Time to End the All-Star Game

[Kin]

That's a pretty low bar - the slapshot I would think is akin to some of those long-ball golf players.  They can't play the game at the highest levels overall but if you put them in this niche environment they can hit it far.  So yes Scott had a hard enough shot, but it's not a situation any player will ever get in game action and he's not good enough to get himself into enough situations to use a slap shot in any event.

Except it wasn't just "hard enough". It's not like he did just enough not to embarrass himself. He did well relative to the other all-stars. I've watched this event for a long time and it's not like everyone who tries can just rip off a 96. It's not the most interesting thing in the world but as someone who wasn't expecting much from Scott this weekend it was an interesting result.

Sure I'm nitpicking, but this talk about a movie, etc., at some points I feel like I'm watching a Make-A-Wish event.  Trying to set him up for tap-in goals where the opposing player makes no attempt to stop it.  By the end with him getting raised in the air, even though he seemed to be enjoying it, I couldn't help but think he was being treated like a charity case. 

One of the unavoidable realities of this whole thing, if we try to look past the specifics of what went on, is that the John Scotts of the world are on the way out of the league. Despite all the fun a lot of people had with it last night, there's not going to be a repeat performance because aside from the reality of diminishing returns there just won't be many options for it next year regardless of how the NHL revamps the voting process.

I'm not sad about fighting leaving the NHL for the most part. There've been enough Boogards and Belaks and Rypiens the last few years that even beyond the fact that I don't agree that fighting plays a valuable function the human cost of it is too high. So it's going the way of the black rhino and that's probably for the best.

But let's be real. Fighting and fighters were a huge part of the game for a long time. In a sport that frequently lacks compelling narrative or engaging personalities fighting often provided both. Goons were frequently the most popular players on their teams with fans and players and fights provided some of the more memorable moments the game has seen.

So it was pretty hard for me not to see what happened at the end of last night as anything other than something of an extended eulogy for that element of the sport. As much as I may have grown out of it, a big part of me coming to be a hockey fan was Clark nailing McSorley and Domi/Probert and so on. I don't think anyone cheered for John Scott as an act of charity, it was just a recognition that he represented something that is disappearing from the game and that some people think is a bittersweet change.

But, hey, I think Field of Dreams is cloying and eschews real emotion for cheap sentimentality. Different strokes. 

 

[CarltonTheBear]

It's almost been 24 hours, Damien Cox must have said something about the Scott-situation by now... *checks*

[tweet]694249757854691328[/tweet]

Ah, yes, how dare Scott have the nerve to publicly shame that poor, poor, unnamed league official.

 

[Kin]

It's almost been 24 hours, Damien Cox must have said something about the Scott-situation by now... *checks*

[tweet]694249757854691328[/tweet]

Ah, yes, how dare Scott have the nerve to publicly shame that poor, poor, unnamed league official.

And the thing of it is you know that if Scott had gone on record with who said it to him Cox et. al would say that Scott is terrible for making a public scapegoat of a poor NHL official who was just doing their job.

 

[ZBBM]

It's almost been 24 hours, Damien Cox must have said something about the Scott-situation by now... *checks*

[tweet]694249757854691328[/tweet]

Ah, yes, how dare Scott have the nerve to publicly shame that poor, poor, unnamed league official.

I'm pretty sure this had already been discussed and probably solved but these tweet links don't resolve in my tapatalk.

 

[L K]

It's almost been 24 hours, Damien Cox must have said something about the Scott-situation by now... *checks*

[tweet]694249757854691328[/tweet]

Ah, yes, how dare Scott have the nerve to publicly shame that poor, poor, unnamed league official.

And the thing of it is you know that if Scott had gone on record with who said it to him Cox et. al would say that Scott is terrible for making a public scapegoat of a poor NHL official who was just doing their job.

Damien Cox on appropriate journalism:

In 2011, Dave Feschuk was criticized when he called Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender James Reimer?s mother for a story about her son?s possible concussion in the Toronto Star. Hockey analyst Mike Milbury called it a ?weasel move,? while Damien Cox pointed out the Star doesn?t exist to promote the Maple Leafs, but to provide relevant news to readers.

 

[McGarnagle]

So it was pretty hard for me not to see what happened at the end of last night as anything other than something of an extended eulogy for that element of the sport.

Very fitting. Well put.

 

[Frank E]

So it was pretty hard for me not to see what happened at the end of last night as anything other than something of an extended eulogy for that element of the sport.

Very fitting. Well put.

In retrospect, I agree that this may have been a goodbye to the enforcer role.  Ironically, the whole mishandling of it may turn out to actually help the league. 

They couldn't have scripted it any better even if they tried.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

It's not exactly John Scott's piece, but here's a little bit from Leo Komarov in The Players' Tribune:

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/leo-komarov-maple-leafs-what-the-blank-nhl-all-star-edition/

 

[Joe S.]

 

[Frank E]

I would like to steal that picture for my profile.

Would I have your permission sir?

EDIT:  I did it anyway.

 

[Joe S.]

You should it's awesome.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

The Habs have called up John Scott: http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/latest-news/2016/4/3/11357278/john-scott-recall-michael-mike-mccarron-sent-down-assigned-to-st-johns-icecaps-ryan-johnston

Looks like they're giving him the 'Colton Orr' treatment.