NASHVILLE — Forward John Scott has spent eight seasons in the NHL and yet he confessed to experiencing a mild case of uneasiness meeting his All-Star teammates Friday.
"I'm nervous to be around these superstars," Scott said at
Scott, 33, was once considered a controversial selection. But now it seems like he's the most popular player at All-Star weekend.
The "Scott" All-Star jerseys are among the hottest items in Nashville. "I wanted to get one, but I heard they were sold out," Scott said. "I have to talk to somebody ... it's nice to be a fan favorite."
Some believed that Scott's selection made a mockery of the selection process because he was a fourth-line player who has five goals in his career. He received enough votes to become the Pacific Division captain mostly because of a grassroots Internet movement that began on a Yahoo! Sports podcast, then escalated through
After Scott was named an All-Star, the
In The Players' Tribune essay, Scott said that an NHL official had pressured him to pull out of the competition because his selection had started as a prank. The NHL is expected to change the voting system before next season.
On Thursday night, NHL Commissioner
"I think he was worried about me not feeling welcome here, and being uncomfortable," Scott said. "He just said, 'We are happy you are here. We wanted you to be here, and just go have fun, and our support is behind you. It was nice to hear that from him."
The 6-foot-8 Scott said he will compete in hardest shot contest. "I think the hardest shot is where I cannot embarrass myself," Scott said.
Scott is a 260-pound forward and Sunday's 3-on-3 All-Star format doesn't seem like the best format for him. His former
"He's a good player," Burns said. "Don't underestimate his skill. He plays a role that no one wants to do. It's the hardest role in hockey. But he has skill. He is a fast skater. He's not going to be easy to get the puck off him. He has a long reach. I think he's excited to show he can play."
"He's a fun-loving guy," Kane said. "He will represent the game well, and he'll try do the best he can while he's here."
Every All-Star asked about Scott's presence seemed pleased to have him at the event.
"He didn't ask to be in this place," Giroux said. "Personally, I enjoyed watching this and him (becoming) captain of the team."
Scott isn't sure how fans will react. "They will take it for what it is," Scott said. "It's obviously an anomaly. It's probably not going to happen again. I hope they have fun with it and get behind me.
As welcoming as NHL stars have been, there are signs that Scott's All-Star selection has an asterisk attached. He doesn't really represent any NHL team.
"Everyone has the NHL team logo on their helmets and they threw the NHL logo on mine," Scott said.
Still, Scott seems to be enjoying being the center of attention. "Third- and fourth- liners don't get much love," he said.
If he scores a goal, he says he plans a special goal celebration. He said it might be a "homage" to "an old tough guy."
"I'm going to enjoy this while I'm here and then I'm going to go back to the real world," he said, noting that he will have to report back to his St. John's
Scott said it's been a challenging few weeks, but he's happy that fans are discovering who he really is. He said he has received many positive messages from fans after he authored The Players' Tribune essay. Before then, fans only knew him for a famous altercation with
"People see that and say this guy is an animal, or just a 'goon'," Scott said. "It's nice to have a bigger scope like this and have people say, "He's a nice guy, down-to-earth, a family guy who worked his way up."
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