I can't remember a pre-season Flyers hockey game with more idiocy and controversy and needless penalties than Monday's 5-3 win over the Rangers.

It was a dreadful game b/c of all the penalties and non-sense.

The feud between Sean Avery and Wayne Simmonds was absurd and then Avery's yelling toward Tommy Sestito about having to "kill" Claude Giroux was equally off the wall.

At the end of the night, Avery claimed Simmonds used a homophobic term to insult him. Is is possible to insult Sean Avery?

I spoke to some league people today about how things are viewed in terms of slurs. Racial slurs catch everyone's attention. Homophobic slurs often don't. Often, the intent is different.

What bothered me most about all this crap on the ice was that Avery sought to go public with it. From what is sounds like talking to other players, this was just your usual "heat of the moment" thing.

To me, Avery broke "the code" by saying something in public. And that he said it, frankly, makes me skeptical given his history of utter nonsense, not to mention his total lack of respect for women.

Simmonds could still get fined. Right now, he told me, it's gone back to The Commish, Gary Bettman, for review.

Here's what Simmonds had to say today:

click here

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