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ALBANY, New York — Midway through the second period, John Scott began to grow antsy. The hulking enforcer, who had been sitting for nearly 15 minutes in a 2-2 game, stood up, shook loose his legs, and looked pleadingly in the direction of the head coach. But it was no use.

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It was clear Scott’s place was on the bench.

“When there’s penalties, I never play. And that’s what happened in the second,” Scott said. “It’s tough to stay there for 10-15 minutes and then all of a sudden the coach is like, ‘OK, you’re up!’ You’re like, ‘Oh boy.’”

This might seem like an unusual role for someone who was voted in as a starter for this weekend’s NHL All-Star Game in Nashville — and even more so considering that on this night Scott was playing for the St. John’s IceCaps in the American Hockey League in front of an announced crowd of 3,081.