I should probably start this by saying I defended Sean Avery, pretty much just to be contrarian. It did net me a link from Deadspin (pretty cool) and at least one comment (meaning this isn't just a complete vanity project). And still, I think Avery is a bizzare kind of player.
He's good, but not great. He's a role player who doesn't play a role, if that makes sense. At his best, when he's most effective, he's a modern Esa Tikkanen. He's a pest, a third-line player who bugs people, draws the other team into penalties. And if he can score a few goals, then good for him. But primarily, he's just a nuisance.
And boy, was he ever one in Dallas.
I read a story from about the time he made his "Sloppy Seconds" dig about how it went over in the dressing room. Even his team thought he had crossed a line. Even his team thought he was too much of a pest. He had played his role almost too well.
Remember what it was like back in early December? Dallas had just paid a ton of money for an agitator, the team was in the cellar and the season was looking lost. Marty Turco wasn't playing well; his record was 7 and 14. Since then, he's basically found his groove: he's now 24 and 24 - a vast improvement in the past six weeks. Obviously, they don't miss Avery.
And nobody else does either, it seems, since Avery has cleared waivers.
Still, there is talk of his coming back to New York, where the team has floundered since he left last spring. But to say that he's the solution is wrong. The Rangers have taken some big losses this year, Jagr and Shanahan the biggest of them. Avery is not the solution to the problems they have.
At best, he brings maybe 15 goals. At worst, his ego flourishes in the media spotlight and he becomes another distraction for a team trying to find itself. Granted, maybe his exile has leveled him down a bit. Or maybe it's a little unfair to say he'll act out prematurely.
But honestly, with his track record, I don't see it not happening. Avery loves the spotlight and he'll never get into it with his talent alone. If he comes back, he will do something to make himself noticed again. One can only hope it isn't as stupid as his last one.
Showing posts with label Dallas Stars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dallas Stars. Show all posts
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Avery is Hockey's Heel
When Sean Avery shot his mouth off a couple days ago, he wasn’t just slamming Dion Phaneuf – or even his ex girlfriend. He was carving his niche, building his role as hockey’s heel.
Heel, as in wrestling villain. He’s the player that you want to root against, that you love to hate.
It’s a role he’s been carefully cultivating and it’s one that shows in the media’s treatment of him.
For a player in what is maybe the fourth-popular league in the states, Avery is getting attention is above and beyond the rest of the league. Columns are written about him on Fox Sports, his quotes appear on SportsCenter, and people who don’t follow sports know who he is.
Even those who disagree with what he does have to at least admit that he’s good for the league.
Why? There’s a school of thought that says any press is good press; this is to say that Avery is getting himself out in the media spotlight, and hockey will inevitably follow.
In this sense, Avery is filling a good cause for the league. Superstars like Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin and Jerome Iginla are positive models for the league, sure – but they’re boring.
They’re almost in the Michael Jordan school of superstardom; be on TV, but don’t offend. Don’t be controversial. Don’t stir up any debate. As Jordan once said, Republicans buy shoes too.
But Avery doesn’t seem to care about selling shoes, only selling himself. He’s the guy who puts himself out there by acting out and acting controversial.
He may pay for it, sure. He’s been fined and suspended by the league. Reportedly, he’s worn his welcome out in more then a few dressing rooms.
Avery’s not the first guy to fill such a role: Ulf Samuelsson and Claude Lemieux were both reviled for parts of their careers.
They were heels too. They, like Avery, drew people to cheer against them.
In that sense, Avery’s what hockey needs to stand out from the pack. He’s marketable, he’s noteworthy and his quips can fill notebooks and blogs. For better or worse, he’s perhaps the most marketable player in the NHL today.
So, in a way, the NHL needs Avery more then Avery needs the NHL. He’s the one who appears on both gossip blogs and ESPN. If the NHL wants to stand out in a crowded sports market or attract more then just niche fans, they should learn to use him.
Not just shut him up.
Heel, as in wrestling villain. He’s the player that you want to root against, that you love to hate.
It’s a role he’s been carefully cultivating and it’s one that shows in the media’s treatment of him.
For a player in what is maybe the fourth-popular league in the states, Avery is getting attention is above and beyond the rest of the league. Columns are written about him on Fox Sports, his quotes appear on SportsCenter, and people who don’t follow sports know who he is.
Even those who disagree with what he does have to at least admit that he’s good for the league.
Why? There’s a school of thought that says any press is good press; this is to say that Avery is getting himself out in the media spotlight, and hockey will inevitably follow.
In this sense, Avery is filling a good cause for the league. Superstars like Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin and Jerome Iginla are positive models for the league, sure – but they’re boring.
They’re almost in the Michael Jordan school of superstardom; be on TV, but don’t offend. Don’t be controversial. Don’t stir up any debate. As Jordan once said, Republicans buy shoes too.
But Avery doesn’t seem to care about selling shoes, only selling himself. He’s the guy who puts himself out there by acting out and acting controversial.
He may pay for it, sure. He’s been fined and suspended by the league. Reportedly, he’s worn his welcome out in more then a few dressing rooms.
Avery’s not the first guy to fill such a role: Ulf Samuelsson and Claude Lemieux were both reviled for parts of their careers.
They were heels too. They, like Avery, drew people to cheer against them.
In that sense, Avery’s what hockey needs to stand out from the pack. He’s marketable, he’s noteworthy and his quips can fill notebooks and blogs. For better or worse, he’s perhaps the most marketable player in the NHL today.
So, in a way, the NHL needs Avery more then Avery needs the NHL. He’s the one who appears on both gossip blogs and ESPN. If the NHL wants to stand out in a crowded sports market or attract more then just niche fans, they should learn to use him.
Not just shut him up.
Monday, May 19, 2008
History could repeat again for Red Wings
“There is nothing more vulnerable then entrenched success.” – George Romney
If the Detroit Red Wings are to make the Stanley Cup finals, they should heed the words of that famous Detroiter.
The Red Wings were perhaps the best team in the league this year as they pounded their way to the conference championships. Their 115 points more then five wins above that of the Eastern’s top team and is nearly seven above that of the Eastern’s challenger in the finals.
But now they’re two losses away from the golf course.
It was only their first-round opponents that showed them any fight, and even then it was the familiarity of the two: they had played some eight times this season. They both knew each other well and played to six games, where the Wings prevailed.
Next up for Detroit was the Colorado Avalanche. As far as modern rivalries go, those two made for one of the best. However, it was not to be: Detroit hammered them into submission, sweeping them and winning the final game by six goals.
It looked like the same for the conference finals, too. Detroit quickly ran to a 3-0 series lead and as game four approached, some quickly began to handicap the Stanley Cup finals. Simply put, the Stars were out of gas.
But then Turco had one of the best games of his life.
Making 33 saves in a 3-1 Dallas win, he was named the first star of the game: the first time a Dallas player had been named so in the series. The last gasp of a team burning all it has, perhaps.
But as the series shifted back to Detroit, where Dallas’ netminder Marty Turco had never won and where the Red Wings looked to have the advantage.
Where again, the Stars won, this time 2-1.
For a team that had a 3-0 series lead, losing two games in a row could be seen as a collapse. Or as misjudging their opponent, at the least. But it could also mean that Dallas is back in the series.
The roots of this can be drawn back the second round, when the Stars beat the San Jose Sharks. In a tightly fought series that went six games – the sixth of which went into a fourth overtime – it’s not hard to see the Stars as a team that ran out of gas.
But given some time, the Stars could have gotten back into the shape of things. With two wins, they have given themselves some momentum – suddenly, they’re not also-rans, but a team with a good shot at forcing a game seven.
They’ve looked sharp in their last two games. With a little help from a couple injuries to Detroit (the leading scorer for the Red Wings, Johan Franzen, has missed four straight games now), the Stars have kept the Wings off the score sheet.
In games four and five, the Wings only scored once, the first time they were held to less then two goals this playoffs.
And perhaps, the Red Wings let their success get to them, too. The Stars have already forced a game six– the first time that a series the Wings led 3-0 has gone this far - where they’ll play on home ice.
It wouldn’t be the first time that a strong Detroit team has struggled in the playoffs. In 2006, they won the Presidents Trophy after finishing the season with 124 points – yet lost to the eighth seeded Edmonton Oilers in six games. Then last year, they lost a tightly-contested conference finals to Anahiem, again in six, losing their final three games.
For all of their regular season success lately – three straight seasons as the number one seed in the West – they have surprisingly little to show for it; two playoff upsets in a row (to teams that won the west, coincidentally).
With the way the Stars have looked lately, could history repeat itself again?
It’s looking more and more likely.
If the Detroit Red Wings are to make the Stanley Cup finals, they should heed the words of that famous Detroiter.
The Red Wings were perhaps the best team in the league this year as they pounded their way to the conference championships. Their 115 points more then five wins above that of the Eastern’s top team and is nearly seven above that of the Eastern’s challenger in the finals.
But now they’re two losses away from the golf course.
It was only their first-round opponents that showed them any fight, and even then it was the familiarity of the two: they had played some eight times this season. They both knew each other well and played to six games, where the Wings prevailed.
Next up for Detroit was the Colorado Avalanche. As far as modern rivalries go, those two made for one of the best. However, it was not to be: Detroit hammered them into submission, sweeping them and winning the final game by six goals.
It looked like the same for the conference finals, too. Detroit quickly ran to a 3-0 series lead and as game four approached, some quickly began to handicap the Stanley Cup finals. Simply put, the Stars were out of gas.
But then Turco had one of the best games of his life.
Making 33 saves in a 3-1 Dallas win, he was named the first star of the game: the first time a Dallas player had been named so in the series. The last gasp of a team burning all it has, perhaps.
But as the series shifted back to Detroit, where Dallas’ netminder Marty Turco had never won and where the Red Wings looked to have the advantage.
Where again, the Stars won, this time 2-1.
For a team that had a 3-0 series lead, losing two games in a row could be seen as a collapse. Or as misjudging their opponent, at the least. But it could also mean that Dallas is back in the series.
The roots of this can be drawn back the second round, when the Stars beat the San Jose Sharks. In a tightly fought series that went six games – the sixth of which went into a fourth overtime – it’s not hard to see the Stars as a team that ran out of gas.
But given some time, the Stars could have gotten back into the shape of things. With two wins, they have given themselves some momentum – suddenly, they’re not also-rans, but a team with a good shot at forcing a game seven.
They’ve looked sharp in their last two games. With a little help from a couple injuries to Detroit (the leading scorer for the Red Wings, Johan Franzen, has missed four straight games now), the Stars have kept the Wings off the score sheet.
In games four and five, the Wings only scored once, the first time they were held to less then two goals this playoffs.
And perhaps, the Red Wings let their success get to them, too. The Stars have already forced a game six– the first time that a series the Wings led 3-0 has gone this far - where they’ll play on home ice.
It wouldn’t be the first time that a strong Detroit team has struggled in the playoffs. In 2006, they won the Presidents Trophy after finishing the season with 124 points – yet lost to the eighth seeded Edmonton Oilers in six games. Then last year, they lost a tightly-contested conference finals to Anahiem, again in six, losing their final three games.
For all of their regular season success lately – three straight seasons as the number one seed in the West – they have surprisingly little to show for it; two playoff upsets in a row (to teams that won the west, coincidentally).
With the way the Stars have looked lately, could history repeat itself again?
It’s looking more and more likely.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Is Marty Turco the new Rogie Vachon?
Is Marty Turco the new Rogie Vachon?
Think about it. They’re both great goalies that play in smaller hockey markets. They put up similar numbers. They’re both carbon-based life forms.
One other thing, too. They’ve both never backstopped their way to a Stanley Cup.
Sure, Vachon won two Cups early in his career with the Montreal Canadiens, but that was as a backup. In those two playoff runs, he only started 10 playoff games, playing behind Gump Worsley.
But Vachon took over as a starter he couldn’t produce. In 1970, his first season as a starter, the Canadiens failed to make the playoffs. The next spring, Montreal coach Al MacNeil went with rookie Ken Dryden over Vachon for the playoffs, which all but ended his career in Montreal.
So it was off to Los Angeles with Vachon. Despite posting some strong statistics for the Kings, Vachon did not see the playoffs until 1974, when they lost to Chicago in five games.
Twice the Kings finished second in their division, and three times they finished third. Under Vachon, they made five straight playoff appearances, although they never made it past the second round. In his five years with the Kings, Vachon would record 171 wins, 32 shutouts and was named a second-team all-star twice, in 1975 and 1977.
In August of 1978, Vachon signed with the Detroit Red Wings, a team that had gone 32-34-14 the season before. He did not meet much success with the team, winning just 30 games, and posting a GAA above 3.60 in his two seasons with the club. His finished his career with Boston, splitting starts with Marco Baron.
By career’s end, Vachon had won 355 games, a career GAA of 2.99 and recorded 51 shutouts. His postseason numbers weren’t too shabby, either: 23 wins, two shutouts and a GAA of 2.77. Vachon had his number retired by the Kings, played in three all-star games and a Canada Cup, winning six of his seven starts.
Yet, in the decade dominated by his Montreal replacement of Dryden, Vachon was often overlooked. Throughout the 70s, he never won a Vezina, never made it past the second round, which perhaps explains why he has yet to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Which brings us to Marty Turco.
Since starting his career in 2000-01, two seasons after the Stars won the Stanley Cup, Turco has won 207 games for the Stars and his GAA is 2.15. In 2005-06, he won 41 games for the Stars. In 2002-03, he posted a league-leading GAA of 1.72.
But, like Vachon, Turco has never had success in the postseason. Only once has he made it deep into the playoffs, when he went to the second round in 2002-03. Since then, he has yet to make it out of the first round. Last year, for example, Turco posted a GAA of 1.30 in Dallas’ first-round loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
Twice he has played in the All-Star game, but he has never won any awards for his play. In an era dominated by better-known goalies – Marty Brodeur, Dominic Hasek, Mikka Kiprusoff – Turco has gone under-valued.
Perhaps, like Vachon, it is because he plays in a market that is easily overlooked by most fans or because of his lack of success in the post-season.
However, unlike Vachon, he still has a chance to turn it around. However, at the age of 32, these playoffs could be that chance. However, their first-round series against the Ducks will be a tough match.
But unless Turco wants to be remembered as his generations Vachon, this is a series he has to win.
Think about it. They’re both great goalies that play in smaller hockey markets. They put up similar numbers. They’re both carbon-based life forms.
One other thing, too. They’ve both never backstopped their way to a Stanley Cup.
Sure, Vachon won two Cups early in his career with the Montreal Canadiens, but that was as a backup. In those two playoff runs, he only started 10 playoff games, playing behind Gump Worsley.
But Vachon took over as a starter he couldn’t produce. In 1970, his first season as a starter, the Canadiens failed to make the playoffs. The next spring, Montreal coach Al MacNeil went with rookie Ken Dryden over Vachon for the playoffs, which all but ended his career in Montreal.
So it was off to Los Angeles with Vachon. Despite posting some strong statistics for the Kings, Vachon did not see the playoffs until 1974, when they lost to Chicago in five games.
Twice the Kings finished second in their division, and three times they finished third. Under Vachon, they made five straight playoff appearances, although they never made it past the second round. In his five years with the Kings, Vachon would record 171 wins, 32 shutouts and was named a second-team all-star twice, in 1975 and 1977.
In August of 1978, Vachon signed with the Detroit Red Wings, a team that had gone 32-34-14 the season before. He did not meet much success with the team, winning just 30 games, and posting a GAA above 3.60 in his two seasons with the club. His finished his career with Boston, splitting starts with Marco Baron.
By career’s end, Vachon had won 355 games, a career GAA of 2.99 and recorded 51 shutouts. His postseason numbers weren’t too shabby, either: 23 wins, two shutouts and a GAA of 2.77. Vachon had his number retired by the Kings, played in three all-star games and a Canada Cup, winning six of his seven starts.
Yet, in the decade dominated by his Montreal replacement of Dryden, Vachon was often overlooked. Throughout the 70s, he never won a Vezina, never made it past the second round, which perhaps explains why he has yet to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Which brings us to Marty Turco.
Since starting his career in 2000-01, two seasons after the Stars won the Stanley Cup, Turco has won 207 games for the Stars and his GAA is 2.15. In 2005-06, he won 41 games for the Stars. In 2002-03, he posted a league-leading GAA of 1.72.
But, like Vachon, Turco has never had success in the postseason. Only once has he made it deep into the playoffs, when he went to the second round in 2002-03. Since then, he has yet to make it out of the first round. Last year, for example, Turco posted a GAA of 1.30 in Dallas’ first-round loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
Twice he has played in the All-Star game, but he has never won any awards for his play. In an era dominated by better-known goalies – Marty Brodeur, Dominic Hasek, Mikka Kiprusoff – Turco has gone under-valued.
Perhaps, like Vachon, it is because he plays in a market that is easily overlooked by most fans or because of his lack of success in the post-season.
However, unlike Vachon, he still has a chance to turn it around. However, at the age of 32, these playoffs could be that chance. However, their first-round series against the Ducks will be a tough match.
But unless Turco wants to be remembered as his generations Vachon, this is a series he has to win.
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