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Gary Bettman says enforcer John Scott ‘welcome’ at NHL all-star game

Now, it’s a 3-on-3 tournament.

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Scott will lace up his skates for the NHL All-Star Game in Nashville on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET. That helped push the average resale price of $778.82 according to SeatGeek, putting Nashville on pace to be the NHL’s priciest All-Star Game over the past five years.

Journeyman Canucks defenceman Rory Fitzpatrick narrowly missed making the 2007 All-Star Game, after the “Vote 4 Rory” campaign caught on like wildfire.

Jagr would rather be home resting and getting ready for the second half for the Atlantic Division Panthers than playing a 3-on-3 all-star game.

Burns’ belief is that the all-star game is about permitting players to demonstrate elements of the game fans don’t usually get to see in the high-stakes competitiveness of the regular season and playoffs. Next week, he is due to head back to Newfoundland.

Indeed, the all-star break was not necessarily going to be a break for Jagr.

“I remember watching the skills competition as a kid and I enjoyed it, ” Luongo said. The two had a talk Thursday night. What more can I say? “Make sure you get my name in it”, he said, referring to the name card on the backdrop behind him. Year after year we’ve watched the perennial point-per-game Swede get overlooked for a spot among the National Hockey League elite; it may not “matter” in the grand scheme of things, but it becomes part of a player’s legacy, and more importantly speaks to the respect (or lack thereof) for his abilities by the National Hockey League brass.

“They should do something if they don’t want this to happen again”, Scott said Friday.

He said the last few weeks have been hard.

And all eyes will be on John Scott, the 6-foot-8 enforcer fans voted as Pacific Division Captain before he was traded by Arizona to Montreal and sent to the minors. It’s just a guy who is like brain dead and just goes out there and fights and doesn’t really know how to play hockey.

The crowd only grew after Scott’s endearing first-person essay appeared on The Players’ Tribune website on Thursday, providing a peek behind his motivation for attending All-Star weekend after he was voted in by the fans.

“It’s nice because people have a persona of me”, Scott said. In 2008, he was named to the six-player IIHF Centennial team, naming a single line of the best players in the history of the game.

The Czech Republic legend said he feels a lot younger than his age. “It could be a good thing”.

The “Scott” All-Star jerseys are among the hottest items in Nashville.

At first, Scott said he accepted the league’s position that he didn’t belong in the All-Star game.

“He didn’t do anything wrong”, Jagr said. He was a great guy. I think the change will change something next year, but he shouldn’t go through that. He wants to play until he’s 50 and I don’t know. Someone they think twice about before they go after a star player on Scott’s team.

I hope Scott scores a goal Sunday. However, guys like Evgeni Malkin, Patrice Bergeron, Erik Karlsson, Patrick Kane, Johnny Gaudreau, Taylor Hall, Jamie Benn, and Tyler Seguin will be there. “Yes, the fans vote him in and is maybe a joke, but the rules are the rules”. “What about if I win?” But, no, the National Hockey League is still going to punish him and his team because they want him out there risking further injury for the sake of a bunch of eight-year old kids, who are the only ones that care about the stupid All Star game. In case you haven’t read Scott’s stirring Players Tribune entry(show some damn respect and do it here), the National Hockey League had the nerve to ask Scott if this(playing in the freaking All Star game) would be something his two little girls would be proud of.

The winning conference gets to choose when it will play on Sunday. Having the NHL’s biggest stars interact with the fans is an excellent way to do that.

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“It’s obviously an anomaly”, Scott said. “It’s kind of one of those things where it might be the last time, and I hope they have fun with it and kind of get behind me a little bit”.

St. John's IceCaps