UPDATE: Tuesday, January 19th 10:47AM. John Scott will captain Pacific Division All-Stars.
John Scott won't be playing in the 2016 NHL All-Star Game.
Anyone who watches the six-foot-eight winger play regularly wouldn't be surprised by this statement, but his fans pulled through and actually made him the captain of the Pacific Division. Well, now the ex-captain.
This week, the Arizona Coyotes made the decision to trade John Scott to the Montreal Canadiens (also known as the Habs) where they immediately sent Scott to St. John's to play for their AHL team, making it impossible for him to compete in the NHL All-Star game.
(Scott made his entire team all-star shirts, which now won't be used).
I'm a die-hard Chicago Blackhawks fan and Scott is a former Blackhawk. So I will always support him, regardless of where he ends up. Once a Blackhawk, always a Blackhawk.
Therefore, I think we all agree that this trade was absolutely classless. It was tasteless and extremely disrespectful. No, John Scott is not the best player in the league but he works just as hard as any other player out there does. The guy is an enforcer, he's not meant to score goals. He's there to beat the sh*t out of anybody that messes with the smaller players. He puts his health and life on the line every time he steps onto the ice to protect his teammates and entertain the masses and this is how he is treated.
Scott was voted into the ASG by his fans who obviously wanted to see him knock somebody's teeth in. As a long time hockey fan, seeing the gloves get thrown is by far one of the best parts of the game.
Might I add, the NHL gave us, the fans, the opportunity to choose our all-stars. So here's my question for you, NHL, why give us the choice if you were just going to take it away and destroy a man's dignity in the process?
Not only is Scott's dignity torn up, but so is his family's. His wife, Danielle is due to have twins THAT WEEKEND! A woman who is nine months pregnant probably can't even fly on an aircraft let alone pack up and move to a city thousands of miles away. Scott's pregnant wife is in Arizona (along with his two other children), over 2,500 miles away from her husband, because of a sh*tty move made by the NHL.
A guy who has gone his whole life with little to no recognition actually got something worthwhile, not only giving him a good laugh and some excitement but giving his family something to be happy about as well and it breaks my heart to see it be ripped away from them.
Sometimes I feel that we forget these athletes are actual people. We paint them as heroes and think nothing of it when things head south but they have feelings and morals and go through life just like the rest of us do. John Scott may be a goon on the ice, but he is a good guy.
The way all three parties handled this trade was arguably one of the most cowardly things I've seen. They took a heartfelt moment and story for the sport and destroyed it out of pettiness and pride for a fake hockey game, causing real-life consequences for a man and his growing family.
So here's a big screw you to the NHL, the Coyotes (which is a franchise I never respected in the first place) and the Habs for going through with this trade. It's callous, it's humorless and just downright ugly.
