Former National Hockey League forward Sean Avery swiftly gained notoriety for being one of the NHL's most notorious agitators, thanks to his constant trash-talking and on- and off-ice antics. During his career, which spanned stints with the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, and Dallas Stars, he consistently ranked among the most disliked players in the league.
Avery, who has been hosting a weekly podcast called "No Gruffs Given with Sean Avery" since December 2019, is once again targeting Reaves. It's worth noting that when Reaves initially signed with the Leafs during the summer, Avery was not particularly supportive of the move. And it wasn't long after that that Avery called out Reaves on his belief that the latter needs to drop the tough-guy act and that he'll be back in the minors as game No. 50 approaches.
Once again, Reaves finds himself in Avery's crosshairs, as the ex-NHL pest calls out Reaves plus/minus rating and failure to respond physically to Brad Marchand.
"Ryan Reaves is -8 in 11 games... Toronto Maple Leaf fans - do you understand how bad Ryan Reaves is as a hockey player? I know you guys were excited. You brought him in and he was going to change the DNA of the franchise. He was going to make everyone feel bigger than they are... he's a protector. It's great to have a protector around... The problem with Ryan Reaves is I'm not sure if he's a protector.
Brad Marchand can-opens Liljegren, one of your better defensemen... where was Ryan Reaves? I saw his interview the next day and he was talking about 'well, I didn't get matched up with Brad Marchand.' Well, of course you didn't get matched up with Brad Marchand. You're -8. You're one of the worst players in the league... you're never going to get on the ice with Brad Marchand.
You need to find a way to make Brad Marchand still be afraid of you. Isn't that the idea of your job? So you either gotta work harder in practice on your shot, your skating, your passing, or you gotta look over your shoulder to your coach and say 'hey, let's burn a win on this and send a message to the rest of the league that you don't do that to our star players.' You don't, the next day, talk about how you didn't get on the ice with a future Hall of Famer.
Do your job and you'll be beloved in Toronto. They will love you, but I need you to work a little bit harder, defensively, for sure... you chip and chase and finish your checks and when somebody needs to get beaten up, you beat them up. That's all we need from you this season. I don't need you doing dances in the hallways, or worrying about playlists before games. Just do your job."
Will Reaves take Avery's advice to heart?
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