John Scott’s glorious All-Star Game is ultimate National Hockey League revenge

Scott stole the show during Sunday’s event at Bridgestone Arena, scoring two goals to help lead the Pacific Division to the championship of the three-on-three tournament. He seemed a bit stunned as he soaked everything in, from teammates lifting him on their shoulders while fans chanted “MVP!” before Scott was announced as the victor and presented with a Honda Pilot Touring SUV.

Scott added extra spice to the All-Star Skills Competition on Saturday night and then he upstaged every other star in Sunday’s All-Star tournament in which he scored a couple of goals, was named MVP and was carried on the ice by happy teammates. But it grew more serious when Scott was traded, and deepened further when he published an essay last Thursday in which he said the National Hockey League had tried to convince him not to go to the All-Star game in Nashville, telling him, “This is not a game for you, John”.

Bettman says he had a nice chat with Scott on Thursday night and he’s more than welcome at the All-Star Game.

Neglected by the league but respected by his peers, Scott’s name was cheered to the rafters by the fans throughout.

“I don’t think we really cared who scored”, Burns told NBCSN’s Pierre McGuire during the game.

Teams representing the Metropolitan and Atlantic divisions faced off in the first 20-minute, three-on-three game, and they were tentative while they figured out how to pace themselves. Bishop had an assist in the Atlantic’s 4-3 semifinal win over the Metropolitan.

It was a big weekend in Nashville as the NHL All Star Game took place, and a fan favourite came out of the tournament with the title of MVP. I originally didn’t like the 3 on 3 multi-game set up for the all star “game”, but I think it worked better.

Fan pushback won out, and Scott repaid them with a pair of goals during Team Central’s 9-6 loss to Team Pacific.

Brent Burns, Daniel Sedin and Taylor Hall had three points apiece for the Pacific, with Sedin and Hall scoring two goals each.

Most players said the new format lent itself to a better quality of play than most All-Star games, although the Central-Pacific period was basically a track meet on skates. “You can’t write this stuff”.

It was a true underdog story at the NHL All-Star Game this weekend when an AHL player became an NHL All-Star MVP.

In the championship period, Roberto Luongo stopped all 12 shots he faced in the opening 10 minutes before handing things over to Tampa Bay’s Ben Bishop.

“I don’t know if it changes my career but I hope it opens some doors”, he said.

Pacific right wing Corey Perry, a Canadian who plays for Anaheim, scored the only goal while goaltenders Jonathan Quick and John Gibson blanked the Atlantic division in the 1-0 final. “It’s not the first time you’ve been wrong”, Scott said with a straight face.

The game was tied 3-3 after the first half, but the Pacific team scored four straight goals to take command.