John Scott / St. John’s Ice Caps
St. John’s IceCaps hulking forward John Scott wants to show you he can play.
The six-foot-eight-inch left winger wants to show that he really isn’t that guy. He wants to prove that there is some skill in those soup cans he calls hands beyond punching people in the face.
Scott wants to make everyone aware that he is one of the top-700 athletes lacing up skates in North America.
Being a tough guy doesn’t mean you can’t play. It means you have a different role on the team from everyone else.
It doesn’t diminish the skills you have as a hockey player. You just don’t accidentally become a professional hockey player.
He said as much in interviews with The National Post and in his superb essay that ran on The Player’s Tribune earlier today.
“I guarantee I’ll be good. I think they’ll be trying to get me goals. I’ll be sure to tell them before the game, ‘Let’s get the big guy goals.’ I’ll get a hat trick and everyone will be like ‘Oh wow,’” Scott told the Post’s Michael Traikos. Of course, he was referring to the National Hockey League’s All-Star Weekend, an event where Scott led all players in fan voting after a campaign led to ballot stuffing in his honour.
In less than 48 hours, Scott will get his chance to shed any negative labels placed on him and rebuff all of the snickering he’s received from his detractors in the weeks leading up to the league’s annual game of pond hockey.
Scott’s journey to this weekend almost ended as weirdly as it began. When the final votes had been tallied, Scott was designated a captain for one of the four teams “competing” this weekend. A couple of weeks away from the event, Scott was dealt from the Arizona Coyotes to the Montreal Canadiens. Before the respective teams had a chance to tell the players involved, Scott was demoted to the American Hockey League and the St. John’s IceCaps.
The move wreaked of league interference. As Scott tells it, the league had called requesting that he step aside.
The big guy stuck to his guns and pledged to remain in the game. Besides, when was he going to be an all-star game? Chances are, he was probably going to be out of the league.
Immediately, there were conspiracy theorists who thought this was a little too much of a conspiracy. It was all too convenient that Scott – who the NHL did not want in the all-star game – was moved to the AHL mere weeks before mid-season extravaganza making him ineligible to attend.
Last week, it was announced Scott would be allowed to play. He wouldn’t get to wear his jersey of choice, but it was the right move.
After a strange journey in hockey, Scott gets the big payoff.
He might not be the biggest star in the room or the guy with the best hands or the fastest feet, but at least he’s there.
Here’s to hoping John Scott gets to show the hockey world he isn’t just a tough guy.
Go get ‘em John.
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