Former NHL player Sean Avery is co-writing a hockey romance book, Summer Skate, and it’s already stirring up a fair bit of controversy. Hockey romance books are big business right now. Romance has plenty of subgenres, but in the realm of the sports subgenre, hockey reigns supreme. Something about the hypermasculine, often aggressive, always passionate sport of hockey juxtaposed with the soft tenderness and intimacy of romance makes for a heady concoction, and it’s one readers, primarily women, have devoured. And, let’s be honest, it doesn’t hurt that more than a few NHL hockey players are so hot they could themselves be on the cover of a romance novel.
NHL players have often proven to have surprising talents and interesting careers after they retire, and more than one has tried his hand at writing. Former goalie Ken Dryden is the most notable of the bunch, having written half a dozen non-fiction books in his post-playing career. Current Edmonton Oilers player Zach Hyman is a children’s literature author. There are a handful of others who have picked up the pen or pixel, too. Still, none of those were or will be as controversial as Sean Avery trying his hand at romance, and the blistering backlash on the internet for the upcoming 2025 romance book proves it.
Summer Skate Romance Book Explained
A Hot Mess Between A Bestelling Author & A Rookie Hockey Player
Summer Skate is the creation of co-authors Sean Avery and Leslie Cohen, and, while Cohen has a few books under her belt, it’s Avery’s debut novel. Avery announced the book on his Instagram, saying, “the romance novel game is about to be elevated.” The story follows bestselling novelist Jessica Riley, whose demanding career of deadlines and motherhood overwhelm her, and she impulsively fakes a mental breakdown to get away for a while.
The Simon & Schuster tagline: “A novelist with a rebellious streak and a bad habit of turning men into material. A hockey player with a dark past . . . and a shot at stardom that he just might blow.
A summer vacation that heats up with a forbidden attraction strong enough to burn their neighboring Hamptons houses to the ground.”
Unfortunately, she learns the house next door to the one where she chooses to recuperate is full of rowdy hockey players – including Carter Hughes, the soon-to-be star New York Rangers rookie. Jessica and Carter grow closer as she loses herself in the fun of being around the players, but her attraction spirals out of control as she starts to become impulsive and erratic. Carter, meanwhile, finds himself in over his head as he starts to mingle with the power players of the Hamptons, and it threatens to derail his career before it even begins.
It’s quite the career departure for Avery, who has dabbled in acting since his NHL playing career but is now reinventing himself as an author.
The publisher, Simon & Schuster, describes Summer Skate as “sexy and addictive,” and are promoting it as the next buzzy, frothy read. Ironically, considering the title, it’s not actually hitting shelves in the summer but is set to be released on September 9, 2025. It’s currently available for preorder from various booksellers, all available on its Simon & Schuster page. It’s quite the career departure for Avery, who has dabbled in acting since his NHL playing career but is now reinventing himself as an author.
Summer Skate’s Co-Author Sean Avery Was An NHL Player
He Famously Forced The NHL To Adopt The “Avery Rule”
It’s no surprise that the hockey players in Summer Skate are the New York Rangers – after all, that’s the team for whom Sean Avery played in the NHL for years. His playing career as a left winger lasted for twelve years, from 2000-2012, and during that time, he played for five different teams. However, it’s the Rangers with whom he’s most associated, partly because he played for them twice, and partly because it was his antics while he lived and played in the Big Apple that made him one of the biggest pests on the ice and infamous off it.
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Avery was a polarizing figure during his time in the NHL and a lightning rod for controversy – usually all of his own making. Avery has never been one to mince words or worry about how his comes across, and, as such, he angered a few players during his time. When he was let go from the Detroit Red Wings, then-GM Ken Holland explained it was because Avery hadn’t matured, and did not live up to the standards of a professional hockey player, a sentiment echoed a few years later by then-Rangers GM Glen Sather.
The list of his incidents (via Web Archive) is long, but no on-ice incident is as infamous as the one in which his behavior during a game forced the league to actually change a rule. During a first-round playoff game between the Rangers and New Jersey Devils, Avery made it his mission to get into the face of opposing goaltender Martin Brodeur – literally. Turning his back completely to the play, Avery waved his arms and stick in front of Brodeur’s face, blocking the goalie from seeing the play.
During the handshake line, Brodeur understandably refused to shake Avery’s hand, and the league quickly changed the league rules so that actions like Avery’s would result in a penalty and possibly an unsportsmanlike conduct charge, a change henceforth known as the “Avery Rule.” It was a sharp rebuke from the league, but it didn’t seem to deter Avery much or compel him to grow up, and that lack of maturity and professionalism continued into his personal life.
Why It’s So Controversial That Sean Avery Is Writing A Romance Book
That leads to why quite a few people are so upset that Sean Avery is writing a romance book. Avery has a history of making misogynistic comments, one of which ended his career with the Dallas Stars. In December 2008, he gathered the local sports media together after a morning skate simply to say, “I’m really happy to be back in Calgary; I love Canada. I just want to comment on how it’s become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don’t know what that’s about, but enjoy the game tonight,” he said, referring to his ex-girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert being in a relationship with Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf. For that, he received a six-game suspension, a request from the league to attend anger management, and was placed on waivers by the Stars.
I just want to comment on how it’s become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. – Sean Avery, December 2008
In 2015, Avery married model Hilary Rhoda, but she filed for divorce in 2022, stating that Avery had been emotionally abusive to her, and, on at least one occasion, physically abusive to their son, Nash. Public records later showed that she had also filed a restraining order against him at the time; as of July 2023, that restraining order was still in effect (via ET Canada). The restraining order contained details of his alleged abuse of her, along with repeated stalking and erratic and unstable behavior, which he blamed on an addiction to oxycontin, Rhoda claimed.
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While men can certainly write romance, even troubled men with problematic pasts, it’s understandable that people are drawing a hard line at a man with a clear history of misogyny and abuse allegations writing a romance novel. Avery’s history has also got book lovers questioning why Leslie Cohen, an avowed Rangers fan, would deign to write a book aimed at women with him. His past words and actions do not fill one with confidence that he’ll do it justice, but beyond that, women are questioning whether they want to support the book, monetarily.
It’s fair for readers to ask why they should trust the characterization of a female character by a man who so clearly has issues with women.
It’s fair for readers to ask why they should trust the characterization of a female character by a man who so clearly has issues with women. It’s particularly questionable as the Summer Skate protagonist seems to be messy and spiraling in a way that requires thoughtfulness and understanding to write, neither of which are qualities Avery has ever shown he possesses. Ultimately, it’s up to potential readers to decide for themselves if they want to support the book, but it’s already clear that, for many women, the answer to that is a hard “no.”
