John Scott clarifies P.K. Subban ESPN criticism, doesn’t want ‘mean tweets’

Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban was profiled on “ESPN E:60” last weekend in a segment that looked into his personality, his split with the Montreal Canadiens, his experience as a black player in hockey and everything else that comes along with being P.K. Subban.

That includes the criticism, which arrived from the mouth of John Scott, the retired NHL enforcer whose appearance at the 2016 All-Star Game is the stuff of legend (and, soon, a Hollywood film).

“I don’t like him. I think on the ice, he’s a piece of garbage,” said Scott, on camera, early in the segment. “[He’s] perceived as like a hot shot, [that] this guy thinks he’s better than everybody.”

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More than anything else from the “E:60” piece on Subban, this criticism from Scott went viral.

“I got a lot of hate tweets from Montreal, and I didn’t know what was up,” said Scott, in an interview with TSN 690 on Monday.

Scott went on the air to clarify a few things about his comments. First, he said the interview from ESPN was “like a year and a half ago, maybe two years ago,” and that he didn’t expect it would be aired during this segment on Subban.

“Yeah, I said that a long time ago. And I hated everyone I played against. 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,” said Scott.

“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.”

Scott said Subban’s exuberance could sometimes be tough to take, depending on how the Canadiens had fared in the game.

“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,” he said. “They guys on the other team really don’t like that.”

The bottom line, said Scott, is that he did the interview before he and Subban made their acquaintance.

“I don’t think I’d call him a piece of garbage to his face, now that I met him,” said Scott, who also made a plea to the fans that were outraged over his comments:

“Everyone, please stop mean-tweeting me.”

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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