Gary Bettman was the last to know, but when the NHL commissioner learned from a third party that his league had authorized production of a licensed “Avery Rule” tee shirt – as The Post reported yesterday – to commemorate Ranger forward Sean Avery’s playoff face-guarding of Devil goaltender Martin Brodeur, Bettman put the kibosh on the whole thing, The Post has been told.
A creative division with NHL Marketing conceived the “Avery Rule” tee shirt in conjunction with Reebok. The idea sought to capitalize on the first-round, Game 3 incident at the Garden that was followed immediately by the NHL amending its rules to outlaw such activity.
The league then solicited approval from the NHL Players Association, which in turn sought and received permission from Avery to authorize the product.
It was only then, after all parties had signed off on the project – believed late Tuesday – that Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly learned of the plan.
The commissioner and his chief lieutenant did not see the humor in it, though they may have been able to recognize the hypocrisy of capitalizing on the persona of Avery, a player the NHL can barely tolerate.
Hence, the executive office vetoed the “Avery Rule” tee shirt. There is no word on the future of the NHL personnel who authorized the project.