Sean Avery stopped at nothing during his NHL career to get under the skin of his opponents. He would dive if he thought he could draw a penalty. He would say things most people would never even dream of saying, even away from microphones. Perhaps most notably, he decided to face Martin Brodeur in a playoff game, looking him in the eye and waving his hands in Brodeur’s face to distract him, prompting the NHL to devise "The Avery Rule."
Did licking another opponent ever cross his mind? Not a chance.
“No, it’s the dumbest thing. It could be the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen in sports,” Avery told Sporting News when reached by phone Saturday. “It’s actually probably one of the only unwritten rules that an athlete doesn’t think about crossing. I can’t think of anything else. I’ve never seen a player do it.”
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For a player who seemed content to break every unwritten rule during his own career, that says something.
The NHL announced Saturday that director of hockey operations Colin Campbell spoke with Brad Marchand of the Bruins and general manager Don Sweeney, a day after Marchand licked Lightning forward Ryan Callahan in Game 4 of their second-round series, a game Boston lost 4-3 in overtime.
It was the second incident in which Marchand licked an opponent during the Stanley Cup playoffs; the first occurred in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals when he licked Leo Komarov of the Maple Leafs.
The league said it has put Marchand “on notice” and made clear that his actions were "unacceptable," threatening that similar behavior in the future would be met with supplemental discipline. Marchand had been avoiding penalties so far because of his licking, but after the NHL’s announcement on Saturday, it is clear that will no longer be the case. The league is tired of it and wants it to end.
Avery said there is an art to getting under the skin of an opponent, and Marchand is missing the mark.
“It’s really stupid because it’s so visible. It’s much different than trash talking or slashing behind the play or whispering in a guy’s ear terrible things over the course of three or four games and trying to build up that momentum of trying to get a guy off his game,” Avery said. “He chose to do something that’s so visible and what he’s not thinking about is that (the Lightning) will rally behind that more than they would rally behind an individual player having another player get them off their game.”
Avery said it never occurred to add licking an opponent to his instigation arsenal, but if it had, his concern wouldn't have been about violating an unwritten boundary.
“I wouldn’t have done it because I’ve never had the desire to lick another man, number one," he said. "And two, I wouldn’t have done it because it’s not effective. It’s actually going to hurt him. It’s going to hurt him and it’s going to hurt the Bruins.”
It appears Avery’s concern about Marchand's misdeeds hurting the Bruins more than the Lightning may be correct. Soon after Marchand licked Callahan in Game 4, captain Zdeno Chara was observed talking to Marchand on the bench. One can only imagine what that conversation was about.
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On Saturday, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy was asked about Marchand’s antics.
“Brad has to stop licking,” Cassidy said. “That’s the end of the story.”
Avery was dumbfounded to hear a coach even utter those words.
“The fact that he even said the word licking is bizarre,” Avery said when informed of Cassidy’s comments. “Why he didn’t just say Brad needs to shut up and play, I can’t even believe he said the word licking.”
Unlike traditional types of agitation where a player tries to push an opponent’s buttons and do things they know are likely to distract them and get them off their game, Avery said he feels Marchand’s licking antics will act as an inspiration to the Lightning as a whole.
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“We all have responsibilities and understand you can’t let another player get you off your game,” Avery said. “When a guy does it in this manner, the Tampa team is going to rally around the Callahan incident and they’re going to get fired up. It’s the same thing as talking [crap] in the media and giving them billboard material. It’s idiotic, it’s so ineffective that it’s idiotic. It’s total billboard material because there’s something that elevates this to a rallying call among his opponents instead of just looking at it like 'Well, my teammate needs to fight through it and raise his game above it.'”
Tampa Bay leads the series 3-1. Avery said this will be a lesson Marchand learns the hard way.
“He’s about to realize that what he thinks is an effective element to his game is actually the complete opposite because ultimately his team is going to get thumped because of it,” Avery said. “This move on his part, it’s stupidity. It’s not understanding your role, probably. It’s being dumb.”
There is no denying there is some serious shock value to Marchand’s antics and that originality is at the forefront. When one of the NHL’s foremost pests admits he never thought of it, you know it’s original. Komarov largely ignored Marchand when he was the target earlier in the playoffs. Callahan seemed surprised and awkwardly shoved Marchand aside.
How would Avery have responded if he had been Marchand’s intended target?
“I probably would have stuck my tongue down his throat,” he said. “If he wants to play that game, he’s certainly not going to one up me. I think I’m pretty confident in my own ability to one-up somebody in behavior so I’m almost positive that’s what I would have done.”
Avery’s crowning achievement in agitation occurred during the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs. In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Devils, he infamously turned to face Brodeur while the Rangers were on a 5-on-3 power play. This was a highly visible tactic in and of itself.
Was Avery worried it would serve as a rallying cry, the same way he suggested Marchand’s antics will?
“No, because with what I did, it had purpose to it," he said. "It was purposeful, it was meant to be an advantage. I ended up scoring 20 or 30 seconds later to prove just that. At the time, I was trying to find an upper hand in the actual game, the play, the movement of the game.”
Ironically, that game was the only game the Rangers lost to the Devils that year. New York went on to win the series 4-1 before bowing out in the second round against the Penguins. Avery insisted his only thought at the time was trying to gain an advantage to help his team score. He said he is not sure what Marchand thought licking an opponent after the whistle would accomplish.
“This thing, it’s actually the complete opposite. It’s actually a selfish move," Avery said. "When I’m standing in front of Brodeur with my back to Shanahan and Jagr who are taking one timers, there’s nothing selfish about that other than I could have had my spine split in half by a slap shot. This licking thing, it’s actually probably one of the most selfish things I’ve ever seen anyone do.
"There’s nothing beneficial for the team and you know you’re going to be on the front cover of every sports page in the country, you know that’s what’s going to happen.”
Avery also denied there was anything premeditated about his actions; he never thought ahead of time about a new way to throw off Brodeur.
“It was a split second. I had a moment to think about it and the thought process was what was going to give us the upper hand at this moment and the first thought was me not taking a penalty,” Avery said. “If I faced him, he’s not going to be able to tap the back of my legs and I’m not going to fall into him and I’m not going to take a penalty. That was the reason why I did it. The last thing on my mind was thinking I was going to be on SportsCenter.”
If Marchand is going to get on SportsCenter again himself, he’ll have to let his play do the talking from now on.