The Sports Truth

Sean Avery of the New York Rangers denied making cancer-related insults to ill Maple Leafs forward Jason Blake before a pregame altercation between the clubs last weekend.

Avery exchanged words and shoves with Blake and his Toronto teammate Darcy Tucker during warmups before New York’s 3-2 shootout victory over Toronto.

The FAN 590, an all-sports radio station in Toronto, reported Monday that an unnamed Rangers player said Sean Avery started the pregame scuffle with his comments directed against Jason Blake, who has been diagnosed with a form of leukemia.

“I am extremely upset and hurt that these false and damaging comments were attributed to me regarding Jason Blake,” Sean Avery said Tuesday in a statement.

“I made no such comments. I have lost two grandfathers to cancer and have been a consistent contributor to cancer-related charities, first and foremost, Hockey Fights Cancer.”

Sean Avery celebrates after another great (verbal) shot.

Sean Avery met with NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell Tuesday to discuss the fight with Darcy Tucker. Both players and teams were fined by Campbell later in the day.

The pregame confrontation seemed to be sparked by Sean Avery, who was yelling at Tucker before shoving Blake, who is playing despite the illness. Darcy Tucker then slashed Avery before they got face-to-face in a heated exchange.

“The clearly unprofessional conduct of Sean Avery in initiating this altercation, less than a week after being involved in an incident in the pre-game warmup against New Jersey, is the basis for this discipline,” Colin Campbell said.

The longtime adversaries, known as much for their agitation of one another as their on-ice prowess, were sent off together in the first period for unsportsmanlike conduct and fought eight seconds after they left the penalty box.

“[Sean Avery] has absolutely no sense of class and you know, what goes around comes around in this game, eventually,” Darcy Tucker said Monday.

A number of Hollywood celebrities might agree with that assessment.

After a well-publicized split with Elisha Cuthbert, Sean Avery was recently said to be dating Mary-Kate Olsen - only to cheat on her with another of his exes, actress Lake Bell.

Posted in NHL, Sean Avery