few people who are not hardcore hockey fans like me and even they were interested in Sean Avery. Say what you will about his questionable screening tactics on Martin Brodeur…it made headlines, didn’t it? The national media was talking quite a bit about hockey the next day, weren’t they? I rest my case.

I’ll say this before I go. A lot of people have accused Avery of being selfish, especially when February rolled around and Avery met with the Rangers brass to discuss extending his contract, a one-year deal that expires on June 30th. SHOCKER: Avery asked for too much money. Go figure that…a pro athlete acting like, well, a pro athlete.

The thing is that Avery has proven his worth. The Rangers were 33-14-10 this past season when Avery played and 9-13-3 when he didn’t. And then came this gem from New York Post writer Larry Brooks, who scored an exclusive interview with Avery when he was released from the hospital earlier this week after beginning his recovery from a lacerated spleen.

Avery bleeds Ranger blue.

That’s good enough for me. But even if he leaves the Rangers, I will always have a soft-spot in my heart for Sean Avery, this week’s Sports Freakers Man Crush of the Week.

The Blueshirts Live to See Another Day

After giving up 12 goals in the first 3 games to the Penguins, the Rangers fell into a massive hole. The Penguins quickly gained a 3-0 series lead and it was all but over for the Rangers.

But the Rangers, who earlier this season went on an incredible 13 game run where they gained a point in each outing, are not quick to give up on anything.

They came out to a blisteringly loud crowd at the Garden last night with the intensions of satisfying their fans at least one more time this season. If anything, they were not going to lose this series on home ice. Easier said than done, of course. The Penguins are good. They are exceptionally good. Perhaps the best in the entire NHL.

Henrik Lundqvist, who has been very shaky in games 1 and 3, needed to be stellar if they were going to survive this do-or-die match. He needed to be perfect. Well, perfect he was, saving all 29 shots that came his way, including a penalty shot from the intimidating Evgeni Malkin, to record his 2nd career playoff shutout.

The young rookie (and soon to be superstar) Brandon Dubinsky, scored his 4th goal of the playoffs on a power play early on in the 3rd period. He also recorded his 4th assist of the playoffs in the 2nd period.

But if there was one player who truly played like it could be the final game for the Blueshirts, it was none other than Jaromir Jagr...well, because, it might not have only been his final game for the season, but his final game in the NHL. Jagr, who will likely be ending his hall of fame career at the end of this season to pursue a league in Russia, was the star of the night. He scored the first goal of the game midway through the 2nd period to give the Rangers the boost they needed. He also assisted on Dubinsky's goal, and finished the night off with an empty net goal with 14 seconds left in the game. It was inspiring, to say the least, hearing loud roars from the crowd "JAGR, JAGR, JAGR"

The game was intense. It was exciting. It was beautiful.

The Rangers may or may not end up pulling off a miraculous comeback, but at the very least, they played their hearts out last night at MSG and will be going off in style. All I know is that the last team to blow a 3-0 lead in the playoffs were none other than the Penguins back in 1975. So who's to say history won't repeat itself? I can only hope.

LET'S GO RANGERS!

A Worthy Captain

It was a stunning moment. A brilliant moment. A moment that only a great captain playing world-class hockey could produce.

With his team's season hanging in the balance, the Rangers already facing the unenviable task of coming back from a 3 games to none deficit against the juggernaut that is the Pittsburgh Penguins, Jaromir Jagr made sure the Rangers season, and perhaps his NHL career, would not be killed off last night.

With about 7:20 remaining in the 2nd period of a 0-0 game, he took a pass from Brandon Dubinsky in full stride, streaking down his less-preferred left wing. Ranger fans have seen this before. Jagr would keep skating to the outside. He would continue into the corner, behind the net, and look to pass to a teammate, or perhaps attempt a wraparound shot. Right?

Not last night. Jagr, who has unfairly developed a reputation in some circles as a "soft" player who shies away from contact, made a quick toe-drag move and cut towards the middle. He fired a screaming wrist-shot through the legs of Marc-Andre Fleury, and as he did so, was absolutely leveled by Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik, who had come across the ice to check Jagr. Certainly a clean hit, but Jagr was down and not moving and the raucous Garden crowd was buzzing nervously rather than belting out the bombastic "Heys!" of the Rangers Goal Song.

But when Jagr got back to his feet, the roar was deafening and the crowd began to chant his name. The chants continued on and off all night until the Rangers had won the game by a 3-0 score, Jagr assisting on the second goal and scoring the third into an empty net.

After nearly four seasons in which he has helped return the Rangers to contender status, Jaromir Jagr finally had his signature moment. That it came in a series the Rangers will probably eventually lose is inconsequential. Jagr played with pride for his team, his city, his fans.

Sam Weinman, a Rangers beat writer who furiously updates his blog Rangers Report wrote this piece about Jagr's tenure as a Ranger before last night's game. For those of you unfamiliar with the situation, Jagr did not meet the requirements to trigger a 1-year, $8.6 million option on his Rangers contract. If the Rangers do not re-sign Jagr, he will probably play his last NHL game this season. And with the Rangers down 3-1 in their series with Pittsburgh, last night could have been his final skate at Madison Square Garden.

He is not a perfect man. He is sometimes too emotional and too honest, like this past week when he admitted to "saving it" for the playoffs and not always going all-out during the regular season. The truth is that most players do this, especially at the age of 36, but many sports fans live in a fantasy world where their athletes aren't supposed to be affected by the limitations of the human body over the course of a grueling 6-month season.

Regardless of Jagr's shortcomings, however, he should be remembered in only a positive light by Ranger fans. In a nearly impossible situation, succeeding Mark Messier as Rangers captain, Jaromir Jagr has done so honorably. He has done everything from score goals - setting the Rangers single-season record of 54 two seasons ago, lest we forget - to help young Rangers such as Petr Prucha and Brandon Dubinsky develop both on and off the ice.

Last night's cheers were long overdue. Jaromir Jagr has been a great Ranger.

Xavier's the name, hockey's the game

Before I jump into the world of "sports freaking," as it were, I want to sort of set the stage for what you'll be getting out of my particular posts.

I am a huge sports fan...as big a sports fan as any of the other five contributors on this blog. We all have slightly varying interests, some different favorite teams (though we're all from the New York Metro area, so figure it out), and different feelings about what goes on in the modern world of sports. However, I consider myself particularly passionate about a couple of sports that fall to the periphery of the spectrum for most American sports fans: hockey and soccer. Later on, I'll rant about the latter...but with the Rangers biggest game of the season looming tonight, I'll stick to the ice.

Now, I was brought up on hockey. I played, coached and refereed the game. The first championship I experienced was the New York Rangers winning the Stanley Cup in 1994. I have been a season ticket holder at Madison Square Garden since the early 2000's when, pardon my French, the team was a collection of absolute shit and was missing the playoffs for seven straight seasons. I sing the Goal Song that we Ranger fans adore and our rival fans despise as loud as humanly possible when a Blueshirt puts the puck in the net. From the months of October to June (hopefully), the Rangers and the NHL are my life.

And even though I am well aware - well aware - that hockey simply doesn't "do it" for a lot of people in this country, particularly in regions which don't experience much cold weather, I still get irked when ESPN decides that the NFL Scouting Combine is a more important story than the NHL playoff race. Hmmm, actual sporting events with outcomes and ramifications vs. MEANINGLESS EVALUATIONS OF COLLEGE PLAYERS RUNNING NON-FOOTBALL DRILLS? What seems more important on the surface? ESPN sets the sports agenda, and quite frankly, they generally do an awful job of it. And by the way, I know why they don't show hockey highlights, but this being a more philosophical discussion, that's simply not the point.

Perhaps what is more frustrating is this. Being in Manhattan everyday, I am afforded the privilege of seeing the back pages of New York City's finest rags, the Daily News and the Post. While both of these are poor excuses for newspapers, they are renown for their sports sections. Some of the best sportswriters in the country contribute to these newspapers. This winter was certainly eventful, but when the dust settled after such happenings as the A-Rod opt-out, the Giants Super Bowl win and the Roger Clemens steroid freak show, you would think the Rangers would receive top-billing in NYC right?

I mean, the Knicks were awful (the Rangers had better local TV ratings than them), and honestly what happens in February in baseball? Phil Hughes threw 40 pitches off the mound (maybe he should have thrown a few more...) before spring training began? How about the Rangers torrid run post All-Star break to seal their 3rd straight post-season berth? Or them blowing a 5-0 lead in Montreal on Feb. 19 but then posting a 7-0-1 record immediately thereafter? Chris Drury and Scott Gomez, the Rangers big splash summer free-agent signings, emerging as the leaders they were expected to be? Henrik Lundqvist receiving a contract extension, playing through distraction while his father in Sweden recovered from a brain aneurysm, and securing his third straight Vezina Trophy (award given to the league's outstanding goaltender) nomination? In a world where the Knicks were sadly disappearing from the consciousness of New York sports fans, the Rangers provided plenty of top-story fodder. At least that's how I see it.

But I am somewhat resigned to the fact that ESPN and the back pages will rarely lead with hockey. Maybe it's better that way. I do know that if the Rangers win the Stanley Cup, they will be the toast of the town here in New York...and damn rightfully so.