DROPPING THE GLOVES What happens when an NHL enforcer moves to Traverse City and picks up a mic — and the world’s luckiest hockey fanatic as co-host? One of the world’s most popular hockey podcasts, of course.
By Craig Manning What’s northern Michigan’s biggest claim to fame when it comes to hockey? Ask most hockey fans in the area – die-hards and casuals alike – and you’ll probably a hear a couple common answers: the fact that NHL legend Gordie Howe once called Traverse City home, for instance, or that Traverse City’s Centre Ice Arena has often hosted the Detroit Red Wings for a pre-season training camp and prospects tournament. But did you know that one of the most popular hockey podcasts in the world is recorded right here in northern Michigan, by a pair of Traverse City residents? The podcast in question, called “Dropping the Gloves,” is the passion project of two local hockey buffs. The first is John Scott, a retired NHL All Star who played as a defenseman for the Minnesota Wild, the Chicago Blackhawks, the New York Rangers, the San Jose Sharks, the Buffalo Sabres, the Arizona Coyotes, and the Montreal Canadiens. The second is Tim Wirzburger, a local marketing and communications professional with a love of hockey that dates back to his youth. Together, the two have built Dropping the Gloves into one of hockey’s most reliable podcasts, recording 3–4 episodes per week, hashing out the latest developments in the hockey world, and even bringing on bigname guests for exclusive interviews. Initially, Dropping the Gloves was
just something that Scott took up to stay connected to hockey after he retired from professional play. It was a well-timed entry into the podcast world: When Scott closed out his career in 2016, he was riding high off the most substantial streak of exposure he’d gotten in his entire career. An All-Time Unforgettable All-Star Season In January of 2016, Scott won the NHL All-Star Game fan vote, earning a spot in the annual All-Star Game — and also the role of Pacific Division captain for the game. That high vote tally happened despite Scott’s limited play time with his team, the Arizona Coyotes, during the 2015–16 season, and despite the fact that he’d only netted five goals and six assists in his 280-game NHL career. In fact, Scott’s real claim to fame in the NHL was as an “enforcer.” Also known as a “fighter, “tough guy,” or “goon,” an enforcer in hockey is an unofficial role, usually filled by a large and imposing figure. That player’s job? To respond to violent and aggressive play against their teammates — often by getting in fights with players from the other team. An effective enforcer, in essence, is supposed to make players on the other team think twice about playing dirty on the ice. While the prevalence of enforcers in the NHL has declined over the years, Scott was widely considered to be one, and he certainly looked the part. The Canadian native is 6-foot-8 and weighed in at 260 pounds during his NHL days. He also had the stats of an enforcer. Reporting in December 2015
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on Scott’s strong performance in the AllStar Game fan vote, Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail noted that Scott’s 535 penalty minutes gave him “the third-highest PIM-to-points ratio in the league the past decade,” and quipped that he had “more fights than points.” Fittingly, given his status now as one of hockey podcasting’s biggest names, Scott’s NHL All-Star campaign actually originated thanks to a podcast. In November 2015, the hosts of the now-defunct hockey pod Marek vs. Wyshynski joked that Scott would be an entertaining player to see in the AllStar Game, especially given the game’s thenbrand-new three-on-three format. Twitter, Reddit, and the internet at large latched onto the idea, ultimately propelling Scott to get more votes than any other player – including superstars like the NHL’s eventual 2015-16 season MVP, Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks. What followed was a behind-the-scenes scuffle where both the Arizona Coyotes and the NHL as a whole tried to persuade Scott to take himself out of the running for the All-Star Game. In the midst of the whole ordeal, the Coyotes even traded Scott to the Montreal Canadiens, which in turn sent him down to their AHL affiliate, the St. John’s IceCaps. Those maneuvers called into question Scott’s eligibility to even play in the NHL All-Star Game, since he was no longer playing for a Pacific Division team or even working as a member of an NHL team at all. Nevertheless, Scott ultimately did play
in the 2016 NHL All-Star Game, and even scored a pair of goals in the semifinal game to send his Pacific Division team to the finals, which they won. And though Scott wasn’t initially included by the NHL in the voting for the All-Star Game’s MVP title, he won it anyway, thanks to strong support from fans and fellow players. Scott did get called back up by the Canadiens after his performance in the All-Star Game, playing a single game for the team. Then he cut his season short to go home to his wife and four daughters in Traverse City, whom he hadn’t seen in two months. He announced his retirement that December and has since made Traverse City his permanent home. He and his wife have had two more daughters since. GETTING THE BAND TOGETHER Back to Dropping the Gloves. Scott says his desire to do the podcast sprouted directly from his whirlwind final professional season, as well as from the fact that, after years of being away from home, he just wanted to stop running for a while. “I started the podcast because I wanted to stay in the game somehow and I knew I wanted to live in Traverse City,” Scott says. “I was getting offers to do some TV work with the big networks, but that would have meant I would have had to move to Canada or Connecticut. Podcasting was getting popular and my neighbor at the time, John Aikin, owned a digital marketing company called Web Canopy Studio. He told me to
