Commissioner Gary Bettman welcomed him to these festivities Thursday night with a quick chat.

"Right before I got the MVP, I had no idea I was even up for it", Scott said. How about saying that at the next home game, fans will take a break from buying ludicrously overpriced beer to say, You know what, we're not just going to sit here and take it when the league impugns the integrity of our team's captain.

Pavelski had one goal and one assist in the two mini-games, while Burns posted three helpers.

Scott got nervous only when Sharks defenseman Brent Burns, a former teammate and friend, caught him off-guard and helped hoist the reluctant fighter into the air. Scott's subsequent treatment by the league, the trade, the demotion to the AHL, and the petty guilt-trip, only served to put fans more firmly in his corner.

His controversial selection dominated All-Star headlines for the month leading into the game and ruffled the feathers of NHL executives, who conspired to have the basher stricken from the game they prefer to showcase hockey's top talent.

Once Scott was voted into the NHL All-Star game however, that all changed. Whether or not Scott deserved a place on the team for his merits on the ice is irrelevant. There was a guy who was not even in the NHL anymore in the NHL All-Star game.

The sellout crowd of 17,006 lustily booed and started chanting "John Scott" during the last 6 1/2 minutes.

And since he no longer was in the league, he was ineligible to play in the NHL event.

The hockey bigwigs gritted their teeth and became the butt of the internet's joke. Many Americans, like hockey fans, are in an anti-establishment mood. Their support of Scott truly spoke volumes.

"Not the first time you've been wrong", Scott replied.

Now, wouldn't it make sense to let the fans do what they want, since they are the ones who are supposed to watch the game in the end? "It'll be one of those 'once-in-a-lifetime" experiences".

On the weekend, Scott produced big cheers every time he got on the ice and eventually led his team to a win in the three-on-three tournament.

A fan campaign made Scott captain of the Pacific Division before the Arizona Coyotes traded him January 15 to Montreal, which assigned him to the AHL. The fans won. The players won.

Scott doesn't know what the future holds, whether that means a return to the National Hockey League or whether that just means Newfoundland. But on Sunday night, the unthinkable happened.

The enforcer fans voted into the NHL All-Star Game scored twice for the Pacific Division during the team's first mini-game in the 3-on-3 All-Star tournament Sunday, bringing cheers from fans and smiles from teammates. We're not making this up, folks. He also knocked down star Patrick Kane, before the pair feigned a fight.

His daughters have his jerseys from all five teams he's played for, Scott wrote. One of the game's most heartwarming moments came when Pacific coach Darryl Sutter's son, Christopher, who has Down Syndrome, was one of the first to celebrate with the MVP. Scott was talking to a teammate when he was announced as the victor. What's more, his pregnant wife is scheduled to give birth to twins in the next week, which will double his family to four children. It's more skill and wide-open (play), so it felt like we were playing the same game we do in the regular season, which is what they wanted.