John Scott may have lost All-Star Game spot after trade to Canadiens
Kevin Allen
No matter how you feel about fans voting tough guy John Scott into the NHL All-Star Game this month, it's hard not feel sorry for him this morning.
Scott started Friday as captain of the Pacific Division NHL All-Star team. He ended the day in the midst of a controversy that seems grimier than the idea of a part-time player anointed as an All-Star by fan balloting.
The Arizona Coyotes traded Scott and defenseman Victor Bartley to the Montreal Canadiens for defenseman Jarred Tinordi. If you are wondering why the Canadiens needed a tough guy to send to their minor-league affiliate, you are not alone.
The trade of Scott now leaves the Coyotes without a player on the All-Star roster, opening the door them the opportunity to add Shane Doan or Max Domi.
More importantly, or so it would seem, it reopens the issue about whether Scott should play in the All-Star Game. NHL officials issued a statement saying they were "evaluating" how the trade would impact the Pacific roster.
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There's precedent of a traded players playing for the wrong side in an All-Star Game. The last time was in 2003 when defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh was named to the Eastern Conference roster and stayed on the roster, even though he had been dealt from the Florida Panthers to the Anaheim Ducks before the game.
But regardless how the NHL rules on this, there is a feeling around the NHL that Scott will step aside because of the added weight of the new controversy.
A person with knowledge of the situation but not authorized to speak publicly told USA TODAY Sports that when Scott was first named an All-Star the NHL suggested to Scott that it would be in everyone's best interests for him to decline the opportunity to allow one of the Coyotes' top players to play in the game. Scott was told he would still attend the All-Star weekend.
Scott said wanted to be a full All-Star participant. It should be noted that Scott never campaigned to be an All-Star. He was gracious and glib during the process, and said all of the right things at the right times. He knew that the campaign to get him elected was launched as a joke.
If you win the lottery, you don't give all of the money to charity. When he was chosen by fans in an NHL-designed balloting system, he embraced it. USA TODAY Sports talked to Scott's wife, Danielle, earlier this week and she said she told her husband he should play, even though she is due to give birth to twins. She has her doctor's blessing to attend the game in Nashville.
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She said it might even be better if she went into labor in Nashville because she would know at least that her husband would be there, instead of on the road with his team.
The Scotts were looking at the All-Star trip as if it was a reward for the years that Scott has logged as a part-time player for six different NHL teams. He's been known as a good teammate everywhere he has been. Now 33, Scott knows this could be his last season.
Some argue that Scott wasn't being a good teammate when he didn't step aside and let a star player go to the game. But it's also hockey tradition for stars to share the spotlight with role players. Stars often talk glowingly about their tough guys.
Was it truly such a big deal for Scott to come to the game as the fans' choice, a symbol of the journeyman player or role player? If the Coyotes don't feel like they are properly represented, then Gary Bettman should make Doan a Commissioner's Selection for the game. This is an exhibition game. It doesn't matter if the Pacific Division has one more player. Surely, there had to be a better way to handle this.
Scott doesn't deserve this messiness. He really didn't do anything wrong. All he did was win the lottery.