Former NHL bad boy Sean Avery signed with the Orlando Solar Bears of the East Coast Hockey League, returning to the game after 10 years away.
Avery, 41, last appeared in an NHL game on Dec. 10, 2011, while a member of the New York Rangers.
The Solar Bears, an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning, announced Wednesday that Avery signed a standard player contract and had been placed on the team’s reserve list.
We have signed Sean Avery to an ECHL Standard Player Contract in our latest @pizzahut Transaction Report: https://t.co/SPjjyczoyP
— Orlando Solar Bears (@OrlandoHockey) February 23, 2022
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A forward, Avery made in NHL debut in the 2001-02 season with the Detroit Red Wings, and later played with the Los Angeles Kings and Dallas Stars before closing out his career with the Rangers. In 580 career games, he scored 247 points (90 goals, 157 assists) and compiled 1,533 penalty minutes — twice leading the NHL in that category.
Since leaving the NHL, Avery has worked in the fashion and entertainment industries, done some acting, competed on “Dancing with the Stars” and wrote his memoir, “Ice Capades: A Memoir of Fast Living and Tough Hockey.”
He has taken up the game against recently, reportedly playing in weekly hockey games at the Kings’ practice rink in Los Angeles.
In the NHL, Avery had a reputation as an agitator both off and on the ice. After making a derogatory comment about an opponent’s girlfriend — whom Avery once dated — he was suspended for six games. The NHL also instituted what came to be known as “The Avery Rule,” ruling attempts to distract the other team’s goaltender as unsportsmanlike based on his actions in a Stanley Cup playoffs game in 2008.
–Field Level Media