Arizona’s Scott in All-Star Game would be must-see

The second-place vote-getter so far for the NHL All-Star Game is a three-time Hart Trophy winner tied for seventh in goals this season. The third-place vote-getter leads the league in scoring. And the overall leader … well, he was placed on waivers twice this season and has no goals and one assist in six games. One of these things is not like the others. While Washington’s Alex Ovechkin and Chicago’s Patrick Kane are having all-star seasons, the fact Arizona’s John Scott is even on the list of hopefuls (voting closes Jan. 1) while averaging six minutes of ice time per game is a joke. That’s the point. When the NHL opened up voting to fans, it was only a matter of time before some starting screwing with the process. In 2007, a “Vote for Rory” campaign tried to get Canucks journeyman Rory Fitzpatrick to the game. It failed. Last year, nearly all of Latvia backed Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons, who led all players with 1.6 million votes despite ranking outside the top 200 in scoring. Scott is a curious choice. With five goals and 11 points in his sevenyear career, the 6-foot-8 enforcer’s best attribute is dropping the gloves, which is not yet an event in the skills competition. But as he showed last year when he wore a T-shirt of himself celebrating his first goal of the season, the 33-year-old does possess something the all-star game could use: a sense of humour. In a league that often takes itself too seriously, having Scott lumbering up and down the ice in a 3-on-3 tournament featuring some of the most skilled players could be funny. Seeing him participate in the accuracy challenge or fastest skater competition could be hilarious. And maybe that’s what the AllStar Game needs. This is about entertainment. Fans want to see the best players in the world. More importantly, they want to see them have fun.