John Scott learns lesson from Phil Kessel incident

John Scott learns lesson from Phil Kessel incident

John Scott, there you go, fighting and getting suspended, and then not agreeing with said suspension per Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area.

But while Scott's disagreement is interesting in its own right (and we'll get to that later) what's more fascinating is that said suspension came from fighting Ducks tough guy Tim Jackman and not going after an Anaheim skill player in retaliation for a Jackman rough on Sharks star blueliner Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

“I did that a few years ago and that did not end well. It was a little different,” Scott told Kurz. “But I think it’s kind of gutless to go after a guy like [Vlasic] when you’re a tough guy."

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The 'few years ago' incident is when Scott, then a member of the Buffalo Sabres, went after Maple Leafs star forward Phil Kessel, which led to Kessel's bizarre stick swinging, light saber fight-like thing.

Scott referenced this.

"Obviously I don’t condone me going after Kessel, but those were different situations,” he added.

Interestingly Scott said he didn't agree with the two-game suspension. But according to the NHL's Department of Player Safety video, Scott said he left the bench with the desire to fight Jackman.

"As Scott described the play on our hearing today, his intent upon coming over the boards is to challenge Jackman," the video said.

Without knowing the particulars, it's hard to really note what was said in the hearing and how it was delivered. But just by the eyeball test of the video, the line change looked legal. If Scott announced his intention was to fight Jackman, then he basically outed himself in the hearing.