HIGH ON HOUSTON
FORMER AERO JOHN SCOTT RETURNS TO HIS FIRST PRO HOME TO HELP HARVEY VICTIMS
With fond memories of his first pro home, former Aero John Scott joins fellow ex-NHL players to help Hurricane Harvey victims.
John Scott was watching from his home in Traverse City, Mich., when Hurricane Harvey devastated the Houston area.
He was more than 1,300 miles away, but what Scott saw hit home hard.
Part of it was because of his affinity for Houston — his pro hockey career began with three seasons in Aeros colors — and as a husband and father of four young children.
“It’s terrifying because you always relate it to your life,” Scott said. “I pictured what I would do with my kids and my family. You never put yourself in that situation because it’s so mind-boggling to watch it happen. I was scared and nervous and curious as to how bad it actually was.”
So when Scott was invited to join a group of NHL alumni playing a charity game to raise funds for Harvey victims, he was quick to sign on.
“I love Houston,” Scott said. (The organizers) asked me if I’d like to be involved in it and I jumped at the opportunity. If there’s any way I can play hockey and help out Houston, let’s do it.”
The charity game is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday at the Willowbrook Aerodrome. The day’s events begin at noon, with live music, a silent auction and raffles among the festivities.
Scott, 35, is among several ex-NHL players slated to participate. They include Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Paul Coffey and longtime NHLers Ron Duguay, Mike Krushelnyski, Gary Leeman, Dennis Maruk, Brad May, Al Secord, Steve Thomas, and Rick Vaive.
Bayou City bond
Scott, however, has the closest connection to Houston. After a collegiate career at Michigan Tech, he turned pro with the American Hockey League’s Aeros in 2006-07 — he jokingly called it “my first job out of college” — and has fond memories of the city.
“Me and Houston have a little bond,” said Scott, a native of St. Catharines, Ontario. “Initially, it was just the food and the weather because I was coming from Houghton, Michigan, where it gets (lots) of snow to Houston, Texas, where it’s barbecue and nice weather. And the people. Everybody was so hospitable and nice. I wasn’t expecting much as far as hockey fans go, but there’s a passionate group down there. It was more than I expected. It was great.
“Honest to God, those 2½ years were probably the most fun I’ve had in hockey because we were all young and really didn’t have any responsibilities and everybody loved Houston. I felt like I hit the jackpot.”
In addition to his first pro goal and fight and the Aeros’ 2008 playoff run, Scott waxed nostalgic about his time off the ice in Houston. From living in Sugar Land to making barbecue runs to the Goode Co. Armadillo Palace to watching Hockey Night in Canada at the Maple Leaf Pub in Midtown, he quickly became a fan of the city.
“I spent the majority of the summers there training and living in Houston because I loved it so much,” Scott said.
Unlikely All-Star path
Scott last played for the Aeros in 2008-09, beginning an NHL odyssey that saw him spend time as an enforcer with seven different franchises. During the 2015-16 season, an online fan campaign saw him voted into the All-Star Game in Nashville. He went from controversial selection to scoring two goals, being voted MVP and carried off the ice by his Pacific Division teammates.
That led to Scott, whose last NHL action was with Montreal in 2016, penning his autobiography “A Guy Like Me: Fighting to Make the Cut,” which is being developed into a movie. It’s quite a journey for the guy who was initially on the roster of the Aeros’ East
Coast Hockey League affiliate and played his way onto the Houston roster after the team struggled early that season.
“It’s just funny how things worked out,” Scott said. “I just worked my ass off and worked my way up. I never imagined this is where I’d end up right now.”
As Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta has expressed interest in the possibility of bringing an NHL team to Houston, Scott was quick to vouch for the market’s viability.
“Other (Sun Belt) markets like Dallas, Tampa Bay, Florida and even Carolina, those teams are all good and their markets are great, but they don’t honestly compare to Houston,” Scott said. “I don’t know why there hasn’t been discussion of a team in Houston because it’s kind of a no-brainer. If Dallas can support a team, Houston can obviously support a team.
“Every sport that is in Houston is supported. It’s just a sports town. I don’t know what it is, but people just overlook it because it’s Houston. I don’t know if they get babybrothered to Dallas a little bit, but there’s no reason why they shouldn’t have an NHL franchise there.”