Former Rangers enforcer Sean Avery’s first step towards an improbable NHL comeback was very short lived.
The 41-year-old, who last played an NHL game in December of 2011, was released by the Orlando Solar Bears just two days after signing him. The Lightning ECHL affiliate announced the move on Friday afternoon. Avery had said he had hoped to make it back to the NHL, where he hasn’t played for over a decade.
Avery, the league-leader in penalty minutes for two seasons, was surrounded by plenty of controversy during his NHL career. “The Avery Rule” came to be after he faced Devils goalie Martin Brodeur and held up his hands and stick to distract him during the 2008 playoffs, which the league responded by making such an act unsportsmanlike conduct. After the end of that season, his first tenure in New York ended as he joined the Stars, but was suspended indefinitely by the league after comments made about a former teammate’s girlfriend, who he had previously dated.
The suspension came in December, and by March of 2009, Avery was back with the Rangers, where he played four more seasons.
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