Why did Habs take part in ‘shady’ Scott deal?
I have been thinking a lot in recent days about John Scott and the role the Montreal Canadiens played in what Scott calls a “super shady” deal to try to prevent him from playing in the 2016 All-Star Game.
This odious episode for the Habs, the Arizona Coyotes and the head office of the National Hockey League happened way back in January 2016 but it’s been on my mind because I recently listened to a podcast from earlier this year recounting the incredible Scott story. The podcast is called The Punchline and it’s associated with New York City public radio station WNYC.
Here’s a quick recap of what happened to Scott . Greg Wyshynski, the guy formerly behind the popular Puck Daddy blog, started a joke campaign to get Scott named to the 2016 AllStar Game, the joke being that Scott, an enforcer, was anything but an NHL all-star. Fans with a good sense of humour and a healthy dislike for the way Gary Bettman was running his league got behind the campaign and Scott ended up topping the voting.
The NHL brass flipped out and did everything they could to stop Scott from going to the game. They tried to intimidate him and when that didn’t work, just days before the game, Scott’s team, the Coyotes, traded him to Montreal. The Canadiens then immediately sent him down to their American Hockey League affiliate, which was located in St. John’s, N.L., at the time.
When it happened, most pundits said this meant he would not be able to play in the All-Star game ’cause he was no longer in the NHL. In the end, under tremendous public pressure, the league caved and let him play and Scott became a hero, scoring two goals and being named MVP of the game.
Right after the trade, in midJanuary 2016, most writers and fans suggested it smelled mighty fishy and that it looked like the NHL brass had cooked up this deal to punish Scott for not agreeing to take a pass on the game. Influential TSN columnist Bob McKenzie said at the time: “His inclusion in this trade, in my mind, was absolutely orchestrated to solve the All-Star issue for the league.”
Here’s what Scott said to Coyotes GM Don Maloney when he heard that he’d been traded, as he recounted the conversation on The Punchline podcast: “Are you effin kidding me? What? And he was like, ‘Yeah it was a hockey move. We needed a little defensive help and we traded you to Montreal for this guy (Jarred Tinordi).’ And I said, ‘This is an effin joke. Are you kidding me?’ And he said, ‘Sorry the deal’s been done.’ And I was like, ‘OK. Whatever! Super shady to be traded right after I’m in the AllStar game. If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it’s fishy’.”
Then Scott had to tell his wife, Danielle, who was nine months pregnant with twins. And per the terms of the trade, he had to be on a plane from Phoenix to St. John’s that same day.
He told her, basically saying: You have to deal with this. Take our two kids, the two kids in your belly, pack our stuff.
“It’s so bizarre to have to say that to her but there was nothing I could’ve done,” Scott said on the podcast.
His wife told of how it just hit her like a ton of bricks and she started sobbing.
Who does this to someone? Well apparently the NHL does, in cahoots with the managers at the Coyotes and Canadiens. So who signed off on this in Montreal? Obviously general manager Marc Bergevin. But did he have to run it by team president Geoff Molson? Or, in fact, did the NHL brass orchestrate this thing by contacting the owners of the two teams involved?
And the other question is why Montreal would do this. What was in it for the organization? Obviously they didn’t have any use for Scott. When Montreal began to look like one of the villains in the drama and with a Hollywood movie based on the story coming (announced in 2016) , the Habs finally called Scott up for one game in a Canadiens uniform and after that one game, the team gave him the option of returning to the Ice Caps in Newfoundland or retiring. He retired. More Habs spin in other words.
It just makes you wonder. The Canadiens used to be considered one of the classiest organizations in pro sports. But this story is all about a total lack of class. Look, if you have another explanation for Montreal’s role in the Scott saga, let me know. Like he says, if it walks and talks like a duck, then it’s fishy.
The one thing that comes loud and clear from the podcast is what a genuinely humble and nice fellow John Scott is. Oh well, the good news is he gets the last laugh. He had his moment in the sun and will likely have his moment on the big screen.