Despite the NHL’s resistance to the year of John Scott at the All-Star Game, the people will be heard. Official John Scott All-Star Game t-shirts from the NHL are sold out.
The shirts must just generally be really popular, right? Let’s check in on other players. Ovechkin? In stock. Kane? In stock. Malkin? In stock. Tavares? In stock. Doughty? In stock.
The only player whose shirt is sold out is John Scott. Not even pandering to the “home” team was enough to get the likes of Shea Weber, Roman Josi or Pekka Rinne into the elite company of John Scott here.
This adds to a string of bad looks from the NHL on the whole John Scott ordeal. That’s particularly true in light of a Scott-penned article at the Player’s Tribune, which was released on Thursday.
In the article, Scott outlines the saga from his end, including having NHL officials call him and ask him if really thinks his kids would be proud of him for going through with the game.
The NHL comes out of Scott’s story with egg on their face, even though it isn’t really pitched as a tell-all. It’s Scott saying why he’s playing and why he’s proud that he’s playing. It’s hard to not get behind Scott after you read it passages like this:
I’ve seen my name in the news, on the press release, on the official rosters. But even still: there’s just something about gear, you know? I, John Scott, from Michigan Tech, at 33 years old … have All-Star gloves.
The guys are all genuinely happy for me, and they’re letting me know it. They’re giving me some crap about it, too (of course), but it’s all in good fun. Everyone’s taking their turn, trying my gloves on. We’re laughing. It’s a cool moment.
So while the NHL might have tried to push him out, he’s making them money by being the hottest selling shirt in the game. They can have their egg and eat it too.
@NHL waiting on my orders captain!! pic.twitter.com/wLCodgYtDQ
— Brent Burns (@Burnzie88) January 28, 2016
RELATED: The 10 Biggest All-Star Game Snubs
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.
