Nathan Gerbe was a unique player, and it took some serious balls for him to play in the NHL. With 5 feet and 5 inches, he’s the shortest skater in NHL history, and he played in a team when enforcers still were a real deal. He was, of course, not the most physical player, but he was never afraid, and he even handed out some tremendous open-ice hits during his years in the league.
But one time, Gerbe got a special request from John Scott that scared the crap out of him. During his time at the Buffalo Sabres, he played in the same line as Scott. The Sabres had signed Scott, an iconic enforcer, just to get some well-needed protection.
”We were battling with Boston, and we ended up playing Boston in Boston, and Ryan Miller comes out of the net to play the puck and gets absolutely steamrolled by Lucic. And at that time, we had nobody to answer to that,” Gerbe said on John Scott Dropping the Gloves podcast.
”That moment there kind of exposed our team and then we kind of just got bullied around and we had a really good roster. And then, fast forward til we sign John.”
John Scott got signed for one job, and he did it well.
”John knows his role and obviously he embraces it and I remeber our first game in Boston, aginst Boston. I’m John’s linesmate and he comes to me and he goes, ’Hey, I don’t know if Shawn Thornton is gonna fight me tonight, but you know, you can hit him from behind, and then tell him John’s looking for him.”
”I remember looking at him thinking there’s no zero chance he’s gonna be there fast enough by the time Shawn Thorntons gloves are off, and I’m getting killed. In that game, I didn’t have too, they went off early and John got the better in that fight and it was a pretty funny moment.”
