That was for certain as the 2016 NHL All-Star game was the most watched and highest rated All-Star game in the network’s history with 1.595 million viewers and a 0.90 household rating. The uproar that this caused throughout the league was enough for Gary Bettman and the NHL to back-peddle and allow John Scott to participate in the game as the Pacific Division’s captain.
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In order to get the full perspective of what happened on Sunday, a little background is needed on John Scott, a player a lot of sports fans aren’t even familiar with, or at least they weren’t, until a focused effort from the internet community launched him into a national spotlight.
He was lifted onto the shoulders of his teammates after being announced as the MVP.
Not long after he had been named MVP and handed a $1 million check to divvy between his teammates, John Scott’s wife was overcome with emotion.
The 33-year-old Edmonton native was voted into the all-star game by fans seemingly as a joke, but his inclusion in the showcase event gained momentum when he was traded from Arizona to Montreal and immediately assigned to the St. John’s IceCaps of the American Hockey League, putting his all-star eligibility in doubt.
The NHL was reportedly behind the move, and league officials also put pressure on Scott to turn down the All-Star Game invite, but he vowed to play.
Scott scored twice to much delight in the semifinals of the all-star tournament and then fired two shots on goal in the Pacific Division’s 1-0 win in the final. There was a whole new level of fun at the game this year, and a lot of it had to do with Scott.
While the NHL’s crackdown on fighting in the game has made enforcers something of a dying breed, Scott’s colleagues still recognize the role a tough guy plays.
Many hockey fans would disagree, of course, given the interest Scott generated in the All-Star Game.
“I think it’s the best possible outcome right?” More importantly, the players were thrilled to have Scott there. The league hoped to boost interest by opening the fan vote to any NHL player, and that’s where John Scott came in.
“I just cooked it up once I got to the rink”, he said. “I have to give a huge thanks to the training staff. They got me the props and got them ready in time”. The inspiration was the 3-on-3 overtime approach for a tournament pitting the four divisions against each other in 20-minute games.
Both Danielle and John Scott have said they were surprised and excited by the campaign to get him into the All-Star Game – and that they’re happy and relieved he was finally deemed eligible to play.
Scott was named MVP on Sunday after scoring two goals in the tournament.
Which will come in handy, since the father of two has two more on the way.
NBC’s Liam McHugh asked Scott who he thinks should portray him in the film. “I’m not a very light guy, nearly 275 pounds, soaking wet about 300 pounds”, Scott said. He scored the Pacific’s first goal on a tip-in just 47 seconds into the second minigame.
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I used to try hard to avoid anything having to do with All-Star games except for baseball.
