The NHL announced on Tuesday morning that, after much speculation and doubt, it will in fact allow enforcer John Scott to captain the Pacific Division team at the 2016 All-Star Game in Nashville. Last Friday, many fans who had voted him into the game received disappointing news, as it was announced he had been traded from the Arizona Coyotes to the Montreal Canadiens, as a minor piece of a trade for Jarred Tinordi.
Told John Scott is in deal to Montreal for Jarred Tinordi.
— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) January 15, 2016
Scott was immediately assigned to the St. John’s Ice Caps of the AHL. This was interpreted to be the crushing blow to those who had dreamed of seeing Scott in the All-Star game, as it seemed unlikely he would be allowed to participate if he was playing in the minors. This created an enormous wave of backlash against the NHL, the Coyotes and the Canadiens, amid speculation that the league had colluded with the teams to have All-Star Scott traded out of the Pacific Division and sent to the AHL.
All-Star John Scott WILL Captain the Pacific Division
A Change.org petition received over 9600 signatures in just four days, demanding Scott be allowed to participate. Countless other fans came out on social media claiming they would not be watching the All-Star weekend without John Scott in it. Scott’s wife, currently in Arizona, is pregnant and expecting twins in the coming days, which added to the ire of fans who berated the league and the teams for sending Scott as far as they could to St. John’s, during a very important time for his family, just to avoid the perceived embarrassment of having a player with 5 career goals play in the All-Star game.
It remains to be seen whether fan and media backlash caused the NHL to change its mind on allowing him to participate, or whether this was the plan all along. Either way, the dream of an All-Star John Scott is alive. And no, this does not make the All-Star game a “joke”. A fun event for the fans should be, first and foremost, fun. And should certainly feature what the fans want to see. Since the league’s fans voted en masse to prove that they wanted to see John Scott in the game, the NHL has done the right thing by allowing it to happen. Nor is this any kind of mean-spirited farce. Scott is absolutely in on the joke, having ordered t-shirts for all his Coyotes teammates before he was traded. At the end of the day, this was to be a great story, with Scott willingly participating and adding a reason for casual viewers to tune into the All-Star festivities.
Perhaps the only loser in this situation is the Arizona Coyotes, who now will not have a representative at the All-Star game. This is only a minor negative in this situation, as all other parties will benefit from John Scott participating in the game. The NHL generates further interest in the event, and avoids the terrible optics of appearing to brush this situation under the carpet. Scott himself gets a once-in-a-lifetime experience, in what is likely his final NHL season, as well as a chance at some prize money that would mean more to him than any other player there, given his league-minimum contract.
The NHL is to be commended for following through on the fans’ wishes here, and allowing Operation All-Star John Scott to proceed. The only thing that remains to be seen is whether he’ll fight Jaromir Jagr.
Main Photo:
