With the Nashville Predators in the Stanley Cup Finals, their roster of players have become a focal point. And during a recent “ESPN E:60” feature, defenseman P.K. Subban was specifically profiled.
The segment touched on everything from Subban’s split with the Montreal Canadiens to his experience as a black player in hockey.
It also included its fair share of criticism — specifically comments made by retired NHL enforcer John Scott.
“I don’t like him. I think on the ice, he’s a piece of garbage,” Scott said during the segment. “[He’s] perceived as like a hot shot, [that] this guy thinks he’s better than everybody.”
Given today’s societal climate, it should come as no surprise that Scott’s comments immediately went viral and were met with a lot of anger. But in an interview with TSN 690 on Monday, Scott clarified that those comments were made years ago when he was still playing in the NHL and were nothing more than the usual disdain for one of his opponents.
“I got a lot of hate tweets from Montreal, and I didn’t know what was up,” Scott said. “[I made those comments] like a year and a half ago, maybe two years ago.”
Scott says he didn’t even realize the comments would ever be used and that he’s since met Subban and finds him to be quite a nice guy.
“Yeah, I said that a long time ago. And I hated everyone I played against,” Scott said. “It’s nothing personal against P.K. I hadn’t met him at that time, and now that I met him, I actually like the guy. He’s a good guy off the ice. But on the ice, I don’t like him. That’s just all there is to it. I’m not going to back down from that. I didn’t like playing against him.
“I didn’t like some of the antics he did. You know, you’re allowed to not like people. It’s not always rainbows and butterflies.”
Although he may now appreciate the person Subban is, like many with Jose Bautista in baseball, Scott still isn’t a fan of Subban’s on-ice antics.
“He’s a world class talent, and one of the best defensemen in the league. And he’s a fun guy. He perceives as having a good time on the ice. And as an opposing player, when you’re losing 5-0, and he’s still whooping it up and doing his high-fives and his celebrations, it just gets under your skin,” Scott said. “They guys on the other team really don’t like that.”
There’s no doubt many athletes — not just those in the NHL — can relate to Scott’s statements on over-celebratory opponents.
Meanwhile, in one final plea to stop the intense and vile tweet-storm, Scott asked that people please scale back their emotions and not assume literally everything is racist in nature.
“I don’t think I’d call him a piece of garbage to his face, now that I met him,” Scott said. “Everyone, please stop mean-tweeting me.”
(H/T: Yahoo! Sports)
