The NHL announced Tuesday John Scott will remain the captain of the Pacific Division team at the 2016 NHL All-Star Game despite being recently traded by the Coyotes to the Montreal Canadiens and it’s a decision both he and the league struggled with.
Scott, who was voted into the game by fans, said he spoke with NHL officials about whether or not he would potentially forfeit his spot in the game but wouldn’t get into specifics over what was said.
“They weren’t really excited about me playing in the game, I’ll just say that,” Scott told Prime Time Sports on Sportsnet 590 The Fan Tuesday.
At first, Scott said he was dead set against participating in the game but that changed when he spoke to his now-former Coyotes teammates.
Defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, forwards Shane Doan, Martin Hanzal, Mikkel Boedker, and rookie Max Domi are all having solid seasons in Arizona and Scott said the last thing he wanted to do was take the spot of a player who deserved to be there. Scott said he spoke with his former Coyotes teammates and if of them had objected he “would have bowed out immediately.” None of them did.
Scott, he of five career goals, also reached out to retired enforcers Kelly Chase and Max’s father Tie Domi, both of whom told Scott to take advantage of the opportunity.
“It was definitely a difficult spot I was put in…I wouldn’t put it on most people.” Scott told Tim and Sid, adding later, “I don’t really care for the mass attention, especially on something like this, I’d rather it be for something else. It could be worse, right? Like, the fans voted me into the All-Star Game. I’m not going to have a pity party about that.”
The 33-year-old who’s currently a member of the AHL’s St. John’s IceCaps admitted that the game has changed and that he doesn’t know if he’ll ever play another game in the NHL again but added “I’m going to work my ass off to get back.”
