North Stars

Elisha Cuthbert’s NHL dating drama

·Blogger

September 4, 2012 at 1:22 p.m.

Elisha Cuthbert is one of Canada's most versatile actresses, but when it comes to love, she certainly has a type. A big, burly, hockey-playing type. And that has led to some foul play in the past.

On Monday night, at a seafood restaurant in Prince Edward Island with 40 friends and family, the 29-year-old actress announced her engagement to boyfriend Dion Phaneuf, 27, captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team. The pair has been dating since May of 2008.

But back in the mid-aughts, Cuthbert was dating then-L.A. Kings player Sean Avery. And after Cuthbert ended her two-year relationship with the Pickering, Ont. native in 2007, things got nasty.

Not only did Avery quickly turn to Cuthbert's friend Paris Hilton for comfort, but in a 2008 press conference before Avery was to play Calgary Flames defenceman Phaneuf, he made the following remark: "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."

The comment did not go over well with the NHL commissioner, understandably. Avery was quickly handed a six-game suspension from the League for making "inappropriate public comments, not pertaining to the game." He was also banished from the Dallas Stars, the team he had left the Kings to play for.

Avery later apologized in a statement to People magazine, saying, "I should not have made those comments and I recognize that they were inappropriate ... It was a bad attempt to build excitement for the game, but I am now acutely aware of how hurtful my actions were."

Since then, Avery and Cuthbert have gone their separate ways. Cuthbert, who got her start as a perky geek-girl on the TV show "Popular Mechanics for Kids," is now starring in the comedy hit "Happy Endings."

Avery returned to play for the New York Rangers, but in August 2011, he was arrested for allegedly shoving a police officer. According to reports, Avery was hosting a party at his house in L.A. when the cops were called after a neighbour made a noise complaint. Avery allegedly pushed an officer aside and slammed the door, but when the police knocked a second time, he cooperated and went with them willingly. He was released on $20,000 bail, and the charges were later dropped, with the official report saying that the police officer's foot actually just got caught in the door.

Earlier this year, Avery claimed he was retiring from hockey, though his agent says his future with the NHL is still up in the air.

This isn't the only dating drama in Elisha's past. Shortly before she began dating Avery, she called off her engagement to Trace Ayala, Justin Timberlake's business partner. Rumour is, that breakup allegedly inspired Timberlake's song "What Goes Around... Comes Around."

Here's hoping this time around, the engagement ends in its own happy ending!