Ice Hockey: Scott wins All Star MVP

Maybe the biggest cheer of the weekend came when John Scott, the slow-footed enforcer who was voted by the fans as the Pacific captain, scored in their first-round, 9-6 win over the Central team.

“I’m not going to get into who said what”, National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters during his state of the game address in Nashville.

Scott’s teammates vowed to set him up, and they did right away as he scored 47 seconds into his team’s 20-minute semifinal game, an 11-7 Pacific victory over the Central Division All-Stars.

Last week, Scott claimed in an article for The Players Tribune that a representative of the National Hockey League tried to talk him out of playing, asking, “Do you think this is something your kids would be proud of?”

The NHL did not release details, but fans took it upon themselves to select him in an overwhelming vote for the 6-foot-8 forward with five goals in 285 career games. He seemed a bit stunned as he soaked everything in, including being announced the MVP and presented with a Honda Pilot Touring SUV. And even after the $1 million check was handed out, the mania surrounding Scott, and an event that won’t soon be forgotten, carried on. Scott turned down the NHL’s attempts and made a decision to play in the game.

Conveniently enough, he was traded from HIS team to Montreal, but Montreal really didn’t need him, thus they put him in their AHL team…which ships him off to Canada’s East Coast.

The first semifinal was won 4-3 by Team Atlantic over Team Metropolitan.

Scott played portions of three seasons with the Aeros before being called up to the big leagues. The Atlantic Division team’s Roberto Luongo of Florida and Ben Bishop of Tampa Bay combined for 15 saves. You can’t write this stuff.

Scott got nervous only when Sharks defenseman Brent Burns, a former teammate and friend, caught him off-guard and helped hoist the reluctant fighter into the air.

Buffalo centre Jack Eichel won third-star honours with two goals and two assists over two games.

Scott scored two goals in the 3-on-3 tournament after being voted in by the fans in an online vote.

“It’s good to be on their side for once”, McDonagh said. There were still plenty of chances each way, but the intensity felt more like an actual game than any previous year when the game was 5-on-5.

“When you have guys that want to win and are competitive hockey players, you want to go out and perform, and you don’t want to look bad”, Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks said after scoring the championship game’s lone goal.

“I broke a better sweat than previous year, for sure”, Flyers captain Claude Giroux said after being held scoreless as his Metropolitan Division team fell to the Atlantic Division, 4-3, in the opener of the mini-tournament.

“Everyone is extremely happy for him”, the Kings’ Drew Doughty said, expressing a seemingly universal sentiment among the players.