Hey everyone, heres a non game day rant for you guys. With regards to the NYRangerscast podcast today, I’m going to have to disagree with my buddies Eric and Steve, and fairly vehemently at that. I honestly don’t think there is that proverbial line one can cross with verbal assault. Maybe it was some of that cold calling experience I have (worst job in the world btw) but I don’t think anyone has the right to censor a player on the ice. I’m sure the club would prefer it if Sean Avery didn’t make so many waves, but that is his job. Who are we to tell him to keep his mouth shut, who are we to tell him what he can and can not say? Last time I checked, there was the First Amendment. Nobody forced Darcy Tucker to raise his stick as a weapon to Sean, nobody forced Jason Blake to be the 3rd man in on the confrontation, and nobody forced anyone to actually listen to what Sean Avery says. I’m sure the Buffalo Sabers heard some nasty things themselves, but they were a disciplined club, and ignored whatever he said, and won the game on the ice. The difference between the Sabers and the Leafs is that the Leafs let Averys antics affect their on-ice play, Buffalo did not, and that is the mark of a mediocre team.
It takes a truly pathetic club to have to justify a loss because another player says mean things to them (shall we call your mommy Don Cherry?)
What next? We lost because the fans booed us, that shouldn’t be allowed? We lost because the other teams jerseys have mean logos on them and it distracted us? Puh-lease. This is hockey. This is a professional sport. It is a multi-billion dollar industry that forces each team to seek whatever advantage they can to win. If that means signing the best players, putting the most comprehensive athletic equipment and personnel together, or using trash talk to throw your opponents off their game, then so be it.
If that means calling Martin Brodeur “Uncle Daddy“, or attacking a player based on their hairstyle or whatever, then that’s what you do. How far is too far? I don’t know, but as long as it is legal for Avery to say what he is saying, then the NHL has no right to stop him. I’m a fan of Darcy Tucker, of Matthew Barnaby, of Tikk, of Lemieux, of Avery, of every pest that has ever played the game. They are the kinds of players that every team wants, and every team hates to play against. So long as they are doing it legally (yapping) and are playing the game right (no diving (Sean, you gotta cut that crap out) or two handed clubbings), then nobody has the right to make this big an issue out of their game.
Sticks and stones everyone, sticks and stones.
PS, I will be moving my site to a new server. Those of you who have the address of www.avatarbusinesssolutions.com/blah blah blah, please update your links to point to www.rangersreview.com. I will post a redirect on that folder to the correct address for those of you who havent updated it. The reason for the move is because I HATE Globat.com and their crappy service. As you may or may not have noticed, my blog is exceptionally slow. You get what you pay for, and since this site is 100% not for profit, and since I do pay for it out of my own pocket, I just put the site on one of the domains I already pay for. Now Im moving all my sites to a new server, hopefully we will see some performance increase. Expect the move in a week or so.
