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NHL won't make 'substantive changes' to All-Star voting format: Report

Josh Cooper
NASHVILLE, TN - JANUARY 31: John Scott #28 of the Arizona Coyotes is held up by teammates Mark Giordano #5 of the Calgary Flames and Brent Burns #88 and Joe Pavelski #8 of the San Jose Sharks of the Pacific Division All-Stars of the Western Conference after defeating the Atlantic Division All-Stars of the Eastern Conference in the 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Final Game at Bridgestone Arena on January 31, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Pacific Divisoin All-Stars of the Western Conference defeated the Atlantic Division All-Stars of the Eastern Conference 1-0. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
John Scott of the Arizona Coyotes is held up by teammates after the NHL All-Star Game. The Pacific Divisoin All-Stars of the Western Conference defeated the Atlantic Division All-Stars of the Eastern Conference 1-0. (Getty Images)

Last season, the fan vote of John Scott for the 2016 All-Star Game was the major storyline for the event. Could we see something like this happen again for the 2017 game?

On Sportsnet’s Headlines segment on Saturday, Elliotte Friedman reported that there will be “no substantive changes to All-Star balloting.” This was in reference as to whether fans could push for another player like Scott.

A longtime enforcer, Scott finished last season with five goals in 286 games in his NHL career.

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Scott was originally voted to join the Pacific Division All-Stars as a team captain, but was traded to the Montreal Canadiens from the Arizona Coyotes after the voting results were announced. Before the game, the league reportedly tried to pressure Scott to not play, but he opted to go to Nashville to take part in the festivities.

Scott won the All-Star Game MVP and his story has led to a movie deal with Mitch Albom writing the script. After the game ended Scott was carried off the ice by his Pacific Division teammates.

“So if you were expecting that this kind of write-in thing would not be able to happen again … I’ve been told no substantive changes,” Friedman added.

It’s unclear whether fans would want to try to find another Scott type player again. Last year seemed to go remarkably well with Scott, who has been liked by his teammates at every walk of his pro career. Would this embolden fans to try to create another story for a different player, or would they be content with Scott’s MVP performance last year and move on from this type of situation? If Friedman’s report is correct, we’ll find out soon.

All-Star weekend will take place Jan. 28 and 29 at Staples Center.

(In full disclosure, this site played a role in that fan campaign.)

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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