New York Rangers: Long before Brad Marchand there was Sean Avery

Brad Marchand’s habit of licking his opponents is bizarre, but how does it compare to the shenanigans of former New York Rangers forward Sean Avery?

Long before Brad Marchand and his penchant for licking playoff opponents, the Rangers had their own troublemaker.  But when it came to Sean Avery, the NHL moved swiftly and decisively and changed the rules during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

When Marchand licked Leo Komarov of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs, there were reports that the NHL was going to “tell him to stop.” The league ultimately denied that they did that and that led to the episode in game four of the second round versus Tampa.

The lick

Midway through the second period there was a scrum following a low hit from Marchand on Ryan Callahan. The players exchanged shoves and Callahan took some swings at Marchand who then leaned into the ex-Ranger and licked his face from chin to nose. No penalties were called.  Reaction from the Tampa players and coach ranged from disgust to anger.

The uproar that followed was deafening. Instead of focusing on the Lightning-Bruins series, the Twitter universe was awash with comments on the incident. Just Google “Marchand lick” and you get almost 1.5 million results.

Finally, before game five the NHL issued the following statement:  “NHL’s Colin Campbell spoke with Boston’s Brad Marchand and GM Don Sweeney today. The League put the player on notice that his actions last night are unacceptable and similar behavior in the future will be dealt with by way of supplemental discipline.”

Supplemental discipline?  All Rangers fans remember the 2008 playoffs when former Rangers forward Sean Avery’s actions resulted in an immediate rule change.

The Avery Rule

It was game three of the first round series between the Devils and the Rangers. With a two man advantage, Sean Avery positioned himself directly in front of Devils goalie Martin Brodeur. Facing Brodeur, Avery waved his stick and arms and tried to block the view of the Devils netminder. This went on for about 20 seconds. Avery then lowered his stick and waved only his arms after Chris Drury warned him that he could draw a high sticking penalty if he struck the goalie.

Avery then turn his back on Brodeur and scored on a pass from Scott Gomez, giving the Rangers a 2-1 lead. The Devils ultimately won the game in overtime 4-3, losing the series in five games.

Reaction from the league was immediate. Here’s the statement from the same Colin Campbell: “An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender’s face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play.”

What’s the difference?

So, how does Sean Avery getting creative in trying to screen the goalie warrant a rules change, but Brad Marchand actually licking an opponent draw nothing more than a fine?

For one, Marchand’s actions took place after the whistle had blown and theoretically had no effect on play. If you saw Ryan Callahan’s stunned reaction to the lick, some would argue differently.

Avery’s actions happened during game play and could have directly led to a goal. But how different is it when a player who is 5’10” and less than 200 pounds waves his arms in front of a goalie as opposed to when a player (like Brian Boyle) who stands 6’6″ and weights 245 pounds, prevents a goalie from seeing where the puck is coming from?

Avery’s reaction

Perhaps Sean Avery had the best explanation for the difference in reaction to Marchand’s actions. He tweeted this just after the incident:

Avery told The Sporting News:

“This thing, it’s actually the complete opposite. It’s actually a selfish move. When I’m standing in front of Brodeur with my back to Shanahan and Jagr who are taking one timers, there’s nothing selfish about that other than I could have had my spine split in half by a slap shot. This licking thing, it’s actually probably one of the most selfish things I’ve ever seen anyone do.”

“There’s nothing beneficial for the team and you know you’re going to be on the front cover of every sports page in the country, you know that’s what’s going to happen.”

Next: Top five playoff moments of the Lundqvist era

Ryan Callahan and the Lighting had the last laugh as they advance to the Conference Finals. The question is whether this was Brad Marchand’s last lick. Knowing him, probably not.