The “Sean Avery Rule”

I had heard about this around the time Sean Avery got suspended after his sloppy seconds comments, but I hadn’t actually seen it until I took the time to look. If you don’t know what it is, here’s what happened. During an April 13, 2008 first round playoff game against the New Jersey Devils, Avery, with the Rangers, turned his back on the play in order to to face and screen goaltender Martin Brodeur during a two-man advantage on the power play. He waved his hands and stick in front of Brodeur in an attempt to distract him and block his view. While it was not an explicit rules violation at the time of the game, the following day, the NHL issued an interpretation of the league’s unsportsmanlike conduct rule to cover actions such as the one employed by Avery.

The expanded version: