Sean Avery is throwing his “peacock” hat in the ring to replace Mike Milbury.
The former Ranger said he was ahead of the curve in calling for Milbury to be fired from NBC Sports two weeks ago after the color commentator suggested playoff hockey should go to a three-on-three overtime and a shootout to combat overtime marathons. Now, with Milbury under fire again for suggesting that women were a distraction to hockey players, Avery is chiming in once more.
“Look, I’m not gonna say I told you so. I’m not that type of guy, but I told you so,” Avery said in a series of Instagram story posts Friday, while holding his young son Nash. “[Executive producer and president, production of NBC & NBCSN] Sam Flood, NHL on NBC, just pick up the phone and call me. I’m a ratings machine, OK? This is what the people want. Don’t feel bad about calling me, it’s fine. I’ll come in, I’ll save the day.
“Mike Milbury? Ha ha. Ha. I told you two weeks ago. I’ve had Mike Milbury trending for two weeks. And now trending for the wrong reasons. That’s your employee. You’re the peacock network. That’s a major network. I’ll put on a peacock hat. I’ll do it for free. I will blow the ratings through the f–king roof. I’ll bring him with me. My swear jar, (Avery’s baby son) Nash, the whole deal. Let’s get it done. What do you want? You don’t even have to put me on a five-second delay, OK?”
Avery then posted a series of clips from the Flyers-Canadiens playoff game with his own analysis, seemingly providing a practice reel to go with his rant of a cover letter. He may need that five-second delay, though, as he dropped a pair of F-bombs during his commentary.
Of course, Avery has his own controversial past on and off the ice. In 2019 he was arrested on a count of misdemeanor criminal mischief for allegedly bashing the driver’s side of a car with his scooter. In 2015, he was arrested in Southampton for allegedly throwing objects at speeding cars while carrying prescription painkillers. During his playing career, he was once suspended six games for telling reporters how it had “become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds,” referring to Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf dating Avery’s ex-girlfriend, Elisha Cuthbert.
NBC Sports, meanwhile, has not said whether it plans to discipline Milbury for his comment, though he was not on the call Friday night for the Canadiens-Flyers game. The NHL condemned his remark — “Not even any women here to disrupt your concentration,” Milbury said of the NHL’s bubble — as “insensitive and insulting.”