Hockey Fans Tweet Player To All-Star Game

Hockey Fans Tweet Player To All-Star Game

Halfway¹ through the season of the National Hockey League, the players take a short break.

They celebrate the best players in a match they call an All-Star Game. It was January 31 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Fans vote for who should play in the All-Star Game. When the results came out, one name was quite a surprise.

Hockey fans in Arizona used social media to vote John Scott into the game. They used the Twitter hashtag #VoteJohnScott to gather support for Scott.

After a couple of days, Scott was leading in fan votes.

A writer for the Canadian Press news service called the voting “bizarre².”

Scott, a Canadian, started his career in 2008 with the Minnesota Wild team. He was traded many times to other teams. He often practices with the team, but does not usually play in the games. He was good, but not good enough.

Definitely not a “star.”

But when voting closed, Scott was still one of the top four.

Scott thought he would play in the All-Star Game and represent Arizona. But on January 15, Arizona traded him to the Montreal Canadiens.

Then, the Canadiens did something that prevented Scott from playing in the All-Star Game: They demoted him to a minor-league team in Newfoundland.

Some sports experts said Scott was traded because the league did not want Scott to be in the All-Star Game because he is not a hockey “star.”

Scott was in limbo³.

Fans were unhappy.

But two weeks before the game, Scott received a gift. The NHL said it would allow Scott to play, even though he was not in the league.

In a statement, the league called Scott’s circumstances “unique.”

Fans like Jake Donnelly tweeted how happy they were that the league allowed Scott to play. “The NHL actually did something right,” he wrote.

Scott released a statement saying, "While being voted to the All-Star Game by the fans was not something I expected to happen, I am excited to participate in the All-Star events with my fellow players."

But in an article he wrote days before the game, Scott revealed that the teams and the league tried to persuade him to drop out of the game. Then they traded him so he would not be able to play.

“While I don’t deserve to be an All-Star, I also don’t think I deserve to be treated like I’ve been by the league throughout this saga,” he wrote.

When the puck dropped on Sunday night, no one was sure how Scott would do.

So Scott showed them.

He scored two goals and helped his team win the championship game.

And, fans voted him the game’s Most Valuable Player; meaning, without him, the game would not have been as good.

Oh, and he won a new car, and his team split⁴ a $1 million prize.

Not bad for a minor-league player taking a weekend off from his job in Newfoundland.

After the game, Scott talked with the Boston Herald⁵.

“This is crazy. You can’t write this stuff. I can’t put this into words. It just gives me goose bumps⁶ thinking about all the fans have done for me. I didn’t know how the players were going to react, but everybody has been overwhelmingly⁷ supportive. I think they’re happy I won.”

Words in This Story

unique – adj. very special or unusual

circumstance – n. a condition or fact that affects a situation

bizarre – adj. very unusual or strange

showcase – n. an event, occasion, etc., that shows the abilities or good qualities of someone or something in an attractive or favorable way

participate – n. to be involved with others in doing something : to take part in an activity or event with others

limbo – n. in an uncertain or undecided state or condition

grind⁸ – adj. long and difficult work

elite⁹ – adj. the most successful or powerful group of people 

tweet– v. to use Twitter to write something on the Internet

1 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

2 bizarre   

adj.奇形怪状的，怪诞的

参考例句：

• They saw a bizarre animal in the lake.他们在湖中看见一个奇怪的动物。
• The building was of bizarre construction.这建筑构造奇异。

3 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

4 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。

5 herald   

vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎

参考例句：

• In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
• Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。

6 bumps   

碰撞( bump的名词复数 )； 肿块； 轻微撞车事故； 隆起物

参考例句：

• I had goose bumps when we watched the fireworks. 我们看烟火的时候，我起鸡皮疙瘩。
• E was kind of zig-zagging across the pavement, and I bumps into 'im accidental-like. 他有点歪歪斜斜地在人行道上走，我一不小心撞到了他的怀里。 来自英汉文学

7 overwhelmingly   

adv.压倒性地；不可抵抗地

参考例句：

• They voted overwhelmingly against the proposal. 他们以压倒多数票否决了该提案。
• The local economy is overwhelmingly dependent on oil and gas extraction. 当地经济过于依赖石油和天然气的开采。

8 grind   

n.（常贬义）用功的学生，书呆子；vt.磨，磨碎

参考例句：

• Would you please grind a pound of coffee for me? 请给我磨一磅咖啡好吗？
• Do you find learning English a grind?你觉得学英语是一件苦差事吗？

9 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。