How Bizarre

A late practice start has put me a bit behind in my day (and not having internet at home certainly doesn't help), but before I catch up with everything relevant to the Bucks, I just have to share something.

It seems the NHL has decided to suspend Sean Avery, which isn't exactly shocking in and of itself, but the reason behind this suspension strikes me as a bit odd.

This is the AP story verbatim:

The NHL has suspended Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery indefinitely pending a hearing with commissioner Gary Bettman.

The league says the suspension was imposed Tuesday after Avery made "inappropriate public comments, not pertaining to the game.''

According to the Toronto Globe & Mail, Avery didn't wait for a question from reporters at Tuesday's morning skate in Calgary and asked if a camera was present.

"I'm really happy to be back in Calgary; I love Canada,'' he said. "I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my (former girlfriends)."

Avery's ex-girlfriend, actress Elisha Cuthbert, is dating Calgary's Dion Phaneuf.

Seriously? Of all the things that guy has done, is this really the one most deserving of suspension? I find this truly bizarre. By the way, the words that should replace "former girlfriends" are "sloppy seconds," clearly. Is there really nothing more important for Bettman to be doing with his time?

Luckily, one of the things he chose to mostly ignore is resolving itself.

Anyway, as I had mentioned yesterday, the Bucks were not able to practice until 3 p.m. (more like 3:20, actually) today because there was an event this morning at the LEC that required the ice to be covered.

Coach Ruskowski didn't keep the guys out there too long this afternoon but did skate them pretty hard, paying special attention to rookie defenseman Ryan James Hand, who should be off the IR by next week if not this weekend.

Defenseman Vincent Zaore-Vanie, who was placed on the 30-day IR last week, has been at practice the past two days and made the trip to Prescott Valley, Ariz., with the team over the weekend. He's walking around in shorts and a T-shirt with his "lower-body injury" iced and seems to be in good spirits.

This weekend will be a big one for the Bucks, as they play two games against division foes during their third three-in-three of the season, including their first game against their newest competition in the Southeast, the Texas Brahmas.

I've been talking to Ruskowski about that upcoming meeting, among other things, and I will post more about that later. For now, I'll pass along the CHL news of the day, which includes monthly honors and the performance of the week.

Oklahoma City Blazers netminder Doug Groenestege has earned Goaltender of the Month honors for November after stepping in for No. 1 goalie Andy Franck , who was injured on Nov. 22, and keeping up the spectacular work.

Groenestege has gone 5-1-0 in his starts, only one of which came before Franck's injury. His goals-against average of 1.90 and save percentage of .934 are each second in the league, behind only Franck, who was another candidate for the monthly honors.

Bucks goaltenders Sebastien Centomo and Ryan Gibb were both also in the running, as were Colorado Eagles netminder Andrew Penner, Corpus Christi IceRays duo Kris Tebbs and Dustin Traylen, Mississippi RiverKings backstop Kevin Beech, the Odessa Jackalopes' Juha Toivonen (current Goaltender of the Week), Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees rookie Christian Boucher and Texas Brahmas netminder Brett Jaeger.

So, basically, everyone who has been a goalie for the Bucks in the past 12 months was in the running except for John Ceci, and who knows what he is doing these days.

Tulsa Oilers forward Michel Beausoleil nabbed the Player of the Month honors after scoring 23 of his 25 points on the season during the month of November, including six multi-point games, like a 5-pointer against the Colorado Eagles that earned him Player of the Week recognition earlier in the month.

Beausoleil is tied for seventh in the league in scoring but was its top scorer in November, bringing him to a tie atop his team's points totals.

Other players who were in the running for the monthly honor were Amarillo Gorillas forward Sam Ftorek, Arizona Sundogs forward Adam Perry (who has only played six games in his CHL career), Eagles forward Greg Pankewicz and defenseman Aaron Schneekloth, Jackalopes forwards Sebastien Thinel and Dominic Leveille, Laredo’s own Jeff Bes (the league's points leader), New Mexico Scorpions forward Craig Macdonald, Oilers forward Jeff Christian (current Player of the Week), RiverKings forwards Bobby Chaumont and Louis Dumont and Wichita Thunder forward Jason Duda.

Last week's "Performance of the Week" nod went to Travis Clayton, who broke the CHL record for games played by suiting up with the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs on Friday, Nov. 21.

Speaking of Clayton, he'll be making his return to Wichita this weekend after spending six seasons with the Thunder then taking off for Lousiana during the offseason. Thunder beat writer Kollen Long had some interesting quotes from Brent Bilodeau about that situation.

Earlier today, Long finally brought up the Trevor Weisgerber situation, revealing that the hit was laid by Thunder defenseman Curtiss Patrick (who better watch his back on Dec. 27...or maybe not?) and that the league has deemed it a clean one. Interesting.

Back to performances of the week, though; this week's only nominee involving the Bucks does not do so in the way they would prefer, as the RiverKings' 3-goal third period to come back and win at the LEC last Tuesday is on the list.

Other nominees are the Brahmas' David Cacciola (who went to high school in Burlington, Mass.,
with a few of my friends from college) making 41 saves in 2-1 shootout win over the Mudbugs last Wednesday, Blazers forward Cam Doull scoring two goals in a 2-1 win over the Brahmas on Friday, Rocky Mountain Rage forward Aaron Davis notching a hat trick in a 5-4 win over the Gorillas (a.k.a. the game when the earth stood still) the same night, and Rapid City Rush netminder Miguel Beaudry making 41 saves to shut out the Eagles' league-leading offense in the Rush's home opener on Saturday.

I think we'll be able to tell if the Rush have established a fan base yet by the way this voting turns out. Even if they hadn't, I'm pretty sure Beaudry deserves to win. Right now, he leads the voting, but it's obviously just a couple hours in.

This post seems to have gotten a bit longer than I had meant for it to be, so I'm going to end it now. I'll be back later with at least results from tonight's CHL games, which could impact the Bucks' division and conference standings.

UPDATE: Associated Press writer Jaime Aron has updated the story about Sean Avery, which now says, "The NHL suspended Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery indefinitely Tuesday for making a crude reference to former girlfriends while talking with reporters." Later in the story, it literally says he was suspended for using the words "sloppy seconds." Does that mean I shouldn't be putting them on my blog? Here's another fun part: "Hours after Avery spoke, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced the punishment, saying Avery made 'inappropriate public comments, not pertaining to the game.''' Yeesh.

ANOTHER UPDATE: I guess "Puck Daddy" and I are on the same page, though his take on the situation is more humorous than my own.