| 17 April 2009
It wasn't long before the Capitals started playing into Sean Avery's mind games Wednesday. The league's most notorious agitator got got in Mike Green's face, and spent the rest of the game reminding him "It's a long series, and I'm not going anywhere."
This makes the next games tough because, as we expected, Green is an easy target for Avery. Green is the type of player who can be thrown off by Avery's antics, making him completely useless to his team. If past games where Green is either a) missing from the lineup or b) not a productive member of the offense are any indicator, the Caps aren't as dangerous a team as they could be.
Green is ebony to Avery's ivory. He might even be Avery's new Brodeur. But this isn't anything new. in fact, Green has a history of being targeted by agitators.
In January, during a game with the Ottawa Senators, Green was baited by Ottawa pest Jarkko Ruutu, the man who"> famously bit another player this year. Ruutu, like Avery, singled out Green and spent the game "chirping," annoying the Capitals defender until he drew a roughing penalty. The Senators scored on the following power play, then won the game 3-2. Green was a +1 on the night and didn't have any points.
Ruutu is a serf in the kingdom of agitators. Avery is the fashionable king. Just think about that when thinking about Green's relation to Ruutu.
Now that Avery has found his prey, it's not likely he'll spend more than a few words agitating others. Annoying a key member of the pack is just as effective as annoying them all.
Alex Ovechkin isn't the type to be pushed around by Avery, and Jose Theodore is protected because if Avery so much as goofs around in front of the goalie's crease, he'll get a penalty. Green just has to ignore Avery. When the Capitals start playing to match Avery, they stop playing to beat the Rangers.
Like him or not, Avery can effect a team's game play in the same way Ovechkin can, and that's astounding.
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