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Sean Avery is back. Kind of. The loud-mouthed former Rangers forward has signed a standard player contract with the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, according to a press release from the team. In coordination with signing the contract, Avery was placed on the team’s reserve list.
Avery last played in an NHL game on Dec. 10, 2011 when he suited up for the Rangers. He appeared in 580 career games across 10 NHL seasons with the Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Kings and Rangers. During his NHL career, Avery scored 90 goals and registered 157 assists while accumulating 1,533 penalty minutes.
During the 2011-12 season, the Rangers demoted Avery to the Connecticut Whale, which is New York’s American Hockey League affiliate. Upon being sent down to Connecticut, Avery was a healthy scratch for the majority of the team’s games during that season.
In March 2012, Avery announced his retirement from the sport and began his transition into being an actor. The former Rangers forward appeared on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live” and the 2020 film “Tenet.”
Avery began his professional career with the Red Wings, who signed him as a free agent in 1999. Midway through the 2002-03 season, the aggressive forward was traded to the Kings. Avery spent the next two seasons as a member of the Rangers after he was traded to New York in February 2007. The veteran forward spent two separate stints with the Rangers and played the final four seasons of his career in New York.
Avery had a reputation as one of the NHL’s biggest agitators and found himself in the penalty box quite frequently.
It’s unclear when Avery will make his debut with the Solar Bears, but the team did post a photo of Avery on the bench in uniform on Wednesday. Orlando currently sits in fourth place in the ECHL’s South Division with a 25-19-3 record (53 points).