Few players has received as much hate in the NHL as Sean Avery. The former forward were the ultimate agitator, and was a true champ at creating complete chaos on the ice.
Avery began his NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings, but later ended up in New York Rangers, where his career really took off. He didn’t score a lot of goals or assist, but he always made sure that the other team knew where he was.
He finished his 12-year career with a total of only 90 goals, 247 points and a whopping 1,533 penalty minutes in 580 games. Sean Avery could, by fighting or just by some serious chirping, make even the nicest guy loose it on the ice, and one time he even got in to Rick Tocchet’s head.
Tocchet revealed on the podcast ”The Chirp With Darren Milard” how he one time broke his rule by asking Sean Avery to fight him.
”I don’t chirp. I chirp my players, but I don’t chirp the other team. Actually one guy only, Sean Avery”, Tocchet says. ”I kinda broke my rule. Because he was going after Steve Stamkos, as a rookie. This was years ago while I was coaching Tampa and he was barking at our bench, and I said something to him and he goes: ’What are you gonna do?’. I say: ’Listen, put your suit on and I’ll meet you outside’. That’s all I can do, I can’t do anything else about it. That was the chirp. I couldn’t do anything about it so I just said: ’Put your suit on and let’s go’. That was it.”
However, Tocchet didn’t end up fighting Avery.
”I don’t know if I ever saw him again, I don’t really know him to well. You know, he would probably just laugh anyway. But that was the only time I really chirped a player”.
