Sean Avery has been called many things. Some unprintable. But one thing he has always been is interesting. That hasn’t stopped now that his career is over, thanks to the athlete outlet known as “The Players Tribune” website. Avery provided a glimpse into his life after hockey, and explained his embrace with the role of “NHL Villain”:
I decided to retire in 2012 because the game was no longer fun for me. Sure, I loved being on the ice, making a great play, putting the puck in the net — and winning. I did not love the abuse I got from my coach. I did not love sitting around in the locker room talking about cars and wives and girlfriends — or about hiding your girlfriend from your wife. And difficult though this may be for fans to understand, some nights, I did not love all the thumping music and swirling lights announcing “The New York Rangers!” as we skated out to play Game X in our 82-game season. Some nights, you just can’t find that extra gear no matter how loud the arena is.
But most of all, I didn’t love the constant uncertainty that my career could end at any moment. It’s difficult to explain to a fan, but your life as a professional athlete is colored by uncertainty. You worry about making a bad play, taking a bad penalty, missing a golden chance to score a goal. The pressure that we experience while we’re playing can be depressing. You know that you’re one small piece of a large machine, and there are guys in suits in the stands watching how you help or hurt that machine. They have pressures on them, too, and some general manager can panic about his own job, and suddenly you get a phone call saying, “You’ve been traded to another team.” It’s part of the job but it’s never normal.
I handled the pressure partly by inventing a character — the tough, ornery Sean Avery that you think you know — and I’d put his game face on before I left for the rink, and I’d take it off when I got home. It was my way of handling all the demands on us to win. And to keep my job. I needed people to hate me. I needed players to come after me in order to stay motivated. Because honestly, playing in the NHL can become stagnant after a few years, especially if you have intellectual interests outside the rink.
NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 30: Brooks Orpik #44 of the Pittsburgh Penguins propels Sean Avery #16 of the New York Rangers over goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury #29 at Madison Square Garden on November 30, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Whatever you feel about Sean Avery, love him or hate him (because if you’re a hockey fan, there’s no indifference towards him), this is a piece you should read from top to bottom. There’s great insight into how a player goes from the spotlight to regular life without going through serious withdrawal. And what’s impressive is that Avery was mentally preparing for it for years.
The interesting thing about being the villain was that it was always fun to see Avery straddle the line between effective and explosive. Effective when he gets into the head of, say, Martin Brodeur by face guarding him, or calling him every name in the book (I’m sure it got much worse on the ice than in the interview room), yet explosive when he used his acerbic tongue towards his own teammates or even the media. Avery’s first go-round with the Rangers featured a lot of the former, but once he got to the Dallas Stars there was more of the latter (at least from what was visible to hockey fans), and that’s when the road started to point out of the league.
I’ve always thought that if Avery remained focused on straddling that line and not totally obliterating it, he could have been one of the most effective “pests” in NHL history. And at age 35, he would still be playing today. But it’s clear from the article that being a top flight NHL player for a longer period of time wasn’t something that interested Avery. As much as that would disappoint those who enjoyed the antics (and probably those who coached him as well), there isn’t anything wrong with it as long as Avery is true to himself and at peace. At least from the Tribune piece, it seems as though that’s the case.
