Fansided

NHL refused to allow John Scott to wear AHL IceCaps jersey at All-Star Game

By Dave Stevenson

NASHVILLE, TN - JANUARY 30: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) NHL player John Scott attends the 2016 NHL All-Star Red Carpet at Bridgestone Arena on January 30, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - JANUARY 30: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) NHL player John Scott attends the 2016 NHL All-Star Red Carpet at Bridgestone Arena on January 30, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images) /
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John Scott wanted to wear the jersey of his AHL team but the NHL firmly told him no

One of the early winners from this year’s NHL All-Star weekend is without a doubt Pacific Division captain John Scott. Scott endeared himself to the fans by being himself and by making his family proud. Scott’s a very likable guy. Scott even proposed that he should wear his St. Johns IceCaps jersey because he currently plays for them in the AHL.

The NHL told him no. After all we’ve heard, you can’t be that surprised.

Scott wore an All-Star jersey with the NHL logo instead. Scott got huge cheers while in Nashville and was certainly welcomed by both the fans and the players. This all comes on the heels of stories and reports about the NHL rather emphatically trying to get Scott to not be a part of the All-Star festivities.

Commissioner Gary Bettman tried to swat away the issue on Saturday.

"“Once he decided, taking everything into account that he wanted to be here,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said, via USA Today, “it was a closed issue from our standpoint; he was welcome to come and we welcomed him here. There was never an issue beyond that, despite the commentary and suggestion to the contrary.”"

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While Bettman tried to make the whole Scott shaming a non-issue, it’s next to impossible to just forget about it like the commissioner would like. Something that will probably forever make this a black mark for the NHL is the fact that Scott basically exposed the league for trying to bully him into skipping a fake hockey game by using his kids as leverage.

Scott spoke about his situation in a recent Player’s Tribune article.

From Player’s Tribune:

"So when someone from the NHL calls me and says, “Do you think this is something your kids would be proud of?” That’s when they lost me. That was it, right there. That was the moment. Because, while I may not deserve to be an NHL All-Star, I know I deserve to be the judge of what my kids will — and won’t — be proud of me for."

John Scott’s kids are extremely proud of their dad for how he has handled himself and how he had fun tonight. Fans rallied behind him and the players on the ice with Scott did not spontaneously combust for being near a non-superstar All-Star.

Perhaps Gary Bettman needs to ask himself if his kids are proud of the way that he has treated Scott.

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