John Scott doesn’t want his name in the headlines for the wrong reasons, but this seems like a darn good one.
Currently sitting at the top of the All-Star fan voting ahead of Alex Ovechkin, Patrick Kane and Jaromir Jagr, Scott was asked by reporters Wednesday what he thought about being the latest subject of a fan rally to vote in a unique player to the All-Star roster.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” he told AZCentral. “I just kind of stay out of it. The guys are giving me a hard time about it, but it’s kind of neat. The fans, they obviously like me for some reason.”
That reason is perhaps hard to understand, but maybe not. It’s not the first time fans have collectively pushed to include an off-beat choice into the All-Star weekend. He’s not even the only satirical candidate this year, with Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere (#Gostisbethere) in 59th place and Boston Bruins pugilist Zac Rinaldo in 98th.
“I think it’s more of a joke than anything, but I’ll take it,” Scott said.
Some will remember the “Vote For Rory” campaign when Vancouver Canucks defenceman Rory Fitzpatrick nearly made the cut in 2006 or when Buffalo Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons received over 1.5 million votes in 2015’s vote.
“I don’t want to have my name in the headlines for this reason,” Scott said. “Like, it’s a fun little thing and hopefully it’ll die down over time. It’s not something — I definitely don’t want to be voted into the All-Star Game.”
Meanwhile, Jagr spoke out about his popularity in the polls:
(Shh, Jaromir. We appreciate all that you do for the league and its fans. But you and your mullet are going to the All-Star game.)
Scott, to this point in the season, has one assist, 18 penalty minutes and three shots on goal in just six games played.
“You never know,” he said. “There’s still some time left. I could turn it on.”
