You know Larry Brooks is smiling this morning. After Brooks lambasted New York Rangers coach John Tortorella for scratching Sean Avery last week, the NHL’s most annoying player responded last night with two goals in a big win against Philadelphia.
“I see Sean as a player who is at his best when the games are more emotional, which they are down the stretch and in the playoffs,” Henrik Lundqvist told The Post. “These are the games where he belongs.”
“Sean plays a lot better when he’s a little angry,” said Lundqvist, who was extremely sharp behind an outstanding collective defensive effort. “He was making good decisions, he was moving his feet, he had great speed and was good with the puck.
“It was great to see.”
Whether you like it or not, Avery is someone who is fueled by emotion and much more so than any other player in the NHL. When he loses that edge, he’s just not very good. Tortorella did what he needed to do to give Avery a reason to play hard again, even if it was a metaphoric big middle finger to his coach.