The ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears have announced the signing of free agent forward Sean Avery to a standard player contract, to which the 10-year National Hockey League veteran will attempt a comeback, 10 years after his final professional game.
Having suited up in 580 total games with the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Stars and New York Rangers, Avery has twice led the NHL in penalty minutes, while putting up 90 goals and 247 career points.
But it wasn’t his offensive skillset that made him a valuable piece to his respective rosters, but rather his attitude, pest-like actions, and off-ice tantrums to which his teammates came to love. He most recently suited up during the 2011-12 season, scoring three goals in 15 games with New York, while putting up another two tallies in seven contests with the club’s AHL affiliate.
Since his retirement, Avery has taken to the streets of New York, serving as the city’s most prolific bike-lane police, often partaking in profanity-laced tirades, to which he berates multiple locals per minute in their common lapses of roadside discipline, biker courtesy and overall humanly judgement, while broadcasting his view for his followers to see on Instagram Live.
He has also dabbled in acting, modelling and heavily critiquing postseason NHL games – once again via his Instagram channel. The 41-year-old Toronto product will begin his ECHL tenure on the Solar Bears’ reserve list.
Orlando, which currently sits fourth in the league’s South Division with a 25-19-3 record, has 24 games remaining on its 2021-22 regular season schedule, which comes to an end on April 16. Will Avery see the ice by then? Likely. But how often will he skate for the Solar Bears? That part of the story remains up in the air.
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