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Avery, Stars launch promising season against Blue Jackets

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:21 AM Columbus (0-0-0) at Dallas (0-0-0), 8:30 pm EDT

DALLAS (Ticker) -- While Sean Avery has developed a reputation as a pest, the Dallas Stars hope to make him a winner, too.

Avery, who signed as a free agent in the offseason, makes his much-anticipated debut with the Stars as they host the Columbus Blue Jackets in their regular-season opener on Friday.

The 28-year-old recorded 15 goals and 18 assists in 57 games with the New York Rangers last season, but his penalty minutes (154) and knack for disturbing opponents' offensive schemes are what earned him his lucrative four-year contract.

The Rangers were 50-20-16 with Avery in the lineup in 2007-08 and just 9-13-6 when he was absent.

His antics even forced the NHL to create the "Sean Avery" rule, which issued an interpretation of the league's unsportsmanlike conduct rule to cover actions such as the one he exhibited last postseason. While screening Martin Brodeur in a game during the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, Avery stood face to face with the New Jersey Devils goaltender and constantly waved his stick in the Vezina Trophy winner's face to obstruct his view.

Avery joins a strong core of offensive players in Dallas that includes Brenden Morrow, veteran Mike Modano, Mike Ribeiro and Brad Richards.

Goaltender Marty Turco, who was able to carry over a strong regular season into the playoffs, went 32-21-6 with a 2.31 goals-against average in 66 games. His efforts helped Dallas overcome two Stanley Cup contenders and division rivals - the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks - in the postseason before the club was eliminated by the eventual champion Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference finals.

Columbus, which is 5-2-2 in its last nine meetings with Dallas after the Stars posted 10 straight victories from November 17, 2002-April 11, 2006, opens the season with consecutive road games for the first time in franchise history. Its season-opening, three-game trek also includes visits to Phoenix and San Jose.

Third-year coach Ken Hitchcock returns to Dallas, where he coached from 1995-2002 and won a Stanley Cup title in 1999.

The Blue Jackets came away as one of the top winners in the offseason, adding center R.J. Umberger and left wing Kristian Huselius to complement captain Rick Nash, who scored 38 goals.

Umberger recorded 10 goals and 15 points in 17 postseason contests for Philadelphia after registering just 13 and 50 in 74 regular-season games. He surely will improve a team that ranked 29th in the league with an average of just 2.32 goals per game in 2007-08.

Huselius also can help in that area after netting 34 and 25 goals the last two seasons with the Calgary Flames.

In goal, Pascal Leclaire posted a 24-17-6 record with a 2.25 goals-against average and .919 save percentage last season. The 25-year-old also broke the franchise single-season mark for shutouts with nine, which ranked second in the NHL.

Columbus is 2-3-2 in its regular-season openers, while Dallas is 16-14-10.