An Open Letter to Sean Avery

Dear Sean Avery,

Let me be the first to say to you Sean, that when you first came to the Rangers, I loved you. Loved the passion you played with, loved the way you got under the opposing teams skin, and I particularly loved how you made it a point to get under the skin of Devils goalie, Martin Brodeur. After that first Rangers-Devils game, when during a scramble in front of the net, you knocked the great Mar-tan on his rear-end, you won the hearts and affections of Rangers fans everywhere. And for a while, you pretty much could do no wrong. You became the most important player on the Rangers next to Henrik Lundqvist, himself. You would score timely goals, piss opposing teams off, get into fights. I even remember affectionately coining you, "the Little Bastard", and at one time was seriously considering getting a #16 jersey, personalized with that very name.

Boy, am I glad I saved that money.

And the reason for this Sean is because you have not been "Sean Avery" in a very long time. You've scored 2 goals this entire season, don't get under anybody's skin and you don't even get into fights anymore. You pretty much don't do anything you used to do. I mean seriously, when was the last time you had a "Sean Avery" type game? You know the type of game I'm talking about. Scoring a goal and doing that arrogant fist pumping celebration, getting in the goalie's face, maybe "accidentally" knocking him in the back of the head with your stick when you skate past him after a stoppage in play. How 'bout a little pre-game trash talking with someone during warm-ups, or saying something to a top player when you line up for the face-off? I used to LIVE for those moments, wishing I could be a fly on your jersey to hear what you said to them that would just completely unravel them seconds after the puck was dropped..when was the last that happened? Hmm?

For you to be affective Sean, you need to be a jerk. It's really that simple. Cause when you are, it elevates your WHOLE game. You score goals, your speed becomes an asset, and most of all..the opposing team wants to KILL you! You used to have that Sean. I still remember that playoff series against the Atlanta Thrashers a few years ago, where you threw Ilya Kovalchuk off his game so badly, he pretty much self-destructed trying to go after you, and it made that 4 game sweep by the Rangers that much easier. I also remember the next season in the playoffs against the Devils when your "screening" tactic against Marty resulted in a change of the unsportsmanlike conduct rule the very next day. Heck, it angered Brodeur so much he wouldn't even shake your hand at the end of that series. I mean, Rangers fans were sporting t-shirts that said the "Avery Rule" on the front, and the amendment to the unsportsmanlike conduct on the back..how cool was that??

My wife and I made the trip down to D.C. for Game 2 yesterday, after a long 5 hour plus car ride, just in time for warm-ups. During the day we had heard, via twitter, that you would be in the line up for the game. Now, if this was a few years ago, I would've been excited about that. But I gotta tell ya Sean, I was pretty ho-hum about it, cause you have given me no reason this whole season to be excited about you being in the line up. I was honestly a little ticked off that John Tortorella would remove a young, energetic player like Mats Zuccarello in favor of someone whom, right now, is a shell of his former self.

And seriously Rangers fans, get over the whole love affair with Sean Avery already. I really didn't get that whole scene down by the glass during warm ups yesterday. Here you have a bunch of Caps fans holding up signs that said, "Avery Sucks", and this one "Avery fangirl" is like, "Why do all these stupid Caps fans have 'Avery Sucks' posters? Do they really think that bothers him? He feeds off stuff like that".

Not anymore he doesn't honey.

Then this other young kid says to me right after warms ups ended and the Rangers headed off the ice, "We're gonna win tonight dude...we got Avery back in the line up..I can feel it!!"

I wanted to say to him, "No, we're really not...not because of Sean Avery anyway!"

Perhaps as an older fan I have become more cynical, or maybe just over the years I have gained that sense of perspective about the game that a seasoned fan eventually gets. Either way, there are times when you just know whether or not your team is gonna win, and truth be told..I had a bad feeling about last night. There also comes a time when you know a player is not "panning out" anymore, or when they have lost it. And that is the sense I have gotten about you Mr. Avery.

The bottom line is that if you are in the line up tomorrow Sean, you need to start acting like Sean Avery again. Otherwise, you are of little use to this team. You need to get under Alex Ovechkin's skin. You need to crash the net, and get in goalie, Michal Neuvirth's face. He's a young kid, he CAN be rattled. And who knows, if you actually start doing what you were brought in here to do, and what you've made a career out of, your offensive abilities may soon follow, and it may wake the rest of this Rangers team up. They need something, that's for sure. They're down 2-0 in this best of seven series, and you're one of the veterans on this team, Sean. You need to start leading, and you need to step up your game. Otherwise, you might as well just take a seat in the stands because your lack of "Sean Avery-ness" is killing this team!

Sincerely,

TheGr8Tony