Sean Avery is accusing former NHL head coach Marc Crawford of kicking him during a game while the two were with the Los Angeles Kings more than a decade ago.
“Marc Crawford kicked me once,” the retired enforcer told the New York Post's Larry Brooks on Saturday.
“This was right after I (messed) up a drill and dumped the puck into the wrong corner, and it landed on Crow’s head and cut him for six (stitches),” Avery added. “He kicked me during a game.”
When asked whether Crawford kicked him during the next game because of the drill, Avery clarified the circumstances.
“No, he kicked me after a too-many-men-on-the-ice call I took,” the former forward said. “He didn’t have me serve it, we got scored on, and he let me have it. You know how I stand at the end of the bench? He came down and gave me an ass kick that left a mark.”
According to Brooks, the incident took place on Dec. 23, 2006, during a game between the Kings and Predators following a too-many-men call against Los Angeles that came 36 seconds before Nashville scored the sixth goal in a 7-0 win.
Avery found the incident more bemusing than upsetting, according to Brooks, and the former player said it wasn't the reason he was traded to the New York Rangers in February 2007.
“No, no,” Avery said. “That was because I squared off with and tried to fight Mark Hardy, who was one of our assistant coaches, on the ice. (Former teammate Mattias) Norstrom saved his life.”
Crawford is now an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Earlier this week, former Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Michal Jordan accused ex-Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters of kicking him and punching another player in the head during a game when Peters was Carolina's bench boss from 2014-18.
Peters resigned as Flames head coach Friday after former player Akim Aliu revealed that Peters repeatedly directed the N-word toward him when the two were with the AHL's Rockford IceHogs in 2009-10. Peters' use of the slur was corroborated by two of Aliu's former teammates, and Peters later acknowledged using "offensive language."
On Monday, recently fired Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said he apologized to Mitch Marner back in 2016-17 after shaming the then-rookie by asking him to rank teammates by work ethic before sharing it with the players at the bottom of the list.
