Reports out of Canada this week have Sean Avery back on the ice by next week, around the same time he wraps up his stint in the NHL and NHLPA's Behavioral Modification program. But Dallas Stars manager of hockey administration Mark Janko tells Unfair Park this morning that Sean Avery can't really do much of anything till co-general manager Brett Hull gets the okee-doke from doctors. Only after Hull gets the good word can Avery get back on the ice, at which point the Stars will mull their options -- none of which, of course, include Avery returning to Stars' locker room.
It'll go a little something like this: Either the Stars find a minor-league team (in the American Hockey League) willing to take him, find an NHL team willing to trade for him, or put him on waivers and hope that they can find a team with which they can split his $12-million salary over the next three years. Whatever happens to Avery, though, this much is clear, says Janko: "It's not going to be with the Stars."