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Oct 9, 2008 12:25 pm US/Central
Avery Brings New Style To Dallas Stars
DALLAS (AP) ―
Sean Avery brings more than a new fashion sense to the Dallas Stars.
The pesky forward who spent part of this summer as an intern at Vogue magazine wasn't acquired to offer advice on clothes. While that may be an added benefit, the Stars are more interested in Avery as a feisty agitator on the ice.
"Thinking about it brings a smile on my face," goalie Marty Turco said. "I relish an opportunity to play on teams that are hard to play against."
The signing of Avery to a $15.5 million, four-year deal was the most notable offseason change for the Stars, who finally made it back to the Western Conference finals last season.
"When he is on the other side, he always seems to have an impact on the game," coach Dave Tippett said. "So we have to make sure he's doing that for us now."
Dallas opens the season Friday night at home against Columbus, with the team's core basically the same as it was five months ago when the season ended with a Game 6 loss to the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.
Avery joins the Stars for the 10th anniversary season of their only Stanley Cup title in Dallas. The Stars returned to the finals in 2000, losing to New Jersey, but didn't make another long playoff run until last season.
Avery joins a roster with captain Brenden Morrow, emerging star center Mike Ribeiro, former playoffs MVP and 2007-08 midseason addition Brad Richards and veterans Jere Lehtinen and Mike Modano, the highest-scoring U.S.-born player in NHL history.
Modano is still the face of Stars hockey, the only player remaining from the team's move from Minnesota 16 years ago. Modano, signed through next season, made his NHL debut during the 1989 playoffs.
"I'm seven years over the point I wanted to play," Modano said. "The game has allowed you to hang around a little longer because of the rules and because of the way the game is played. ... The games are fun. I still enjoy the games."
Being on a team that made a long playoff run last season has re-energized the 38-year-old Modano, who hopes there is a carry-over effect.
"You hope as the season goes on, everybody kind of slowly realizes how special that time was and how much it really took dedication-wise and commitment-wise to get through those rounds that we did," Modano said. "We all know Detroit is just on a whole another level than the whole league, and we're all trying to get to that point."
Modano (21 goals, 36 assists last season) will be on a line with Avery.
Ribeiro, 10 years younger than Modano, had a career-high 83 points (27 goals, 56 assists) in 76 games in his second season with the Stars after coming in a trade from Montreal. The Stars kept the first-time All-Star away from free agency with a new contract through the 2012-13 season.
The second-line center is Richards, the 2004 Conn Smythe Trophy winner with Tampa Bay who was traded to the Stars in February. Richards then became the first player in NHL history to have five assists in his debut for a new team.
Richards finished with 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in 12 regular season games, then had 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) in 18 playoff games. This season, he gets to be there with the Stars from the start.
"It's definitely different," Richards said. "I feel a lot more comfortable and excited to be here and all that. As this year goes, every day goes by as we get into the grind of the season, it's really getting better and better, and more comfortable."
Avery has played for three teams in six seasons, the last 1 1/2 with the New York Rangers, who were 50-20-16 with him in the lineup and 9-13-3 without him. He is a two-time NHL leader in penalty minutes and created a rule change in the first round of the playoffs last season when he set up in front of New Jersey goalie Martin Broudeur, waving his hand and stick in the goalie's face. The league outlawed that the next day.
Stars co-general manager Brett Hull, who was a teammate of Avery's in Detroit, likes the grit and toughness the forward brings to the ice.
"Just really what I brought to the table all my other stops along the way," Avery said. "It's just a hard-nosed game, tough to play against. I've got to chip in offensively and draw penalties and just make it difficult for the other team on a nightly basis really."
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
