NHL Public Enemy #1

Why it's Sean Avery, of course.



Avery is simply the latest in a loooong line of pest/punk type players, like Claude Lemiux for instance, that have played in the NHL and who relish having big old targets placed on their backs.

Kings forward Sean Avery skated behind the net and appeared to be tripped by a New York Islander on Tuesday. Play continued. In the same game, the Islanders' Brendan Witt leveled Avery after the whistle. Referees missed it.

This is life with a bull's-eye, the Kings say.

"It's a difficult job for anyone to go out there with a big target on their back," forward Scott Thornton said.

Avery earned such hands-on, and elbows-on, attention last season with conduct and comments that oozed controversy.

But as of yet, he does not lead the NHL in penalty minutes, and the Kings have avoided the need to write a blanket apology.

Sure, it has been only three games, but it took him only four last season to earn the most-hated-man-in-the-NHL title.

So, how's life off ice for the guy with "the most-hated-man-in-the-NHL" title?



Well, life looks pretty damn good. Seeesh, but really, a Bentley? At least he likes Neil Young.