Elisha Cuthbert’s sportsman ex-boyfriend Sean Avery has blasted reports connecting him to the prostitution scandal that brought down New York Governor Eliot Spitzer as "false and defamatory."

The 27-year-old New York Rangers ice hockey star crops up in a list of 2,000 names in an address book that the NY Daily News claims belongs to madam Kristin Davis.

Spitzer is also alleged to have used Davis' 'services'.

Avery suggests that his name may have been given to the madam by an enemy, insisting he has never visited prostitutes even met Davis.

Avery - who dated 24 star Cuthbert until last August and counts model Rachel Hunter among his exes - tells the NY Daily News, "This assertion is false and defamatory. I was never a client of Ms. Davis, nor of any prostitute."

Davis has backed up Avery's likely-story by claiming she has never had any contact with him.