It’s just so insane to see him get all that support from so many people.
Advertisement
“I was going to be in the background and just enjoy it from behind the scenes, but it definitely didn’t turn out that way”, Scott said. Their inspiration was the 3-on-3 overtime approach for a tournament pitting the four divisions against each other in 20-minute games. And for the record, his teammates didn’t keep him in the air for very long.
More importantly, in the days leading up to the All-Star weekend, the Alberta-born underdog opened up in the press with rare humility, winning hearts and transforming Scott from an instrument of disgruntled fans into a genuine hero of the game. Stars like Henrik Lundqvist chimed in; even the official Twitter accounts of many National Hockey League teams took up the call.
Scott’s on-ice exploits were so entertaining that he accomplished the impossible: He made typically stoic Los Angeles Kings coach Darryl Sutter smile.
“Through a sequence of events that “unlikely” only begins to describe, the 6’8″ Scott scored on a breakaway, engaged in a mock brawl and was lifted onto his teammates’ shoulders Sunday night as they celebrated the people’s champ.
John Scott had a transformative weekend at the NHL All-Star Game, and he hopes it might help him land another job in or out of the game.
In November, the National Hockey League announced a change in format to the All-Star game.
“You can’t put it into words”, Scott said.
“You can’t really write this stuff”, he told Cohn. “It’s unbelievable how it happened”.
Scott’s wife, Danielle, will deliver twin daughters any day.
He refused to remove himself from the All Star Game, and was eventually named captain of the Pacific Division.
The NHL also named its three stars for January, with Washington centre Evgeny Kuznetsov, Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford and Pittsburgh defenceman Kris Letang earning the honours.
“This is insane”, Scott said. “It was a whirlwind and it went by so fast, but I loved it. It was probably the coolest thing I have done in hockey, for sure”.
Had a “fight” with opposing player Patrick Kane. Controversy followed, with the Arizona Coyotes trading John Scott to the Montreal Canadiens, who promptly shifted him back down to the AHL.
What was not foreseeable was the impact that John Scott would have. According to a press release from NBCSN, viewership of this year’s NHL All-Star Game (5:03-8:27 p.m. ET) from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., was up 34% vs. last season’s game (1.194 million) in Columbus.
The essay was titled A Guy Like Me. What does the future hold for him? With the suspension they are saying the Hawks’ captain, the guy who might be the most respected player in the league, wasn’t actually sick over the weekend.
“But I’m one of them”. “That meant a lot to me to be accepted by everyone the way I was”.
For John Scott, the AHL player said is happy he played and even happier with his division’s win and his award. That was the moment.
Advertisement
“I know I can still play”. Joe Pavelski’s power play goal put the Pacific team ahead again, but only until James Neal notched another one to even the score 2-2. Last night in Nashville, the girls were once again with him on the ice, wearing small versions of his jersey. The name on the back: DADDY.
