Newest New York Ranger says Jeremy Lin can punch him

This is why you should be reading ProHockeyTalk…

The New York Rangers have a new enforcer, John Scott. (For you hoops fans wondering what an enforcer does, think Charles Oakley if the NBA let him fight.) Before he was a Ranger he played for the Chicago Blackhawks. He and some Blackhawk teammates had taken in a Jeremy Lin era Knicks game and when Scott was asked about it later he talked about it in terms of an enforcer.

“Not very impressed — I think D-Rose can take him.”

Scott then gets traded to New York, where many sports fans are convinced Jeremy Lin can leap tall buildings in a single bound and could walk across the Hudson River if he wanted to. So, Scott was given a chance to clarify is statements.

“No, it’s O.K.,” Scott said. “You can’t kill a guy for offering his opinion. I was just saying he had one weakness to work on. Most of us have a lot more than that. Look at me. No one thought I could make it to the N.H.L., and there are a lot of people who still don’t think I belong.

“I haven’t come close to reaching his level, and I never will, but I can relate to Jeremy. I hope I get to meet him soon at the Garden or the practice facility. For what I said, he can even punch me in the hallway if he wants to.”

Lin’s not a small guy, but Scott is 6’8”, 270 pounds. Lin could throw a combination of punches at Scott in the hallway and he might not even notice.

And for the record, Derrick Rose grew up in a tough area of Chicago, Lin lived in the Bay Area and went to Harvard. I’ll take D-Rose, too.