Mensa Student?

I'll be honest here. Sean Avery has done a good job in pushing the Washington Capitals to the brink of their sanity in the first two games. He has been in the faces of Mike Green and Jose Theodore. He has hit Alexander Semin and Alexander Ovechkin. He has trash-talked and yapped at the entire Capitals bench.

Head coach John Tortorella has Avery playing inspired hockey, and his renaissance on Broadway has been a feel-good story after all the crap that he pulled earlier this season. He is playing the game within the rules, his chatter with reporters is clean but fun, and his teammates seem to enjoy having him around.

Which leads me to Game Three tonight. Sean Avery was in Simeon Varlamov's face all night. He was trash-talking the young goaltender every chance he got, and parked himself at the top of the crease all night. Every chance he had, Avery was yapping in Varlamov's grill.

Which is strange since Varlamov doesn't understand a word of English. Did Avery learn Russian in two days? Otherwise, why is he yapping at a player who doesn't comprehend anything he is saying, and what is he trying to accomplish? Intimidation is one thing, but trash-talking a guy who will give you nothing but a blank stare is pointless.

Then again, it is Sean Avery. Need anything else be said?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!