Ever since the Sean Avery “sloppy seconds” incident, we’ve had an incessint number of opinions being thrown around about cleaning up the sport of hockey and removing the bad apples.  I, for one, have no respect for Sean Avery the hockey player, but is what he said really that contriversial?

For those of you who claim that what he said, and things of that nature are detrimental to the NHL, I think we need to examine the sports that have had great success in recent times: the NFL and the MLB.

Before I examine anything, lets be clear that there are many cultural differences between the people playing these three sports; not one is the same as the others.  That being said, the NHL is attempting to reach new fans, and the reason they haven’t been as successful is because they don’t appeal to the mass media.

Lets look at the NFL.  One can look at the most popular jersey sales from the last 5 or 10 years and you’d notice a trend; it’s the exciting performers who constantly put themselves infront of reporters and in the news.  Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson, Ray Lewis.  These guys have epitomised the success of the NFL.  They play hard, they perform at a high level, and they enjoy being in the spot light.  If the NFL put a muzzle on their players, what would the league look like right now? I dare say it’d be a tad bit boring without all the personalities.

The same thing goes with Major League Baseball. The number of contriversial happenings in baseball have escalated since the steroid headlines became common place.  We’ve had players throwing team employees to the ground, fights in team dugouts, people calling out players on television… and what do we have to show for it? Record attendances, solid footing in troubled economic times.

Now, before you berate me for condoning such actions, I’d like to point out I’m merely making connections.  The leagues allow their players to be themselves, and let the fans decide who their favorite are.  It’s the stark contrast between a guy like Arod, who is a poor example of a public figure, and Chase Utley, a soft spoken guy who competes hard and makes himself accessible to fans, that allows the league to reach as many fans as it has.

The NHL needs to take a good long look at it’s sport.  There’s those of us who watch because we love it.  We’ve played it, lived it, ate and breathed it.  And we’ll never go anywhere; if the NHL bit the dust, I’d find some other source of the game.  But therein lies the problem.  It’s not the league that we’re watching, it’s the game.  If Gary Bettman wants to attract new fans, then the league needs something or someone to gather some attention.

So if it takes a Sean Avery saying something as harmless as “sloppy seconds”, then so be it.  The uproar and subsiquent media attention from those events are an example of the statement “no buzz is bad buzz.” It got hockey on ESPN, CBS news, and the front pages of the news paper.  People who couldn’t care less about hockey were suddenly checking the NHL section on Yahoo! to see if someone else had something to say about it.

We’re in the generation of 20 somethings, and they’re who are going to support the league for years to come.  We need the Ovechkins and Crosby’s to speak their mind, set up these rivalries and draw interest to their clubs.  We need the Sean Avery’s to lose their cool and say something stupid.  We need the Pavel Datsyuks to show us that our league has class and give us someone to root for. It’s no longer a North American sport; we’ve got global presence, and it’s time we allow that diversity to make it’s way to the surface.

And as an aside, if the worst we can come up with is Sean Avery, I think we’re in pretty good shape in the eyes of the public.  How much worse are the Barry Bonds and Terrel Owens of the world? I think I’ve made my point