The Punchline

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Radiolab – "The Punchline"

Host: Latif Nasser (with Lulu Miller, Greg Washinsky, John Scott, Danielle Scott)
Date: January 16, 2026 (originally aired 2019)
Podcast: Radiolab by WNYC Studios

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Overview

Theme:
This episode chronicles the improbable, meme-worthy, and surprisingly heartfelt journey of John Scott, an unassuming journeyman NHL enforcer, from hockey’s margins to being voted captain of the 2016 NHL All-Star Game as a joke—and what happened when that joke evolved. It examines fan power, cyberbullying, the resistance of established institutions, and unexpected redemption, all while exploring timeless questions about identity, dignity, and agency.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Set-Up: A Joke That Wasn’t Funny—Until It Was

• Latif Nasser’s Relentless Pursuit:
  The episode opens with Nasser recounting two years spent chasing an interview with John Scott, finally getting it while Scott was on “dad duty” at home—a moment that ultimately added warmth and candor to the conversation.

  "You could hear his kid banging on a piano in the background… this moment between him and his daughter… so intimate, so tender... convinced me this story's gonna be even better than I thought." – Latif Nasser (01:55)

• Genesis of the "Prank":
  The story began with hockey journalist Greg Washinsky and podcaster Jeff Marek lamenting fan voting restrictions in the NHL All-Star Game and deciding to subvert it as a prank:

  "Yet again, the NHL is just changing things up to get more eyeballs... the All-Star game has just become a watered down, half speed, joke of a game." – Latif Nasser (04:53) "What if we use the little voting power we do have to mess with the game? … We need someone in there who normally would not be in this game." – Latif Nasser quoting podcast conversation (06:51)

2. Meet the Unlikely Hero: John Scott

• Who is John Scott?
  A 6’8”, 270 lb. enforcer, known less for skill and more for fighting, who barely played each night and was considered a "goon."

  "The only thing he was good at... knocking other people senseless." – Latif Nasser (08:15) "Even as a kid, I was a monster... no coordination." – John Scott (10:31) "Never the fastest, never the most skilled... never the best at anything." – John Scott (10:57)

• Personal Side and Family Life:
  Moments with his wife Danielle and children, including a tender on-tape episode of parenthood, ground Scott’s story in everyday stakes.

  "[My daughter] was our number five and we needed that because if she was anything but perfect, we'd have been in trouble." – John Scott (12:22)

3. The Fan Vote and Institutional Backlash

• An Internet Campaign Snowballs:
  The prank takes off, and Scott rockets to #1 in all-star voting despite being, by all metrics, a non-star.

  "It was unbelievable how quickly it grew... John Scott, number one vote getter among all players in the NHL." – Latif Nasser (20:11, 20:16)

• NHL's Discomfort and Pushback:
  The league, considering the All-Star Game a prestigious honor, tries to persuade Scott not to attend and then orchestrates a series of moves to keep him out.

  "They started that way, and I just kind of brushed it off... And then he's like, what do you think your kids are gonna think? … As soon as he brought my kids into the equation, I just, like, lost it." – John Scott (24:08–25:10)

• Fans Rebel:
  A wave of online outrage follows, with fans perceiving Scott’s demotion and trade as underhanded.

  "Complete outrage... protests online... Look, the fans voted this guy in. The NHL is doing all it can to keep this guy out, and that's not right." – Greg Washinsky (32:00–32:09)

4. The All-Star Game: Punchline Becomes Fairy Tale

• Despite Everything, Scott Plays:
  After much soul-searching (and encouragement from Danielle), Scott decides, “let’s do it” and heads to Nashville.

  "My wife was building me back up, and slowly but surely I was like, okay, you know what? Fuck this, let's do it." – John Scott (34:22, explicit)

• Magical Performance:
  Scott astounds everyone: scores two goals, lays a hit on a superstar, jokes with rivals, and becomes a crowd favorite.

  "It was awesome. I was so jacked up, I had goosebumps... The crowd, I didn't know how they were going to react... and they were all for it." – John Scott (38:42–39:00) "[It] was like Disney wrote a script... now he kisses his wife... he grabs his kids and skates them around the ice." – John Scott (47:05)

• Denied, Then Crowned MVP:
  The league tries to keep Scott off the MVP ballot, but a flood of write-in votes makes him the runaway winner.

  "John Scott's name was not listed among the three MVP candidates... They started to boo loudly... It was the last gasp of all the people at the NHL that tried to keep John Scott out... their last chance to get him." – Greg Washinsky (44:02–44:44) "John Scott, Honda NHL All Star MVP, as a write-in candidate." (45:10)

5. Aftermath & Legacy

• Personal Triumph, Institutional Change:
  Scott retires soon after, his helmet goes to the Hall of Fame, but the “John Scott rule” is instituted to prevent future fan coups.

  "Any player who is voted to be a captain in the All Star Game, then gets demoted to the minor leagues, will be disqualified... effectively ensuring... never again will the fans have quite the power to overthrow the system..." – Latif Nasser (48:27)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Latif Nasser on Why the Story Resonates:

  "It's a sports story, but it's, it's actually so much more like it's a story about voting. It's a story about cyberbullying. It's a story about sticking it to the establishment. It's a, it's a sports story, but it's like, it's one that feels like it could only have happened at this very specific moment that we're living in right now." (02:53)

• Fan Power vs. System:

  "Well, we're gonna make our votes count then. Here's Johnny." – Greg Washinsky (20:35)

• Scott, on Being Used as a Joke:

  "Oh, I hated it. This isn't funny anymore. I, I get it. Like I'm this terrible player who you guys think would be fun to watch me, you know, fail in this game..." (21:09)

• Climax in Nashville:

  "I ripped the shot. Top corner on the goalie, and it went in." – John Scott (second goal, (41:32)) "He was hoisted onto the shoulders of his teammates and paraded around like he was Rudy." – Greg Washinsky (46:18)

• Danielle Scott, on the Whiplash of Public Opinion:

  "It's like how quickly everybody can go from hating you to loving you." (39:08)

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Timestamps of Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Theme | |-----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:20 | Introduction to the story – “more than a sports story” | | 06:12 | Breakdown of new All-Star Game rules and genesis of the prank | | 08:39 | Identification of John Scott as “the guy” | | 13:06 | John Scott’s unlikely path: underdog, outsider, and his family’s perspective | | 20:16 | Fan voting snowballs: Scott rockets to #1 | | 24:08 | NHL tries to dissuade Scott from attending; use of personal attacks | | 26:45 | Sudden trade and demotion to the minors | | 32:00 | Online outrage and fan backlash; debate about democracy in sports | | 34:22 | Danielle encourages Scott to go anyway: “let’s do it” | | 37:26 | All-Star Game narration: John Scott scores his first goal | | 41:32 | Second goal; crowd erupts | | 44:02 | Scott initially not on the MVP ballot; fans rebel | | 45:10 | Scott named All-Star Game MVP (write-in) | | 47:05 | Poignant Disney-esque moment: Family on the ice, celebration, the “end of a movie” scene | | 48:27 | Aftermath: Scott retires, the legacy, and the NHL “John Scott Rule” |

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Episode Tone & Narrative Style

The episode is playful, self-aware, and heartfelt, blending classic Radiolab storytelling (music cues, multi-voice editing) with the raw vulnerability and understated humor of its subjects. The hosts’ warmth and curiosity offset moments of institutional cynicism and the anxieties at the story’s core, making Scott’s victory both relatable and cathartic.

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Final Thoughts

“The Punchline” deftly uses a niche sports story as a prism for issues of democracy, dignity, and collective action—and ultimately becomes a moving portrait of an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances, embracing the joke and, in doing so, transforming it.

Transcript

[Latif Nasser]

Radiolab is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. Hey, it's Latif. This is Radiolab. Today, I'm going to resurface a story. One, an interview that was one of, if not the hardest gets of my career. It took me two years of pestering. I regularly pestered the guy's PR people, then his agent, his book agent, even him directly. I got multiple nos at multiple points. And you're probably thinking, who is this guy? Is it the president? He. Is it a Rock and Roll hall of Famer? No, it was this humble, unassuming Canadian guy you've probably never even heard of. But I had just fallen for his story so hard, I knew I had to tell it. So when I finally did get that, yes, when I finally did interview him, the only time he offered to talk to me was when he was at home on dad duty. And, and you could hear his kid banging on a piano in the background. And I was like, oh, this audio is terrible. Like, I can't do this. I could barely hear him. He wasn't paying attention. It just felt like one of those moments where the whole thing was gonna fall apart, but then something magical happened. You'll hear it in the episode. It's this moment between him and his daughter that felt so intimate, so tender, that it just convinced me, like, oh, this story's gonna be even better than I thought. I hope you enjoy. It's an episode from 2019. The punchline. Wait, you're listening.

[John Scott]

Okay.

[Greg Washinsky]

All right.

[Latif Nasser]

Okay.

[John Scott]

All right. You're listening to Radiolab Radio Lab from WNY.

[Latif Nasser]

Rewind. Oh, my God. So this I had. Hey, I'm Jad Abu Murad. I'm Robert Krulwitz, this is Radiolab. And we have another story for you, another adventure courtesy of who else? Well, reporter Latif Nasser. So the way I first learned about the story is that I saw that there was this article trending in this online publication called the Players Tribune, which is like an, like a kind of athletes magazine, which of course, you subscribe to. Which, of course I subscribe to. Because I'm, like, scrawniest. I'm, like, least athletic. I'm the only scrawny couch potato, basically. But anyway, the, the, the thing that jumped out to me about this article is that it's a sports story, but it's, it's actually so much more like it's a story about voting. It's a story about cyberbullying. It's a story about sticking it to the establishment. It's a, it's a sports story, but it's like, it's one that feels like it could only have happened at this very specific moment that we're living in right now.

[Greg Washinsky]

Yeah, I mean, I don't know if we can always paint sports as a microcosm of society, but in this case, it's undeniable that it was.

[Latif Nasser]

So the whole story starts with this guy, Greg Washinsky.

[Danielle Scott]

What are you guys talking about today?

[Greg Washinsky]

Hockey stuff.

[Latif Nasser]

Greg is a hockey journalist, senior NHL writer for espn, known to his legions of fans as Puck Daddy. That is self given name. No, he got it from his editor when he first started blogging about hockey.

[Greg Washinsky]

The other option at the time was Zamboni Pony.

[Latif Nasser]

Oh.

[Greg Washinsky]

Which would have been a horrible name. And I very much avoided an entire, you know, 10 year run of people calling me the pony.

[Latif Nasser]

That's true. Right.

[Greg Washinsky]

But now I have my, I have my notes. I'm ready to roll now.

[Latif Nasser]

Okay, well, let's just jump in then.

[Greg Washinsky]

Yeah. So we are live happy. This story really begins on the podcast that I did with a gentleman by the name of Jeff Merrick in the.

[Latif Nasser]

Wrong industry, but basically a couple of.

[Greg Washinsky]

Hockey writers just shooting the breeze on hockey. Well, you know what industry we're in, we're in the hockey industry. And as you know, the hockey industry. Hockey industry is about making money, making new fans, turning heads.

[Latif Nasser]

Okay, so this is November 2015, just a few months before the NHL's, you know, big mid season spectacle.

[John Scott]

Welcome to Emily arena, the All Star Game.

[Latif Nasser]

NHL All Star Game.

[Greg Washinsky]

There is a sense that I have about this game that that's, that's worrisome.

[Latif Nasser]

And so that this year, yet again, the NHL, for the hundredth time in the last 15 years, was changing the format of the All Star Game. This year, the Honda NHL All Star game features a 3 on 3 tournament consisting of four different teams, one from each division. Hockey is typically 5 on 5. 3 on 3, however, is supposed to be like, you know, way more action, a lot more scoring, a lot more fun. But for Greg and Jeff, here's where I'm at. Who are, you know, these hockey purists? They're like, yet again, the NHL is just changing things up to get more eyeballs on this game that by this point has just become a watered down half speed. Joke of a game. It's not a game. It makes a mockery of it, but disgusting. So the two of them, as many die hard hockey traditionalists do, go off on the NHL and eventually that leads them to talk about the other. What they see is the other really dumb thing about that year's All Star Game. Fan voting. Fan voting has long been a part of the game.

[Greg Washinsky]

As a kid, there was nothing else better than grabbing a little punch card at a game and knocking out the little circles and trying to grab like 30 of them to make sure that, you know, Kirk Mueller gets a spot in the All Star Game or whatever.

[Latif Nasser]

But over the years, the NHL had started reducing the number of players that could get voted in one year. They were even accused of turning off the vote when they didn't like where it was headed. And anyway, this year, the NHL had limited the vote so much that the fans could only vote in four players. A captain for each division. The Pacific, the Central, the Atlantic, the Metropolitan. But four players, all you could vote in.

[Greg Washinsky]

That just seems to run counter to what the All Star Game history tradition should be, to what we really want with this All Star Game, which is fan engagement at the end.

[Latif Nasser]

I just hope that everyone that somehow.

[John Scott]

A collective and maybe we can lead.

[Latif Nasser]

The charge here on this one. And at that point they started thinking, what if we use the little voting power that we do have to mess with the All Star Game. We need some.

[John Scott]

We need someone in there who normally.

[Latif Nasser]

Would not be in this game. Like as a joke, we should vote somebody in who just does not belong. And Greg's like, I like that thought, okay, but who, who would fit the bill there? And as Greg was thinking about it, he thought, you know what would be funny? You know what would really mess with the NHL is if we'd vote in a player, a player who couldn't really.

[Greg Washinsky]

Keep up, couldn't really sh.

[Latif Nasser]

Couldn't really handle the puck.

[Greg Washinsky]

The slow guy with the bad hands couldn't do anything. Let's really, you know, drop a stink bomb in the room.

[Latif Nasser]

And then it hit him, the perfect.

[Greg Washinsky]

Guy, A Goliath of the league, John Scott.

[Latif Nasser]

Oh, my God. John Scott. All Star John Scott. So John Scott.

[John Scott]

Scott is 6, 8 and 270 was a behavior.

[Latif Nasser]

He missed. Yeah, he cracks the ice.

[Greg Washinsky]

He was a guy that would only play between like five and eight minutes a night.

[Latif Nasser]

Couldn't really shoot.

[John Scott]

He missed.

[Latif Nasser]

Couldn't really skate. And on top of that, when John Scott was on the ice.

[John Scott]

Oh, that's the way it is.

[Latif Nasser]

That's.

[John Scott]

That's a cheap shot. That's unacceptable.

[Latif Nasser]

The only thing he was good at, pretty much all he could do was knocking other people senseless. Here we go.

[John Scott]

Scott went after Kessel and.

[Latif Nasser]

Whoa. This has brought something on in hockey terms.

[John Scott]

This guy is a predator.

[Latif Nasser]

John Scott was what you would call an old fashioned goon.

[John Scott]

Yes.

[Latif Nasser]

Oh, my God. That's the one.

[John Scott]

He's the one.

[Latif Nasser]

He's the guy.

[Greg Washinsky]

From that point on, there was no other answer to the question. Like, that was the guy that it would have to be.

[Latif Nasser]

Just got it for one. And what started there as a tiny joke between two guys on a podcast would end up twisting the fate and fortune of one of the most feared, loathed, punishing players in the National Hockey League.

[John Scott]

You be quiet. Yeah.

[Latif Nasser]

Change some things for his family, too.

[John Scott]

Be soft.

[Latif Nasser]

Hello? Hey. Okay, I'm calling you from my cell phone. How's this?

[John Scott]

Oh, much better.

[Latif Nasser]

So this is John.

[John Scott]

Yeah, we're good. Morgan gave me the thumbs up.

[Latif Nasser]

All right, great. Okay.

[John Scott]

Oh, yeah, my daughter's here too. So if there's, like, sounds, it's just my daughter cruising around.

[Latif Nasser]

No, that's cute. I love it.

[John Scott]

Okay, good.

[Latif Nasser]

Okay. So I think to really understand what it was like for John to be on the other end of this, to be like, you know, like the butt of a joke, you need to understand what hockey meant to John, like, what it meant for him to be playing in the NHL.

[John Scott]

Like, everyone has their dreams. Like when you're a kid, especially in the States, it's football, baseball. In Canada, when you ask a 7, 8 year old, we do those projects in class. What do you want to be when you grow up? And I think 90% of the boys are like, I'm going to be in the NHL. And I always said that my parents have all that stuff all over the walls and stuff. But, yeah, I always dreamed of playing the NHL. I think everybody, that was their big dream. So, yeah.

[Latif Nasser]

So John has this classic Canadian hockey kid story.

[John Scott]

Put on skates. When I was three, my dad built the rink in the backyard.

[Latif Nasser]

Played all the time, every single day.

[John Scott]

Morning, noon and night. And you just go to sleep in your gear and wake up and just jump right on the ice. Skate until 7 or 8 at night, and you would just jump in bed, go to sleep. You just kept it on. It saved time. So.

[Latif Nasser]

But the thing about John was that.

[John Scott]

Even as a kid, I was a monster. I came out of the womb 24, 25, 24 and a half inches long, and I was 11 pounds 12 pounds. I was huge. School pitchers was a joke. Everyone thought I was like a teacher's assistant when I hit like grade seven, eight, nine, because I was so tall. And when you're young and you're that tall, you have zero, zero coordination.

[Latif Nasser]

And so Jon was never the top guy on his team.

[John Scott]

Never the fastest, never the most skilled, never, you know, the best at anything. I just kind of. Sorry. My daughter just started playing the piano beside us.

[Latif Nasser]

Yeah. Is he okay with.

[John Scott]

Are you okay with the piano, Latif? I can. I'll get her off.

[Latif Nasser]

Okay. Yeah, that would be great. Sorry.

[Danielle Scott]

It's cute for a little bit, that last question was.

[John Scott]

All right, we're good.

[Latif Nasser]

Thanks.

[Danielle Scott]

Maybe a little too much.

[John Scott]

Yeah.

[Latif Nasser]

So you. Oh, yeah, well, there's something you said that you.

[John Scott]

Here, let me, let me put her to bed. One second. Sorry, Latif, I'm going to sleep.

[Latif Nasser]

Take your time. Take. Totally take your time.

[John Scott]

I'll keep you on the phone. It'll take two seconds. But even if she cries up there a little bit, she'll be fine.

[Latif Nasser]

Follow you. Is that okay?

[John Scott]

Yeah, follow me. She's just getting a little squirrely. Good question. Sola Teeth. You're from Mississauga?

[Latif Nasser]

Yeah, I'm from Mississauga.

[John Scott]

So you're in Boston, New York now or.

[Latif Nasser]

No. So, yeah, I'm calling you from Boston. My cell phone is Boston. My job is in New York, but I actually live in la.

[John Scott]

Oh, wow. You're just like all over the map.

[Latif Nasser]

Yeah, I'm kind of. Well, not. I mean, I feel like compared to you, you've been all over the map. For real.

[John Scott]

All right, let me put her in here. All right, now she's done. Perfect.

[Latif Nasser]

Oh, my God. What kind of kid do you have? You could put her down so easily.

[John Scott]

She's like the best kid ever. It's great. I don't know how we lucked out with her, but she was our number five and we needed that because if she was anything but perfect, we'd have been in trouble. All right, we're back. All right, let's. Let's get back.

[Latif Nasser]

Okay, we're back. We're back, we're back. Okay. Okay. So to jump back in, John plays throughout his school. By the time he's getting close to college, a lot of his friends are getting, you know, offers scholarships to different, you know, big time schools. University of Minnesota, Boston College, places like that. For John, there was just no interest. Like coaches thought he was too big to play, wouldn't be able to keep up out there on the ice. But eventually he did get one offer to play for a mid level university, Michigan Tech.

[John Scott]

And I just figured I would, in all honesty, I would finish college and get a job. That would be it. I would have gotten an education for free. And, you know, I'd play hockey with the guys on the weekends, but that was, that would be the end of hockey.

[Latif Nasser]

But then a couple of things happened.

[Danielle Scott]

First, at school, I kind of always noticed him. He met Danielle because he was about 2ft taller than anybody else on campus.

[Latif Nasser]

They were both engineering students. Started dating senior year, you know, we.

[Danielle Scott]

Kind of hit things off and the rest was history.

[Latif Nasser]

And the other thing that happened was.

[John Scott]

I got this opportunity to go play for the Houston Arrows, Minnesota's farm team.

[Latif Nasser]

A minor league team.

[John Scott]

It wasn't crazy money, it was 30,000 or 35,000.

[Latif Nasser]

He talked to Danielle about it.

[Danielle Scott]

He was like, well, let me give this hockey thing like a go.

[Latif Nasser]

Like, this is the only chance I'm going to get to be able to say I played pro.

[Danielle Scott]

And the way that I kind of looked at it was, oh, okay. It's just like a little head start. And then once I graduate, like, we'll both get our jobs, like our real jobs and move on with our lives.

[Latif Nasser]

So John moved down to Houston.

[John Scott]

I didn't have any expectations. I just worked my tail off. I was a bad skater, I worked at skating, I was a bad passer. I would work at passing after practice.

[Latif Nasser]

But he says no matter what he did, he would not get any playing time.

[John Scott]

I was always a step or two behind. I was, I think, the ninth defenseman on the roster. And you only dressed six for a game. So I never played the first, I think, month of the season.

[Latif Nasser]

But while Jon was in Houston, he noticed that there were these other big guys on the team and they were getting playing time.

[John Scott]

They, they kind of took me under their wings. And they said, hey, listen, if you.

[Latif Nasser]

Really want to get noticed down here, if you really want to go to the NHL, you should learn how to fight.

[John Scott]

It worked perfectly because that's what happened. So for those of you who don't follow hockey too much, I have guys on my team who make 10 million, 9 million, $8 million, and they are paid to score and they are paid to perform and play well. But there are also guys out there.

[Latif Nasser]

They are the ugly children of the.

[John Scott]

NHL who their job is to. They are instigators, aggravators, pester, annoy. And we call them the rats, the pests.

[Latif Nasser]

And you can hear these guys, like when they're miked up.

[John Scott]

How are you even here?

[Latif Nasser]

Like, 10 guys hurt right now running their mouths. What are you. What are you doing out here?

[John Scott]

They try to get under the star player's skin.

[Latif Nasser]

Ugly guy in the league ugliest. They'll jab and poke at these star players, but sometimes, oh, hit right in the head. They'll use their stick to hack at them or they'll check them into the board. I mean, what is that? Like, they'll try and really hurt him. What is that?

[John Scott]

I mean, the puck is nowhere.

[Latif Nasser]

So in order to deal with pests, you got people like John who are called enforcers.

[John Scott]

So basically my job is to make sure those pests don't pester my top guys. And so when we would go into a game, I would know exactly who to pinpoint because, you know, you do your scouting, and I would go up to those guys and I would say, hey, listen, if you're going to do that, I'm going to put my fist through your face. And more often than not, just the fear of the retribution, if they did something would. Would stop them. And you could see the frustration in big John Scott's eyes. But if they did do something, my job was to, oh, we got to fight, beat them up. And as a hockey player, I was a heck of a fighter when I made the NHL.

[Latif Nasser]

John Scott can really punch people.

[John Scott]

And Scott hammered him with the right hand.

[Latif Nasser]

Oh, so John would take care of the past.

[John Scott]

They wouldn't fight. I would usually grab their tough guy.

[Latif Nasser]

Two big boys, and this is what.

[John Scott]

They do best, and beat him up. If we were playing flat and we didn't have energy, Big John Scott trying to spark his team, I would go out and try to fight to get my guys going. Oh, that one just hurt. Or if it was a really bad hit, I would just grab that guy.

[Latif Nasser]

And I would, oh, there's a hard left.

[John Scott]

Beat his doors off. He's absolutely unloaded holding the right hand. It's funny, throughout my career, I really hated fighting. There was days where I wouldn't sleep at night just because I knew I was going to get into a fight. But you just do your job. And I think I did my job well.

[Latif Nasser]

Well enough that Jon was able to make a career in the NHL.

[John Scott]

It's everything you dream of as a kid.

[Danielle Scott]

It was kind of like a leap of faith, and it worked out great.

[Latif Nasser]

So by this point, Danielle and John had gotten married.

[Danielle Scott]

You know, we had bought our first.

[Latif Nasser]

House soon after, had their first two kids.

[Danielle Scott]

It was just so beyond anything we or I ever expected.

[Latif Nasser]

Well, tell me, tell me all the names of all the teams that you played for.

[John Scott]

Oh, my gosh, I'm embarrassed. I.

[Latif Nasser]

So in 2008, John started playing in the NHL for the Minnesota Wild. After that, he played for Chicago and New York and Buffalo and San Jose. And throughout his whole career as an enforcer, there was this shift going on in professional hockey. Just an incredible, incredible play. A lot of the hockey establishment and the media execs in the league were pushing for the game to be more high scoring, to be more about skill and speed.

[John Scott]

Unbelievable goal.

[Latif Nasser]

And a lot of people started coming out and saying there should not be a place in this league for fighting.

[John Scott]

I was the easy target. This guy is a goon. If you haven't seen the movie, you don't have to bother. This is a goon. They went after me and they said, listen, we don't need guys like this in a league. There's no room for it in the game. There's no room for guys in the game. Their sole purpose is to punch people. I believe that players that play in this league should be able to skate and pass and not simply ignite a fight. We're going to eliminate players like this.

[Latif Nasser]

Which is one of the reasons why.

[John Scott]

Oh, my God.

[Latif Nasser]

John Scott, All Star. For guys like Greg Wishinski and Jeff Marek, voting John Scott into the All Star game was not just a hilarious joke about a big guy who couldn't skate, but it was also a big, fat middle finger to the hockey establishment.

[John Scott]

I'm so. I'll just do the whole. The, the big point.

[Latif Nasser]

Do it, do it.

[John Scott]

I was. We were on the road and we were on the bus heading to a game or a pregame skate.

[Latif Nasser]

It was December 2015. John was playing for the Arizona Coyotes.

[John Scott]

And a guy on my team, Anders Lindbeck, our goalie, he was sitting beside me and he's like, hey, you're, you know, you're in. It was like 56 place or something, you know, of the fan voting. And I was like, oh, you know, that's great. People think it's a joke. They're going to vote for me a little bit. And it was, it was nothing serious. So that's how I first heard of it on the bus. So we go to the, we go to the rink, we do our skate. Literally after the skate, he checks his phone again and he's like, holy cow, man. You're like top 25. It happened that fast. And then the next day I was top five. And then like the day after that, I was number one. There's a surprise leader in fan voting for the upcoming NHL All Star Game and his name is. Yeah, John Scott. Seriously, it was like a John Scott, the enforcer for the mega story.

[Latif Nasser]

Arizona's John Scott is leading the NHL.

[John Scott]

It was unbelievable how quickly it grew.

[Latif Nasser]

John Scott, number one, the number one vote getter among all players in the NHL. Which meant that John would be a All Star Game captain, team captain at the All Star Game. Let that sink in for a second. And for the fans who were voting for Jon, there was definitely a bit of like, oh, you shrunk the number of players we can vote in. Oh yeah. Oh really?

[Greg Washinsky]

Well, we're going to make our votes count then.

[Latif Nasser]

Here's Johnny. But I think for a majority of voters voting for John, let's be honest, it was just really simple.

[John Scott]

The reason John Scott's leading the voting is because it's funny. John Scott is not an All Star.

[Latif Nasser]

He has one goal over eight games.

[Danielle Scott]

He barely plays.

[Latif Nasser]

Like in this three on three format where there was supposed to be a bunch of speed and skill. Wouldn't it be funny to see this.

[John Scott]

Big Arizona Coyotes goon, ogre fighter with no skills, objectively bad at hockey?

[Latif Nasser]

I don't know what he's doing in the league. Make a fool of himself.

[John Scott]

Oh, I hated it. This isn't funny anymore. I, I get it. Like I'm this terrible player who you guys think would be fun to watch me, you know, fail in this game, but I just figured it would end on its own. Honestly, I thought it would last a few days and people would get, you know, their enough of it and it would go away, but it just didn't.

[Latif Nasser]

And as for the NHL, they were, they were pissed.

[Greg Washinsky]

I mean, to put it frankly, I definitely got the sense from some of the people that I speak to on a regular basis at the NHL that they were really angry that this was happening.

[Latif Nasser]

And why. Like, can you get any more specific about like, why this would have been an embarrassment to them? Like, what is it exactly that they were so sensitive about?

[Greg Washinsky]

They were sensitive about the fact that the All Star Game is something that a lot of old time hockey people, and there's a lot of old time hockey people that run the National Hockey League see as something prestigious, one of the ultimate honors for a player. And so this was not something they wanted to happen. And it was happening and they didn't really know what to do about it because they didn't have any fail safes in place to prevent it from happening.

[Latif Nasser]

After one day of John sitting atop.

[Danielle Scott]

The All Star vote, we're just, like, laying in bed. The kids are sleeping.

[Latif Nasser]

John gets a text message. He gets up out of bed, goes over to his phone, starts reading it, and he's just standing there for, like. For like, a while.

[Danielle Scott]

Selfishly, I just want to go to bed. But then, you know, I can tell something's just got him stewing over there. And it was his PR guy from the Coyotes.

[John Scott]

They thought it'd be a good idea to release a statement, and they wrote up this statement for me, and it basically said, thank you for the support. I don't want your votes. Please vote for other guys on my team.

[Latif Nasser]

Basically, his own team is saying, step.

[John Scott]

Away from the All Star game.

[Danielle Scott]

I saw him respond, yeah, that statement's fine. And then delete it. And then just sit there and look at it. And I just remember asking, would you want to go? And he's just like, well, yeah, I.

[John Scott]

Think because as a kid, I watched all the All Star games. It was so fun to watch, and I would dream to be in it. So, yeah.

[Danielle Scott]

And I'm like, well, they want you to release a statement. Release a statement, but make sure that it's true.

[Latif Nasser]

And so John ends up writing a statement that reads, quote, it's nice to be thought of by all of the fans. And for that, I am truly flattered and grateful. And while I would love to experience an All Star Game, I think a few of my teammates are a bit more deserving of a vote. And so it's sort of like, I would go if I get voted, but there's other people who deserve it more.

[John Scott]

I said, yeah, sure, send it out. I wasn't totally on board with it, but I just wanted to appease the higher ups, to hopefully help them.

[Latif Nasser]

But even after that, it was still John's got number one vote getter.

[John Scott]

Oh, by far. Yeah. It's funny, they stopped showing how many votes the players were getting. They took that option off the website because I think I was ahead by so many.

[Latif Nasser]

It's like, you broke the website?

[John Scott]

Yeah. And so they. They took that away. And then the NHL, they really tried to strong arm me.

[Latif Nasser]

Oh, yeah? What happened there?

[John Scott]

So I was in my bedroom in Arizona, and they called, and it was one of the higher ups in the NHL, and he just wanted to know how I was feeling. It was getting really close to the end of the voting. I just said, yeah, I want to go to the game. I think it'll be fun. I think it'll be good for Everybody involved. And he's like, really? Are you sure? You think you'll be able to keep up? You think you're good enough? You're not exactly a skill guy, John. And they started that way, and I just kind of brushed it off. I was like, yeah, can skate pretty well. I'm a good, decent hockey player. And he goes, well, you know, what do you. Have you talked to your dad? What do you think? First he goes, is your dad alive? And I was like, yeah, he's alive. What do you think he's going to think about this situation? You think you're going to make him proud? And I was like, what? I don't think that has anything to do with this. And I kind of brushed that off. And at this time, I'm getting a little angry because I'm just like, man, let me flip and play. And then he's like, well, what do you think your kids are gonna think when they look back on this? Do you think they're gonna be proud of their dad who went into the All Star Game this way? And as soon as he brought my kids into the equation, I just, like, lost it. And I kind of snapped back at him like, you're being a real bleep and bleep and bleep and bleep. And we went back and forth and he started cussing at me, and we. And then, like, I finally, like, snapped back into my. Holy cow. I'm, like, yelling at one of the head guys in the NHL. I should, like, dial it back. And I apologize. Like, sorry, like, you know, you pushed the wrong button. Like, let's talk tomorrow. I'll let you know if I'm going to go or not. I left it like that.

[Latif Nasser]

So John slept on it, woke up.

[John Scott]

The next day, called the dude the next morning, and I said, I'm going.

[Latif Nasser]

To. After the break, we'll see you at the game.

[John Scott]

Maybe we will.

[Latif Nasser]

Yeah, maybe.

[John Scott]

Maybe not. I.

[Latif Nasser]

Maybe not. Yeah, maybe you already know about naked short selling.

[John Scott]

Maybe you've personally shorted stocks yourself. But do you know about the time.

[Latif Nasser]

Short sellers ruined a Super Bowl? Basically, for me, I was a little late, but red flags went up. Like, what is going on on this is. This is really scary. At Planet Money, we get the story behind the money. To explain how money works, listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Three, two, one. Chad, Robert. Radiolab. Back to hockey and report a lot to Fnasser. Okay, so about two weeks before the All Star game, John is just getting ready for practice and The GM of his team comes up to him.

[John Scott]

Been talking to me all the time throughout this All Star stuff. And I thought it was just going to be another conversation about that. And he pulls me into the stick room and he's like, yeah, I just traded you to Montreal. And I was like, are you effing kidding me? What? And he's like, yeah, it was a hockey move. We, you know, we. We needed a little defensive help and we traded you to Montreal for this guy. And I said, this is an effing joke. Are you kidding me? And he said, sorry, you know, the deal's been done. I was like, okay, whatever. Super shady to be traded. Right after I am finally in the All Star Game. It's like, you know, if it smells like a, you know, walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it's there. It's fishy.

[Latif Nasser]

We called John's former team and the NHL about this. Neither wanted to talk. Nonetheless, what happened next is that a short while later, John is in the.

[John Scott]

Locker room gathering my things, trying to say goodbye to the guys. And he pulls me aside again.

[Latif Nasser]

And the GM tells them, actually, Montreal, the team we just traded you to, they're now going to demote you.

[John Scott]

They're sending you to St. John's Newfoundland, their farm team.

[Latif Nasser]

You're in the minor leagues now.

[John Scott]

Go see the trainer, get your stuff ready. You're leaving today.

[Latif Nasser]

According to the terms of the trade, he had to be on the plane that same day.

[John Scott]

And that's when I was just like. I was done. I was like, okay, I'm done. See ya. And I just checked out. I went and, like, found somewhere in the rink. I called my wife, who, by the.

[Latif Nasser]

Way, was nine months back pregnant with twins.

[Danielle Scott]

I get the phone call from John in those situations, he's kind of a man of, like, few words, tells her.

[Latif Nasser]

We'Re in the minors now.

[Danielle Scott]

And I'm like, all right, we'll be fine. Plan C. Where's the minor team? Like, how do I get there? You know? And he's like, yeah, it's literally on the other side of the world.

[Latif Nasser]

It is North America's easternmost city.

[Danielle Scott]

Like, you could not go further from where I'm at right now and still be on this continent.

[John Scott]

And I said, sorry, I gotta go. Can you please handle all of this? Take my two kids. Take the two kids in your belly. Take all my stuff. Pack it up. Like, I have to leave. It's so bizarre to have to say that to her. And, like, there's nothing I could have done. You Just say, I'm sorry, I have to go.

[Danielle Scott]

And I was just thinking to myself, okay, you know, like, just trying to hold on to hope, like, we can make this work. Let's see where it's at. And I'm like looking at flights and like I pull up kayak and I'm seeing like the flights, and it's like 16 hours of travel, 14 hours of travel, 18 hours of travel. And like the prices for like a ticket is like $1,600. Like it set in. It really all hit me at that moment and I just like. So.

[John Scott]

I composed myself, got my gear, told the GM to go, you know, wherever, and I, I jumped in the car, packed up my. And went to St. John's.

[Latif Nasser]

You want.

[John Scott]

To talk about John Scott? So we needn't have the debate.

[Latif Nasser]

No, I guess not. Or is yours quiet Canadian legend Don Cherry on the hit TV show Hockey Night in Canada? Anyhow, you jerks that it put him up for to be in the All Star game. What you've done, you've taken this kid who was doing pretty good, playing six minutes, played 12 minutes, didn't matter. He's an Arizona NHL contract. What you did was you took and put him in the minors. Now, lots of fun, eh? I bet you're very proud of yourself because the NHL this year is going to be terrific. And you're going. You tried to ruin it all and. And you ruined this kid. He's in the minors, never to come back. I bet. You should be ashamed of yourself. You should be ashamed of yourself. That's it.

[Greg Washinsky]

I saw this news hit and my first reaction was, you have got to be kidding me.

[Latif Nasser]

Again. Greg Washinsky, who started the John Scott for All Star campaign.

[Greg Washinsky]

It was weird. Oh, man, did they just make this problem go away?

[Latif Nasser]

But was there part of you who was like, oh, my God, like, I started this. This is on me?

[Greg Washinsky]

No, because at that point, you know, there had been criticism of us for having this campaign. And obviously when John Scott came out.

[John Scott]

I was like, you guys ruined my career. This sucks.

[Greg Washinsky]

And sort of poo pooed it off the bat. Made you feel like maybe you've done something kind of bad to a dude. But the campaign had kind of taken on a life of its own. And at that point, John Scott said he wanted to be an All Star, wanted to represent a certain type of person, player.

[John Scott]

My role is like, almost extinct. I'm like the last of my kind out here and like, it would be cool to go out with the bank.

[Greg Washinsky]

All of his friends were saying, you should do it. He wanted to do it because people were telling him, Right?

[Latif Nasser]

No. And I don't mean it necessarily, that it. You know, that it's your fault or anything, but in a way that, like, you. You just. Not that you could have foreseen it, but, like, you started the train. Was there part of you that was like, oh, my God, like, if I hadn't said that one thing on my podcast, like, this guy wouldn't have had to uproot his whole life.

[Greg Washinsky]

No, I mean, again, like, I feel like it was the National Hockey League at this point that was standing in his way.

[Latif Nasser]

Now, whatever you think about the initial prank or John being demoted, this is the moment, Greg says, when the crowd mood totally shifted.

[Greg Washinsky]

Complete outrage.

[John Scott]

This is trash.

[Greg Washinsky]

Like, complete outrage.

[Latif Nasser]

This is garbage. I'm not gonna go about on a rant about democracy.

[Greg Washinsky]

It became protests online. This is a lousy thing to do. Sweeping through the hockey world. Like, look, the fans voted this guy in. The NHL is doing all it can to keep this guy out, and that's not right.

[Latif Nasser]

You want to change this? Contact your favorite sports writer in your city. Since the NHL is so damn image conscious, why don't you put pressure on your favorite reporter to stick up for John Scott? I can only imagine how Jon feels right now.

[John Scott]

Well, pissed off, sorry for yourself. Then you feel, you get sad. Do I even want to play hockey? What do I want to do? Like, I do. I just quit hockey and go work. Like, you think about all these things.

[Latif Nasser]

But now that you're in the minor leagues, are you allowed to play for the All Star Game?

[John Scott]

That's the thing. No one knew.

[Latif Nasser]

He says right after he was demoted.

[John Scott]

To the minor leagues, people started to, you know, read through the bylaws, read.

[Latif Nasser]

Through the books, trying to figure out, like, can a minor league player play in the professional NHL All Star Game? And it turns out there was no rule that even remotely addressed the situation. Like, it was totally unprecedented.

[Greg Washinsky]

And so the pressure stayed on. The NHL knew that if John Scott wasn't in the All Star Game, there's probably visions from the NHL of protest signs along the glass of fans, fans outside the arena holding a rally because John Scott was snubbed.

[Latif Nasser]

And according to Greg, hockey fans are notorious for throwing jerseys onto the ice in protest, causing scenes.

[Greg Washinsky]

And eventually, the National Hockey League had to acquiesce. They put out a statement.

[John Scott]

They made a statement saying, hey, if Jon wants to go, he can go.

[Latif Nasser]

But Jon says, at this point, I.

[John Scott]

Told everybody, I'm not going. Like, the NHLPA I told all my friends, the teammates, I'm like, I'm done. This is a bogus. I don't want to do this.

[Latif Nasser]

He says between the fans making fun of him and the league demoting him, the whole thing was just too humiliating.

[Danielle Scott]

But I was just like, john, you may regret this. I know you want to, like, run away and hide right now, and like, going in front of all these people is the very last thing you want to do, but you might regret it.

[John Scott]

She's like, let's go. It'll be fun for the family. The kids will love it. I would love to see you go and prove these people wrong. My wife was building me back up, and slowly but surely I was like, okay, you know what? Fuck this, let's do it.

[Latif Nasser]

Very impressive here in Nashville. January 31, 2016, Nashville.

[John Scott]

It was a complete circus. It was unbelievable. I was obviously the. The big story. So the moment I land, there's reporters everywhere, ask me questions.

[Latif Nasser]

John would be representing the Pacific Division.

[John Scott]

In the All Star Game, and we had to play. I think it was a central who. Everyone said they were stacked because they had all the stud players on their team.

[Latif Nasser]

Players like Matt Duchenne, Matty Duchesne, James, Neil, all of these much younger, much higher paid players. And then you had John.

[John Scott]

I knew everybody was staring at me and I'm weird about my hair because I'm going bald. And I'm skating around like, I wish I would have grabbed my hats. I was like, dang it.

[Danielle Scott]

Everything is buzzing.

[Latif Nasser]

Danielle's in the stands with their two little kids.

[Danielle Scott]

Everybody's looking for him to fail.

[John Scott]

Yeah, this. This dummy's gonna make an ass of himself.

[Latif Nasser]

And before the game, the coach comes up to him.

[John Scott]

Coach asked me if I wanted to start, and I just said, no, please let me stay on the bench.

[Latif Nasser]

And the coach is like, all right, but you're going in early. So John's teammates skate out to center ice. He's sitting on the bench, butterflies in his stomach. Ref drops the puck right away. 26 seconds into the game, John's team goes down one nothing with an early one nothing lead.

[John Scott]

And how about the hands and the.

[Latif Nasser]

Playmaking of Maddie Duchen? Right there, the Colorado Avalanche. Brilliant.

[John Scott]

Fe to James.

[Latif Nasser]

Neil. It was. It was like a terrific goal. Like it was a pass to a one timer shot. Like it was a goal that all Stars make. John's coach looks at him and says, scott, you're in. Remember, this is three on three. There is a ton of open ice.

[John Scott]

There's nowhere to go. Like there's nowhere to hide.

[Latif Nasser]

And Jon says that skating out to center ice, he just kept thinking, don't mess up, don't mess up. Don't make a fool of yourself.

[John Scott]

And that's all I was thinking about.

[Latif Nasser]

Ref's got the puck, holds it above center ice.

[John Scott]

I don't belong here. They think you're a joke. Don't screw it up.

[Latif Nasser]

Drop set.

[John Scott]

Once the puck drops, You just kind of, you know, everything else goes away and you just start playing hockey. This was like going back to when I was younger. I wasn't the best, I wasn't the fastest, but you, you know, you just start playing and that's what I did.

[Latif Nasser]

This time, John Steam took possession of the puck. So back to get it is Brent Burns.

[John Scott]

Burns, he had the puck. We're going up the ice.

[Latif Nasser]

John and his teammates charge across center ice. They move into their opponent zone. When Brent Burns passes the puck to Jon, Jon manages to control it. He's kind of up against the board, so he's using his body to protect the puck, trying to figure out what to do next when he makes this nice little backhand pass.

[John Scott]

Burns, he had the puck on the right wing and all of a sudden.

[Latif Nasser]

I noticed between two of the defenders, there's this nice little lane right to the net.

[John Scott]

I went to the net, Burns spotted John and he put the puck right on my stick.

[Latif Nasser]

John's just like a few feet from goal and the goalie's actually out of position.

[John Scott]

I had a wide open net and I shot it and I missed the net.

[Latif Nasser]

Like a, like a wide open net.

[John Scott]

But the goalie was luckily sliding back into position.

[Latif Nasser]

And so the puck hit the goalie, bounced off the goalie and into the back of the net. Scores. Johnny Scott. There you go. There you go.

[John Scott]

It was awesome. Like, I was so jacked up, I had goosebumps. Like after the goal, it was so neat. It was cool. Everybody went nuts. That was the neat thing. The crowd, I didn't know how they were going to react. Usually they boo me because everybody booed me and they were all for it.

[Latif Nasser]

And John Scott will get a standing ovation.

[Danielle Scott]

This is a weird thing about the masses too. It's like how quickly everybody can go from hating you to loving you. It was such a sense of relief for me.

[John Scott]

The huge monkey was lifted off my back cuz I was like, okay, I did something for the team I didn't mess up.

[Danielle Scott]

He's going to relax and have fun. Just like be himself in play, which he did.

[Latif Nasser]

Former teammates, he laid out this guy, Patrick Kane, the first hit in an All Star Game in years, was laid out by Scott of a G leading scorer. And then the two of them. Oh my. Dropped their glove. It's Scott and Kane pretended to have a fight.

[John Scott]

That's awesome.

[Latif Nasser]

What's under the crowd? He got a couple nice passes. Save made by Rene, had a really close shot on goal. He was just kind of doing everything.

[Greg Washinsky]

And every time John Scott was on camera or touched the puck, the crowd would come to life.

[Latif Nasser]

Greg Waschinski was actually there reporting at the game and he was down in the tunnel interviewing other All Stars.

[Greg Washinsky]

And what happens when you're down in the bowels of the arena is that the All Star game is on TVs but there's a delay between what the broadcast has and what's happening on the ice. So typically you'll hear something happen in the game before you actually watch it on tv. And I remember hearing this gigantic roar from the crowd. And then everybody kind of looked over at the TV and watched the All Star game.

[Latif Nasser]

650 to go in the game. If tied a shootout. Okay, so what happened? What elicited that roar was that it was getting to the end of the game. Tight game. John's team was up by one.

[John Scott]

We were in our zone playing defense and all of a sudden thrown to the front. Their team shot it. We had a save. And Burnsy got the puck behind the the net, and I just blew the zone. I skated out of the zone as fast as I could because I knew he was going to get it. He saw me up the middle and.

[Latif Nasser]

He.

[John Scott]

Fired a nice pass and I corralled it and took off down the center of the ice. They had someone hounding me, but John's.

[Latif Nasser]

So big he was able to keep this defender off of him. So it was just Jon the goalie and the net. He gathered the puck.

[John Scott]

I ripped the shot. Top corner on the goalie, and it went in.

[Latif Nasser]

He's got two. It was amazing. No goalie deflection, no lucky bounce, Just a solid skill shot.

[Greg Washinsky]

There was just sort of this moment of just laughter. Laughter from the players being waited to be interviewed, laughter from the media downstairs. Just. Just unbridled joy in watching it all happen.

[Danielle Scott]

I was just like, is this even happening? Like, I started to just be like. It's like I could physically see the smile on his face from up in the stands.

[John Scott]

The guys on the ice jumped on me. They were like, holy cow. This is unbelievable.

[Greg Washinsky]

The final chapter of the John Scott story. At least as it pertains to the All Star Game is this really beautiful thing. And so. So there's this scene in Star Trek, the Wrath of Khan.

[John Scott]

Scotty, just get us out of here.

[Latif Nasser]

Best possible speed.

[Greg Washinsky]

I see where it looks like the Enterprise is gonna get away, having defeated Khan, but Khan no is still alive, the game's not over, and he's gonna try to trigger the doomsday device on his ship to kill everybody. Okay, and so as. As the. As the. The Enterprise is flying away, you see a bloodied Khan say, from hell's heart, I stabbeth thee. Hell's heart, I stabbeth thee.

[Latif Nasser]

For hate's sake. I spit on my last this at the.

[Greg Washinsky]

And I thought of that scene when the voting for Most Valuable Player at the All Star Game starts.

[Latif Nasser]

To explain, at the end of the game, there's one final bit of fan voting. Fans were going to choose the MVP of the NHL All Star Game Most Valuable Player. And the fans in the arena and watching on tv, they would text the name of the person they want to a number. Or they would go on Twitter and use a special hashtag and type the person's name. Any case, it will be coming up shortly. Right as the voting is about to begin, the NHL puts up a bunch of names of players on the Jumbotron says, here are your choices.

[Greg Washinsky]

And John Scott's name was not listed among the three MVP candidates on the jump. Both rock.

[John Scott]

Ladies and gentlemen, it is now time to award the 2016 Honda NHL Allstar MVP Award as decided by you. The fans saw that I wasn't on there and they went nuts.

[Greg Washinsky]

They started to boo loudly, visibly. You could, you know, feel it around the rink. I felt it. It was the last gasp of all the people at the NHL that tried to keep John Scott out of the All Star Game. It was their last chance to get him.

[Latif Nasser]

Like Khan trying to get Captain Kirk. That's what he was trying to say with the analogy. Anyway, what ended up happening is that during the voting, thousands of people wrote in their own choice. And when it was announced, the 2016.

[John Scott]

Honda NHL All Star MVP scores two goals in the tournament and wins as.

[Latif Nasser]

A right in candidate John Scott.

[John Scott]

It's funny, I didn't hear it because on ice level, you don't hear what the speed speakers are playing because they, they point the speakers to the fan. So I didn't, I didn't hear until like, somebody's like, hey, like, go and like, get your trophy. And I was like, oh, oh, weird.

[Latif Nasser]

John skates out to the center of the ice, laughing, looking a little scared. Holy.

[John Scott]

I was just like the MVP of the All Star game.

[Latif Nasser]

John Scott is with Pierre.

[John Scott]

Thanks a lot of thought. There's been all kinds of ovations for.

[Latif Nasser]

You.

[John Scott]

And they're not stopping happen. What do you want to say first to the fans in Nashville? Just thank you so much. You guys have just blown me away. I love this city and thank you so much.

[Greg Washinsky]

And in what was the teary eyed Disney family sports film moment.

[John Scott]

Well, your team won a million dollars. How you planning on spreading it around? It's gonna go 100 parts of me, and then they're gonna just take the.

[Greg Washinsky]

He was hoisted onto the shoulders of his teammates and paraded around like he was Rudy.

[Latif Nasser]

Greatest sports movie ever.

[Danielle Scott]

I wanted to go down by the ice so that the kids could see John. And people are trying to help me down the stairs and like parting the seas so I could get down there.

[John Scott]

My kids were down at the bench with my wife. And it was so weird. Like, it was literally like Disney wrote a script and it's like, okay, now he kisses his wife.

[Danielle Scott]

He kissed me, and her eyes locked. And it was just. We both were kind of like shaking our heads. Like we were both a little bit speechless.

[John Scott]

Now he grabs his kids. He scooped them up in the cliche fashion. I grabbed my kids and skated them around the ice.

[Danielle Scott]

Abe was like, dad, you stink. You smell bad. And like, every time, like, I would just look at him and I'd be like, can you even believe this is happening? And it was no. Like, I just can't.

[Latif Nasser]

And as they came off the ice, there were crowds of people waiting to ask them questions, take pictures with them.

[John Scott]

But we had a flight the next morning at like 5am he had to.

[Latif Nasser]

Get back to the minor leagues. And before that, they still had to have these babies. So they rush home to give birth to the twins.

[John Scott]

Four days after the babies were born, I went back to St. John's oh, my God. Yeah.

[Danielle Scott]

I feel like that was really the beginning of the rest of our lives.

[Latif Nasser]

John finished out that season, played one last NHL game, and then retired. He and Danielle live with their five girls in Traverse City, Michigan. But the legacy of his all Star appearance lives on in two ways. First, the day after the game, it was announced that John Scott's helmet, the helmet he wore during the game, would be flown to to Toronto, where it will be put on display at the Hockey hall of Fame. But the other thing that happened was just in time for the next year's All Star game. The NHL created a new rule known as the John Scott Rule, which states that any player who is voted to be a captain in the All Star Game, then gets demoted to the minor leagues, will be disqualified, will not be allowed to play, effectively ensuring that none, never again will the fans have quite the power to overthrow the system and vote in a John Scott. Reporter, Latif Nasser. This episode was produced by Mr. Matt Kielty and fact checked by Diane Kelly. Also, if you want to hear more from John Scott and of course he has a podcast. It's called Dropping the Gloves, available wherever you get podcasts or lose your gloves. And in this episode we had a lot of original music from John Dryden, the OCS Weed Eater and Bong Zoe Luck. And last special thanks to Morgan Springer, Faisal Kamisa and Ben Hankinson. And I think that's it. That's it.

[John Scott]

That's what we got to do today.

[Latif Nasser]

Yeah, let's get out of here.

[John Scott]

Okay.

[Latif Nasser]

I'm Jad Abumran.

[John Scott]

I'm Robert Krulwich.

[Latif Nasser]

Thanks for listening. Welcome.

[John Scott]

To Play the message, press 2. Start of message.

[Greg Washinsky]

Hi, I'm Pushkar and I'm from Yuba City, California.

[John Scott]

And here are the staff credits.

[Greg Washinsky]

Radiolab is hosted by Lulu Miller and Latif Nasser. Soren Wheeler is our executive editor. Sarah Sandbach is our executive director. Our managing editor is Pat Walters. Dylan Keefe is our director of sound design.

[John Scott]

Our staff includes Jeremy Bloom W. Harry.

[Greg Washinsky]

Fortuna, David Gable, Maria Paz Gutierrez, Sindhu, Niana Sambadam, Matt Kilty, Mona Madgavkar, Annie McGooan, Alex Neeson, Sarah Kari, Anissa Vitra, Ariane Wack, Molly Webster and Jessica Young.

[John Scott]

With help from Rebecca Rand.

[Greg Washinsky]

Our fact checkers are Diane Kelly, Emily.

[John Scott]

Krieger and Natalie Middleton.

[Latif Nasser]

Hi, I'm Monica. And I'm Colleen from Mexico City.

[John Scott]

Leadership support for Radiolab.

[Latif Nasser]

Science programming is provided by the Simons foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Bob Evans.

[John Scott]

Creamy Mac and cheese and buttery mashed.

[Latif Nasser]

Potatoes are made for the moments you.

[John Scott]

Can'T plan, like last minute school costumes, glitter explosions, or when little Liam brings three friends for dinner.

[Latif Nasser]

No plan, no problem. Say hello to plan B O B from Bob Evans.

[John Scott]

Because when you bring out the Bob, you can take comfort in knowing you'll always have something delicious on the table, no matter what the day brings.

[Latif Nasser]

When you need comfort, bring out the Bob.

[John Scott]

Available now in your refrigerated section.

[Greg Washinsky]

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