I figured tonight I’d weigh in on the NHL All Star game “controversy” that’s been making the rounds lately. Namely, the fact that John Scott, known for being a goon and… well, that’s it, actually, has been voted by the fans to captain one of the teams.

Adding more fuel to the fire, today when the rest of the roster was announced it was discovered there’d be no Sidney Crosby in the game. Surprisingly (to me at least) Crosby has only played in one single All Star game during his whole career, owing to injuries and lockouts etc., but still, I wouldn’t have guessed that.

Anyway, the contention is in whether the NHL should ignore the fans voting in Scott or not. He’s certainly not an All Star by any other definition other than the one created by the league in allowing the fans to vote on anyone. Add to the fact Crosby isn’t going and, well, it looks pretty weird.

At the end of the day though, it’s the NHL’s own fault in my opinion. They let the fans have their say and, like it or lump it, they have. Last year they voted in a little known Buffalo Sabres forward, who at least had some skill at the game other than throwing punches. Likewise he wouldn’t have been an All Star either but he got in, and rightfully so, as the fans voted him in.

So as perplexing as it is going to be to see Scott in an All Star game, captaining one no less, if the NHL wants to change this then don’t let the fans vote next year, or limit who they can vote for or something. I may not like it but it’d be even worse if they just ignore their own rules midstream now.

But hey, then again, this is Gary Bettman’s NHL so who knows?