In Defence of Scott Hunter as a Hockey Player
Look, totally get it, but Man in the Crease has done a lot of damage to Scott's skills and I have to defend my man, because that is Cesare Borgia lol. I'm pushing back against the slander lol. My cred? I'm Canadian and grew up around hockey. But I must tell you, while I have followed some of it growing up, I am a bandwagoner. I tune out 99.9% of the time except for Olympics (and only when it's a medal game). I will, however, only talk about the show canon because I haven't read the books.
He's the Admiral's Franchise Player. Basically, he's New York hockey's sports blorbo. He's been there forever and he's the player that the city has built their team and identity around. You can tell because he's been there for so long and the podcasts are literally skewering him constantly. You can also tell by the way people talk about him on the news regarding All Stars and the way other characters talk about him.
Scott is meant to be older. Given that they got Francois Arnaud to play him, who is 40, Scott is likely meant to be around 35 or older when he wins the Cup. Which in hockey years means he's a senior on life support. So when Ilya says that he's 100,000 years old, it's a fair assessment (and HILARIOUS). But what his also means is that any accolades he would have gotten, any hype and any awards are old, stale and long gone. He no longer has the hype and glitz of Hollander or Rozanov. But also hockey is a HARD sport. You're literally skating as fast as you can for as long as you can on ICE while you try to hit a tiny puck into a net with a stick and the goalie has more gear than ever before.
What this does not mean is that he isn't a generational talent or bad at hockey. It's just his past is greater than what he currently is. And he is finding that the longer he goes, without the Cup, to the point where it's never been more impossible to reach, as his joints and body fail on him, the more he's questioning what is it all for? The more lonely he is, the more him hiding his sexuality and being closeted kills him.
You do not stay captain for the entirety of the series' timeline, from 2008/2009 to 2017 if you are bad. Like, they will find a way to put in other players to be captain if you no longer have the trust of the coach, GM and players. But even with his wobbles, this has not happened. Not only that, you don't get chosen as Olympic captain if you are bad, or not a generational talent or a second string hockey player.
You don't get chosen as captain period...much less for an Olympic team, if you are not a top player of that country. Like, Scott could not have skated by on his reputation by 2014 to be captain. That is not how it works. Literally 80% of all hockey players chosen to an Olympic team in the US or Canada are generational players. But you DO NOT captain an Olympic team if you are not a generational player. It doesn't work that way.
The NHL/MLH is probably the top hockey league in the world which means if the League lets the players go to the Olympics, all players from Canada and the US are going to be from the NHL. Of all the hockey powers there are, Russia, Sweden, and Finland will also have some generational talent, but less, and like 80% of their team will play or have played for the NHL. All other teams will likely not have a whole lot of NHL players, but a LOT of them will be Canadian lol and did minor leagues. (TBH, Shane probably got a lot of offers to play for Japan and if he was not good enough to play for Canada, a stacked team, he likely would have been poached.)
He got voted into the All-Star game when he was pushing 30 and was potentially third in the skills competition even then, only losing to Ilya and Shane. He got voted into the All-Star game to play with Ilya and Shane in 2017, which was likely a banner year for him. But he's also like 35 at this point. To get elected into an All-Star game at 35 or older is a FEAT. You don't get there just by being okay. He'd literally have to be a generational talent and dedicated to do it.
Scott won the MVP Award when he was super old. Sure, he just won the Cup, but that is NOT a pre-requisite to receive it. The MVP Award/Hart Trophy is voted upon by hockey sports journalists, not a hockey podcast with a weird vendetta against him (yes, that's bitchy lol). They literally saw Old Man Hunter and gave him the MVP award at 35. That is NO mean feat. That is first ballot Hall of Fame behaviour. Not only that, we have no idea how many times he's won it before in the past. Lastly, we don't know if he won the Finals MVP award (Conn Smythe Trophy), or the MVP award, but the point still stands. Everyone who has ever won the Conn Smythe or the Hart is a generational talent.
Man in the Crease let us know that in the 2013 season, when Scott was probably already in his 30s, he produced 70 points. This is NOT anything to laugh at, especially for a player in their 30s. It shows that while he's not going to win the Rocket Richard Trophy (most goals), or the Art Ross (most points), he's consistent even into his 30s, likely past his prime. To win the Rocket Richard, you're looking at scoring around 50 goals per season, and to win the Art Ross, you're looking at around 100-120 points. For a guy to still be doing 70 points in his 30s? That's amazing and rare.
He's probably been at an MLH/NHL level player for more than 15 years, pushing 20. You don't play that long, get to the Olympics, get an MVP Award over 30 as a mediocre player. You get traded and no one will sign you in free agency if you truly suck or have run out of talent. You also don't stay in a city for that long if you are a liability.
All the factors above make him a generational talent and first-ballot Hall of Fame player.
The Jerome Iginla of it all
If Scott is meant to be Steve Rogers/Captain America, then the Canadian hockey equivalent is probably Jerome Iginla. And yes, I'm biased because I'm from Calgary, but listen. Like Steve, Iginla was born on THE nation's holiday. He also cannot get more Canadian for Captain Canada because he's half-black lol (multiculturalism!). Iginla exemplifies everything that Steve does, doing the right thing, kindness and generosity. No one ever has a bad thing to say about Iginla and he is beloved STILL in Calgary. He literally showed up for so many charities on his own volition. He is the reason why the Flames has/had such a strong cheritable presence. He literally donated $2000 per goal and $1000 per assist every season. He paid for a hotel room for Canadians during the Salt Lake City Olympics because he found out they were sleeping in their car after talking to them.
He was the ONLY good thing about the Calgary Flames when I was a kid. We would literally say 'Flames suck'. He was in his 20s and won the Art Ross and the Hart Trophy which again, was the only thing we could say was good about our team. He took the Flames to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. We didn't win it, but he won another Rocket Richard Trophy that year. The Flames would never come close to winning another Cup, but he stayed and kept grinding for years. He may not have won the Cup, but he does have two Olympic gold medals, in Salt Lake and Vancouver. He literally assisted Sidney Crosby in the Golden Goal.
So when Jerome was traded after 15 years in Calgary, we were sad, but we wanted him to win a Cup because it was what he deserved. He never did, so we could forget that he wasn't an amazing player. But, the Art Ross and the Hart don't lie. You win that on merit. But not only that, he's won the 　 Lester B Pearson Award which is voted on by players and awards for his humanitarian and cheritable efforts.
So I do think Jerome can be a Scott analogue, a genuinely good guy, consistent, great hockey player, beloved, cheritable, whose time to win the ultimate prize is slipping away. There's new players to focus on, who are always in the playoffs. They're flashier and you forget how good he was in his prime. Especially when he's just a good guy. Man in the Crease slander is easy. But would the slander hit so hard and land so well if Scott's highs hadn't been high?
And still, without winning a Cup, with his highs long gone, Jerome Iginla was inducated into the Hockey Hall of Fame three years after he stopped playing in a career that spanned over 20 years.
Surely Scott Hunter is not a talentless hack.
titsay
stormborns
gummygunk
