Sunday, January 31, 2016

The Forman Files - John Scott: From Goon to Allstar MVP


John Scott is the 2016 Allstar Game MVP.

No this is not a typo, not a prank to hockey fans across the world, the line above is 100% factually true. John Scott is an Allstar Game MVP

The 6'8 goon, who has taken more criticism this season than any player in the NHL should, rose above it all to put on quite the show in Nashville this weekend. No he isn't the best player in the NHL, in fact far from it, but he's one of the best personalities of the game and he showed his true colours this weekend. The fans cheered his name all weekend long, from the standing ovation in the hardest shot competition to the "MVP" chants throughout the allstar game tonight. Most importantly the players wanted him there, from the start of the weekend until the end it was clear that Scott had complete support from his fellow allstars. The NHL made the right decision letting Scott play in the game and he was a big reason for the success of the allstar weekend that has been struggling big time the last few years.

Not only was Scott named Allstar MVP but his Pacific Division team ended up winning the allstar game 1-0 and a nice cool $1,000,000 for his teammates:


From the beginning Scott being named Allstar game was a joke, and he was well aware of this even telling fans to "vote for my teammates instead." But the fan voting system in itself has its flaws and ultimately ended up creating a messy situation with Scott that he didn't deserve. He never asked to be in the game, nor did he control the fans voting power, but he was voted in and deserved to be in Nashville 100%. Things got even weirder when he was traded from Arizona to Montreal and then sent down, many wondered if he was going to even play in the game as he was headed to St. John's, Newfoundland in the AHL. After much speculation the NHL decided to allow Scott to play, but not before he let out his emotions in this amazing edition of the players tribune: http://www.theplayerstribune.com/a-guy-like-me. In the end Bettman and co. made things right and Scott took it all in with nothing but class and a smile on his face throughout the entire process, a big reason he was such a star this weekend. One of my favourite moments of the weekend was Scott hitting Patrick Kane, who proceeded to then try and "fight" him afterwards:


Whether or not the 3 on 3 was a success or failure for the allstar game the players really bought in to the festivities in Nashville this weekend and that was a success in itself. This was due in big part to the personalities of guys like John Scott, Brent Burns, PK Subban, Roberto Luongo and Jaromir Jagr to name a few, guys who showed the lighter side of hockey and really just had fun out there. For the first time in many years the allstar weekend was enjoyable and entertaining, and it's crazy to think that John Scott had a big part of this. 2 years ago if you said John Scott would be an Allstar MVP I don't think I would be able to speak to that person again. Imagine trying to explain to someone who doesn't follow hockey that closely how John Scott was an Allstar MVP and Sidney Crosby wasn't even in the game. But here we are, January 31st 2016 and John Scott is an Allstar MVP. He deserved every bit of this, his family deserved every bit of this, it was just a great ending to a great weekend. The Allstar game needed a boost and John Scott delivered.


Favourite Moments of the Weekend:
-John Scott wins Allstar MVP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U_K-1UybFg
-Teammates lift up John Scott: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRUmpLg-BRY
-John Scott's goal + celly in the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LX-wrg_R4M
-PK Subban dressing up as Jaromir Jagr: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7eR1QhA1HA
-John Scott fighting Patrick Kane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4rWck9X0aA
-Brent Burns using his son + Joe Pavelski's son: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_0utB0nQPc
-Brent Burns as Chewbacca: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98mKYWMRwGk

Congrats to John Scott on the 2016 Allstar Game MVP!



-Joel Forman - The Forman Faceoff

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