May 30, 2017
Scott: Subban comments were outdated
Former NHL All-Star captain John Scott had his Twitter mentions blow up on Sunday when ESPN aired their E:60 profile of P.K. Subban. The show, which will air Tuesday at 10pm et/7pm pt on TSN2, featured comments that Scott had made while still playing in the league disparaging the now-Nashville Predator.
TSN.ca Staff
Former NHL All-Star captain John Scott had his Twitter mentions blow up on Sunday when ESPN aired their E:60 profile of P.K. Subban.
The show, which will air Tuesday at 10pm et/7pm pt on TSN2, featured comments that Scott had made while still playing in the league disparaging the now-Nashville Predator.
“I don’t like him. I think on the ice, he’s a piece of garbage,” Scott said. “Perceived as like a hot shot, this guy thinks he’s better than everybody.”
On Monday, Scott joined TSN Radio 690 Montreal to clear up that his comments were made roughly two years ago and he would have made similar comments about any opponent. He stopped short of issuing an apology, however.
“I didn’t know what was going on,” Scott told TSN 690, as transcribed by the Montreal Gazette. “I just tried to figure out what’s going on and I find out it’s because of this ESPN piece I did a long time ago and they’re running it yesterday. I didn’t even see it really. So I’m just trying to put some fires out and tell everyone like: yeah, I said that a long time ago.
“I honestly hated everyone I played against, so it’s not anything personal against P.K.,” said Scott. “I hadn’t met him at that time and now that I’ve met him I actually like the guy. He’s a good guy off the ice. But on the ice I don’t like him and that’s just all there is to it. I’m not going to back down from that comment. I didn’t like playing against him, I didn’t like some of the antics he did. You’re allowed to not like people. It’s not always rainbows and butterflies. So everyone I hope please stop mean tweeting me.”
Scott added he believes Subban is a "world class talent" and is "one of the best defenceman in the league." However he said Subban's personality on the ice can rub opponents the wrong way.
"As an opposing player, sometimes when you're losing 5-1 to that team and he's still whooping it up and doing his high-fives, and doing all these celebrations, it gets under your skin and that's going to happen, especially when he's such a talented player," Scott said.
The now retired forward played one game with the Canadiens at the end of the 2015-16 season. Scott said he the feeling among players who made their way up from the AHL IceCaps to the Canadiens and back down was not that Subban was a distraction, but that the team's dressing room was uncomfortable to be in.
"All I heard from guys coming up and down was that that locker room was just really dysfunctional. It was quiet, it wasn't a fun place to play hockey. The guys weren't having fun. When you go into a locker room like that, it's just quiet. No one's talking, no one's building relationships and for the one game that I was there, I totally sensed that. And P.K. tried, (but) it's hard to be one guy and try to pick everybody up and he was hurt and the team was going through a tough time but I didn’t hear of anybody really trashing him. It was more of a Montreal's not really that fun to play in right now."
Scott added he's picking Subban and the Predators to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final.