There was no pre-arranged plan for the Montreal Canadiens to call up John Scott -- to hear him explain it, the whole thing was simply a nice gesture on behalf of the franchise.
“[Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin] approached me this past weekend and asked if I’d play a game and I said, ‘I’d love to come play a game,’” Scott said on Monday, one day after the Habs brought him up from AHL St. John’s. “So he did me a solid, and let me come up and play a game.”
Scott, the reigning All-Star Game MVP, will make his Montreal debut on Tuesday, at the Bell Centre, against Florida. It’s the latest in what’s been an unbelievable year for the 33-year-old tough guy -- after his whirlwind ASG weekend in Nashville, Scott’s wife gave birth to twin girls.
A brief hockey sabbatical followed, only for Scott to return to the IceCaps and perform reasonably well -- all told, he’s racked up two goals and four points in 27 games, along with 85 penalty minutes.
Though this stint with the Habs will be brief -- it’s confirmed to be just the one game -- Scott isn’t giving up on the hope of playing the big leagues again.
“I think I can get back to the NHL -- even next year,” he said.