The league said that with Scott in the minors, he was not eligible to play in the NHL All-Star Game.
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Jagr weighed the pros and cons and chose to show up for his first All-Star Game since 2004.
John Scott didn’t belong at the All-Star Game, until he did.
John Scott arrived in St. John’s earlier this month, after being traded to the Montreal Canadians from the Arizona Coyotes following his selection in the NHL All Star Game. The 26 wins ranks him third in the National Hockey League among all goaltenders.
Jaromir Jagr’s inclusion in the All-Star game was universally popular with the fans, if not so much with Jagr himself.
After winning the Atlantic Division fan vote, Jagr was able to select which players would participate in the various events. Their inspiration was the 3-on-3 overtime approach for a tournament pitting the four divisions against each other in 20-minute games. At the urging of Yahoo! blogger Greg Wyshynski, John Scott was elected as captain of the Pacific Division team.
It was a big moment for a big man, and it nearly didn’t happen. They’re never going to let you be there. Sure. But at least the National Hockey League does positive things in the community with some of the money that they get from the sponsors. “I hate it when articles say, ‘Oh, the goon John Scott.’ You get that label and it sticks”. Since then, he and the rest of the hockey world have seen the organization and the city evolve into something everyone wants to be a part of. The two had a talk Thursday night.
Once again, Scott deserves a backroom meeting with Bettman or whoever told him that sickening line on Sunday. “When he’s said and done and you look at his numbers, you’re going to go, ‘Those might be the quietest Hall of Fame numbers you’ve ever seen'”.
“I have to be here”, he said.
The 43-year-old didn’t really want to play in the 3-on-3 format, but he has made a decision to honor the fans’ choice and give them the opportunity to celebrate his brilliant career. The NHL’s rule was first used in 2009 against Detroit Red Wings stars Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk, and now it has been levied against five of the league’s top players. Last season, Latvian fans rallied the Internet to vote native son and Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons into the All-Star Game in Columbus, Ohio.
The NHL enforcer, who only has 11 total points in 285 career games at the NHL level, got voted into the All-Star game thanks to fans hijacking the league’s fan vote.
The Czech Republic legend said he feels a lot younger than his age. “It could be a good thing”.
Scott All-Star jerseys are among the hottest items in Nashville.
Shortly thereafter, the details started to emerge surrounding Scott and the All-Star Game, how Don Maloney and Bill Daly had both asked him to not go, offering a paid vacation instead.
“Just a guy who’s brain dead and goes out there and fights and doesn’t really know how to play hockey”, Scott said. “He’s a great guy”.
“I was sweating it out previous year”, Weber said.
“I’m nervous to be around these superstars”, Scott said. “I just love it as a fan, have been a sports fan for my whole life”.
Dallas forward Jamie Benn said the solution is simple.
I wanted to stack the deck and put my eggs in as many baskets as I could and win those prizes, Scott joked.
The 33-year-old has two daughters, and his wife is expecting twins within the next couple weeks.
According to Scott, someone with the National Hockey League asked him: “Do you think this is something your kids would be proud of?”. Of course, most of the players have a similar break this week and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin and Chicago’s Jonathan Toews will get even more time off. They have each been suspended one game for skipping the All-Star Game.
The festivities then continued into the evening as the grand opening ceremony at Bridgestone Winter Park officially kicked off the weekend, complete with a live concert from country music stars Big & Rich.
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“It’s obviously an anomaly”, Scott said. I’ve gotten texts from so many guys saying the same thing: “You should go”.
