Arizona Coyotes: John Scott, The Once And Future (All-Star) Captain
After the Arizona Coyotes traded John Scott to the Montreal Canadiens, it appeared his chances of attending the NHL All-Star game as the Pacific Division captain were slim and none. Today, however, the NHL announced it would honor the fan vote to elect Scott into the All-Star game and allow him to attend despite the fact that he is currently playing in the AHL.
The Arizona Coyotes traded John Scott to the Montreal Canadiens and started a circus on Twitter. Today the NHL made it right.
Fans were upset that they had voted Scott into the All-Star game and now it appeared the NHL had engineered his removal. Media personalities were upset at the fans for voting him into the game in the first place.
Now, though, John Scott has been restored as the once and future Pacific Division All-Star captain.
"Scott, elected to the Pacific Division captaincy in fan voting while a member of the Arizona Coyotes, was traded Friday to the Montreal Canadiens of the Atlantic Division. The resultant change in division, and Scott’s subsequent assignment to the American Hockey League, created a unique circumstance that required review – the result of which was a determination to maintain the status quo for the All-Star weekend in order to preserve all parties’ pre-existing expectations, including Scott’s desire to participate."
I’m actually a little surprised that the NHL made this move, but I guess the result goes to show the power of social media. Social media got John Scott elected, and social media got John Scott re-elected.
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For his part, it appears Scott was never going to back away from the game he loves despite the treatment he received according to Pierre LeBrun.
“I’m making a lot of money playing hockey, why would I stop playing just because someone sent me to St. John’s?” he said. “And besides, St. John’s is a nice city. What are you going to do? Cry like a baby or work through it?”
Unfortunately, the re-election of John Scott is not without it’s own downside.
The Arizona Coyotes now have no actual representative in the All-Star game. John Scott is now a Montreal Canadien (actually a St. John’s IceCap) and the NHL announced that the Coyotes will not receive a compensatory replacement.
No Max Domi. No Oliver Ekman-Larsson. No Shane Doan.
The only hope left for the Coyotes to have an actual representative is as an injury replacement for another Pacific Division All-Star.
While the outcome for John Scott is appreciated, as a fan of the Arizona Coyotes it also comes across as a bit of a smack in the face to a market that is trying to grow.
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Whatever your opinions on the NHL All-Star game and it’s relevance, how do you leave the roster with no representative from a team that is having such a surprising run of relevancy in the playoff race?
A team that no one expected to do anything this year? A team with two amazing young rookies and one of the best defensemen in the NHL?
It seems just as short sighted as the removal of John Scott in the first place.