The NHL continues to backpedal hard on their attempt to remove John Scott from the 2016 All-Star Game, telling him that his kids wouldn’t be proud of him if he played. They not only allowing him to be named MVP of the game — though he wasn’t officially an option — but have named him First Star of the Week. He is almost surely the first player to win the star of the week while not technically being in the NHL.
The honor comes as Scott became the feel-good story of the most-watched All-Star Game in many, many years. That he had to be such a good story to cause the league to do a 180 on him says a lot about what a good weekend Scott had despite the league working against him.
Even on the All-Star Game broadcast, Scott was derided by Mike Milbury who didn’t seem to want anyone to talk about Scott before the game and predicted the Pacific Division would lose to the Central Division in the first game because John Scott was on the team.
Instead, Scott scored two goals, laid out Patrick Kane and was the focal point of fun as the Pacific Division one the 3-on-3 tournament.
Cam Atkinson grabbed second star of the week after scoring four goals in two games to help the Columbus Blue Jackets sweep a home-and-home against the ailing Montreal Canadiens.
The third star went to rookie Jack Eichel, who had back-to-back multi-point games before the break, including potting the game-winner against Ottawa on Tuesday. Not a part of the conversation at times, he’s working his way back into the Calder contention. He ranks second in rookie goals (16) behind Dylan Larkin and second in rookie points (34) behind Artemi Panarin.
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Dustin Nelson is the News Editor for The Hockey Writers. He’s a contributor to Hockey Prospectus, Hockey Wilderness, and writes a column for Rotowire. He’s also written for Gone Puck Wild, Wild Xtra, InDigest, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, Tiny Mix Tapes, Prefix Magazine & other publications. Have a tip? Email him at dlukenelson[at]gmail[dot]com.
