The Punishment Should Match the Crime

Last Tuesday, I received word that the time had come for me to write an article on the NHL. On that very same day, Sean Avery was punished for comments that he had made earlier in the day. As a result, Avery became extraordinarily big news, as everyone wanted to voice their opinion on the story. For that reason, I didn't want to follow the herd and write about the story that has dominated the NHL all week long. Nevertheless, no matter how hard I tried to look for a compelling story elsewhere, I kept being drawn towards Avery.

I am sure that the majority of you reading this will know what Avery said in order to get his suspension, but for those that don't, here goes:

"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 sloppy seconds."

Like me, a lot of people believe that this comment is hardly worthy of a suspension. It is clear that Avery was just trying to be funny, but the saddest thing of all is that his comments were not the slightest bit amusing.

The fact that his comment landed him time off the ice is not really what has baffled me the most about the events surrounding Avery this week. What I can't understand is why the very same comments that earned Avery a suspension have been published and across various forms of media, including the NHL's own website. The league clearly suspended Avery because they deemed the comment to be inappropriate, yet the NHL sees fit to repeat these controversial words.

Let's face it, the NHL hardly has the greatest of reputations when it comes to behavior and etiquette. After all, ice hockey is a sport where fighting is more or less a daily occurrence. In fact, players resort to brawling on such a regular basis that the great comedian, Steven Wright, once said, "Last night, I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out." Now, that may only be a joke, but its sentiment rings true with an awful lot people around the world. If the NHL wants to be taken seriously when it comes to disciplining players, then they have to clean up the basic image of the sport.

Some of you may well be saying that the participants in a fight are punished, and you are right. However, when compared with other sports, the punishment doesn't fit the crime. If you are caught fighting in basketball or soccer, for instance, your time away from competition will span weeks, not minutes. As the leading ice hockey league in the world, the NHL should lead by example and try and rid the sport of needless fighting, because when it comes right down to it, fighting is inappropriate behavior.

Getting back to Avery, he has become a victim of the NHL's chronic inability to punish people accordingly. You can't help but get the feeling that the NHL has been waiting to throw the book at Avery for a very long time now. Sadly, it's not hard to see why. Wherever the talented forward has been, he's been plagued by controversy his entire career. If he just settled down and played hockey, he has the potential to be great.

His most famous incident was in the in last season's playoffs when he stood in front of New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur with no intention of playing the puck. Avery then persisted to wave his arms in the face of Brodeur to obstruct his view. At the time, this act was by no means against the rules. Many, however, thought that Avery's actions showed a blatant disregard for sporting etiquette. Come the end of the series, Brodeur refused to shake hands with the then New York Rangers player. The day after Avery employed such incredible tactics, the NHL decided to change the ruling on such behavior, in what is now affectionately known as "The Avery Rule."

It's often said that it doesn't matter how much talent you have, if you don't have the right mind-set for competition you will never reach your full potential. With that in mind, I think I am safe saying that Avery epitomizes everything about that statement. His career seems to be in turmoil as the Dallas Stars they don't want him back on the ice after his suspension and it seems unlikely that any other owner would be willing to pay for a player who is so disruptive. So, this past week has shown to shortcomings in the NHL. Firstly, the temperament of one of its finest young stars who continues to play by his own rules, and secondly, the ridiculous discipline system that the NHL insists on maintaining.