Brooklyn Rangers Fan
Change is good.
Avery was gross but didn't play dirty. What did he do that was dirty?
Tik, like Mess and other players of his era, did stuff that would probably get you labeled as dirty nowadays.
Well, yes, he was gross and maybe that's coloring my perception to some extent.
But in terms of being dirty, Mess - and in particular, Tikk - would do the little things that didn't exactly cross the line. Yapping, butt end jabs, subtle elbows, love taps with the stick, etc. Irritating, sometimes painful, but not downright dangerous. (Though I do have to admit I can remember one or two times when Mess went farther than that and I wasn't cool with it.)
Avery was a cheap shot artist. I remember multiple dangerous hits, and very specific incidents of at least two two-handed slashes to the backs of the ankles of players not looking at him as well as another where he sucker punched a player. If he had kept it to yapping at Lemieux, waving his stick in front of Mary, and bopping Tim Thomas in the back of the head, I wouldn't have minded him as much. (Although I still wouldn't have liked him for being a ******, I admit.)