Retirement hasn’t softened Sean Avery.
The former Ranger and eternal agitator took yet another swipe at Devils great Martin Brodeur — or Fatso, as Avery once called him — after Brodeur deemed Avery’s elimination from “Dancing With the Stars” embarrassing.
“Woke up beside a #Supermodel to hear news that #Fatso made a comment…..@DancingABC equals Thousands of $ for charity,” Avery, who retired after the 2011-12 season, tweeted Thursday afternoon, though he quickly deleted it.
Then he got personal:
Avery was referencing Brodeur’s reported affair with his sister-in-law that resulted in his divorce from his wife.
The 12-year pro was responding aggressively to comments Brodeur made to NJ.com about Avery’s dismissal from the ABC show, in which the all-time winningest goaltender, before admonishing he doesn’t watch “those shows,” still took a swipe.
“What more could he do to embarrass himself?” Brodeur said, then added, with a laugh, “There it is!”
The dig comes six years late, as the feud dates back to the 2008 playoffs, when the Rangers and Devils faced off in the first round and the Rangers triumphed in five games that resulted in a league-wide rule change.
Throughout the series, Avery skated to the goal crease and got face-to-face with Brodeur while wildly waving his arms and stick in the air. Avery ignored play and concentrated fully on distracting Brodeur.
“I’ve played for 15 years in this league. I’ve been watching games for 33 years. I had never seen that in my life,” Brodeur said after one game. “I don’t think that kind of behavior should be done in front of the net, but there is no rule for it.”
Soon enough there was a rule for it — the Avery rule, actually — but not before the Devils were eliminated, and Brodeur refused to shake Avery’s hand.
Avery responded with the now-immortal words: “Fatso forgot to shake my hand.”