Tucker the Hypocrite

So, Sean Avery gets into a pre-game confrontation with Darcy Tucker and Jason Blake in Toronto on Saturday night. The confrontation between Avery and Tucker continued throughout the Rangers' shootout victory over the Leafs, including a first-period scrap.

After the game, Tucker goes all over TV and radio calling Avery classless (um, pot? Kettle?), and planting seeds in the heads of the Toronto media about what Avery might have said before the game.

Two days later, Howard Berger reports on Toronto's 590 The FAN that a Rangers' player told him that Avery made a remark about Jason Blake's recent cancer diagnosis, and a media firestorm is created.

Let's face it, Sean Avery is an easy target. Everyone who isn't a Ranger fan hates him, so it isn't exactly difficult to get the North American hockey media in a lather over this controversy. And, what do the media like more than getting up on their PC high horse to criticize someone whom no one likes? It's a no-lose proposition.

Now, no one would condone anyone making a derogatory remark about someone having cancer. Certainly not me. I lost my Grandmother to cancer when I was seven, and watched my brother beat Hodgkin's disease, just three months after he graduated college.

Having said that, is Darcy Tucker serious? Let's put aside for a second that there is not a shred of evidence that Avery actually made such a remark. Even if he did, is this where Darcy Tucker draws the line in the sand?

Tucker has made his entire NHL career on being a cheap shot artist. A man (and, I use that term so very loosely) with such little regard for his fellow players that he has no trouble putting their health and livelihood at risk each time he steps on the ice.

Is making a distasteful remark about cancer really worse than intentionally blowing out Michael Peca's knee in the 2002 playoffs?

Look, I'm not one of these people who thinks we should take fighting and hitting out of the game. Physical intimidation has been, and always should be, part of the game. But, have we become so PC that someone with a history of intentionally injuring opponents can get up in front of cameras and self-righteously pontificate about someone's allegedly insensitive remark, and no one bats an eye? Could no one in the media be bothered to point out to Mr. Tucker that he might have been the last person who should be commenting on any of this?

Since there is no proof that Avery said anything about Blake's cancer, and Blake himself has said he has no knowledge of any such remarks, I'm giving Avery the benefit of the doubt. And, even if I'm wrong, and Avery said something that I would personally find reprehensible, the last person I want to hear lecturing us about class is Darcy Tucker.

Fallout: Jason Blake almost ended up in Anaheim?

I don't have much information regarding this topic, but I recall reading that in New York, following the Rangers-Canadiens game, on the Rangers' post game show, that Jason Blake was on the verge of being traded to the Anaheim Ducks for a first-round pick.
However, the NHL reportedly rejected the deal because it was sent in too late.

The show mentioned that it was a first rounder headed the other way to New York.

Brian Burke secretly told the world yesterday:

Brian Burke, on Tradecentre '07, talked to James Duthie live. Duthie asked him a few questions.
"Are you pursuing any player in particular? "
Burke: "Yes."

"Do you plan to use the first-round pick you acquired from Tampa Bay to go after a player you desire?"
Brian Burke with a straight face answered quickly again: "Yes."

What more proof do you want? Burke is usually active on Trade Deadline Day and I was surprised to find out he didn't make a significant deal with or without that first-round pick he got.

Blake, the subject of many trade rumours, is eligible for unrestricted free-agency on July 1st and with the acquisition of Ryan Smyth from the Oilers, it's unlikely he'll be retained.
Ironically, yesterday, Jason Blake potted in 3 goals which ended a lengthy cold streak, must've been happy Ryan Smyth was dealt to the Isles since they'll play together on a line with Alexei Yashin....

As always, with the latest hockey news,
Bleu, Blanc et Rouge.