Avery gets six-game ban for derogatory comments

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery was suspended for six games Friday and ordered by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to have an anger management evaluation for derogatory remarks he directed at former girlfriends.

"This is what we felt was the appropriate response to what Sean said," Bettman told reporters in a conference call. "With respect to the six games there is no formula that ever gets you to a particular number in disciplinary cases with precision."

The Stars Canadian forward sought out television cameras before Tuesday's game with the Calgary Flames and made inappropriate remarks about women he had dated.

His former girlfriends include Hollywood actress Elisha Cuthbert, who is Canadian, and New Zealand super model Rachel Hunter, who are both now dating other NHL players.

"What was guiding me in this case was a number of factors," added Bettman.

"One, we needed to be clear that this type of conduct we did not view as acceptable and not representative of what our players do.

"Two, I wanted to be clear to our fans this isn't something we tolerate, particularly fans with children who might have to explain to them what this statement was.

"Sean had been warned over the last year that he was getting close to the line too many times.

RIGHT NUMBER

"At the end of day I felt we had to punish him. We had to make clear this was not appropriate and from a disciplinary standpoint based on other cases of inappropriate comments this (six-game ban) was the right number."

"Playing in the National Hockey League is a privilege, requiring a high standard of personal behavior. Mr Avery forfeits that privilege for six games," added the commissioner.

Avery's derogatory comments immediately drew Bettman's wrath, the NHL commissioner imposing an indefinite suspension on the player then summoning him to a disciplinary hearing at the league's New York offices Thursday.

Avery, who has often made headlines for outrageous remarks, could be further punished by the Stars who have deleted his profile from the team website (stars.nhl.com/) and removed his name plate from his locker.

A contrite Avery apologized Wednesday for "offending the great fans of the NHL." But the forward, who signed a four-year deal worth $15 million with Dallas this year, has received little support from his team mates and coach Dave Tippett.

"It is a situation where he has painted our organization with a brush that nobody wants to be painted with," Tippett told reporters after hearing of Avery's remarks.

"There have been people from management to coaches to his teams who have put in a lot of time and effort to get him engaged in our group. Obviously, the point wasn't getting across which brings us to where we are right now.

"I don't know if we can build the best team possible with Sean coming back."

(Writing by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Justin Palmer and Ken Ferris)