Avery suspended indefinitely by NHL for comments
NEW YORK -- NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has summoned Sean Avery to New York for a hearing Thursday on remarks that resulted in the indefinite suspension of the Dallas Stars' instigator.
Bettman disciplined Avery on Tuesday for making "inappropriate public comments, not pertaining to the game." The punishment came down only hours after Avery used a crude term about his former girlfriends now dating other hockey players.
Avery missed the Stars' game against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night and will miss their game Wednesday night in Edmonton. The league did not have a timetable for when a decision would be made after the meeting.
"More than anything, he's let his teammates down," said Dallas co-general manager Brett Hull, who played with Avery in Detroit several years ago, was a driving force in signing him and will represent the Stars at the hearing.
Despite all the cajoling, snide remarks and other stunts Avery has pulled on the way to becoming the biggest pest in hockey, this is the first time he's been suspended by the NHL.
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Avery's inflammatory line came following a morning skate in Calgary, Alberta.
Reporters were waiting to speak with Avery about disparaging remarks he'd made last month about Flames star Jarome Iginla when Avery walked over to the group and asked if there was a camera present. When told there was, he said, "I'm just going to say one thing."
"I'm really happy to be back in Calgary; I love Canada," he said. "I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my (former girlfriends). I don't know what that's about, but enjoy the game tonight." He then walked out of the locker room.
Avery's ex-girlfriend, actress Elisha Cuthbert of the television show "24" and the movie "Old School," is dating Calgary defenseman Dion Phaneuf; she also had been romantically linked to Mike Komisarek of the Montreal Canadiens.
"I completely support the league's decision to suspend Sean Avery," Stars owner Tom Hicks said in a statement. "Had the league not have suspended him, the Dallas Stars would have. This organization will not tolerate such behavior, especially from a member of our hockey team. We hold our team to a higher standard and will continue to do so."