Brodeur, Avery Lob Grenades At Each Other Over 'Dancing With The Stars'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Oh boy.

That Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur doesn't like former NHL agitator extraordinaire Sean Avery isn't exactly news. But the back and forth the two have had over the last few days, which spilled over in stunning fashion to Twitter on Thursday, has raised their feud to a new level.

First, some background: Avery annoyed the heck out of Brodeur back when the Rangers and Devils met in the first round of the 2007-08 playoffs. During a two-man power play in Game 3, Avery turned his back on the play and attempted to face guard Brodeur, waving his hands and stick in front of Brodeur in an attempt to distract him and block his view.

Though the Rangers didn't score right then, Avery did score a power-play goal not long after. In fact, he drove the Devils crazy throughout the five-game series, which the Rangers won, scoring three goals and drawing numerous penalties.

Brodeur was so incensed by Avery's antics he did not shake his hand when the teams scrolled past each other following decisive Game 5.

"I've played for 15 years in this league. I've been watching games for 33 years. I had never seen that in my life. I don't think that kind of behavior should be done in front of the net, but there is no rule for it," Brodeur said at the time.

The NHL agreed, enacting the "Avery Rule" the very next day.

"An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender's face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play," said Colin Campbell, then the league's director of operations.

Fast forward to this week: Avery, now retired following a 12-year career, recently competed on "Dancing With The Stars." He and pro partner Karina Smirnoff were eliminated Tuesday night and an enterprising reporter asked Brodeur about it on Wednesday.

"I didn't watch -- I don't watch those shows -- but I was watching NHL Network and they mentioned it," Brodeur told NJ.com, adding when pushed, "What more could he do to embarrass himself? There it is!"

Avery, ever known for the gift of gab in addition to driving opponents crazy on the ice, wasted little time mounting a response.

"Woke up beside a #Supermodel to hear news that #Fatso made a comment…..@DancingABC equals Thousands of $ for charity," Avery said in a tweet that was later taken down.

The next one, however, remains on his Twitter page.

Since this is a family website, we'll just leave the rest up to your imagination.

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