Ryan Callahan in statement: Sean Avery doesn't speak for Rangers

Ryan Callahan wants you to know that Sean Avery doesn't speak for the Rangers after his critical comments of coach John Tortorella.

By Brian Stubits

Mar 31, 2013 at 8:24 am ET • 1 min read

Avery and Callahan in much more agreeable times on Broadway. (Getty Images) — Sean Avery and Ryan Callahan in much more agreeable times on Broadway. (Getty Images)

Sean Avery is no longer in the NHL but is still watching and opining on it, especially his most recent team -- the New York Rangers.

The supreme pest of a player tweeted on Saturday that the team has stopped playing for coach John Tortorella and that they don't like him. Avery went so far as to call for Torts to be fired and calling him a clown as the Rangers are mired in one ugly season that has them in a tie for eighth place in the East.

Partly because it was Avery and partly because it's the Rangers, Avery's comments made some noise in hockey and the Rangers themselves heard them. So captain Ryan Callahan felt compelled to release the following statement on behalf of all Rangers players:

"Sean Avery's comments solely represent his own thoughts and opinions. He did not speak for us as a team when he was here and certainly does not now."

What a mess, I tell you what. Former players often criticize what's going on with the franchise that they used to play for, but it's very rare that active players actually acknowledge those comments, at least in public.

At the same time, this saves the Rangers players the frustration and aggravation of answering the questions about Avery's comments over and over. The longer the questions get asked, the bigger distraction it becomes. From that angle, I can certainly understand why Callahan would issue the short statement on the matter, to get ahead of the game.

It was kind of a no-win situation for the Rangers when Avery was critical. Even in his retirement, he's still a lightning rod for controversy. So people hear/see what he says, and this was going to come back to the Rangers in some way.

I admit that no other response than to stand behind your coach should be expected, but it's still interesting how Callahan said Avery never represented the team. Of course, he would probably say no one person speaks for the team -- unless it's him making a statement such as this as the captain.

Ladies and gentlemen, the 2013 New York Rangers season!