As the season turns to winter and the negative temperatures roll in, playing hockey on a lake is one of the most beautiful things of our sport.
However, John Scott and his family are taking this winter off from playing hockey on the lake. This past weekend, Scott experienced a near-death experience on his lake at the back of his Traverse City, Michigan home.
As the former All-Star attempted to clear off some snow to make room to play hockey. Scott plunged through the ice and into the freezing cold water.
Scott fell through the ice but was right beside his dock. Thankfully, Scott was able to free himself of the water, but not without struggle. He recounted the incident during an interview with The Athletic:
“I couldn’t get up on my dock the first three or four attempts because I was soaking wet — I was just drenched,” Scott said. “I was like, ‘OK, do I scream for the ice fisherman but how is he going to get me?’ My kids were playing up at the house and they weren’t going to hear me screaming with the noise up there.
“I tried to hoist myself up but I couldn’t do it and there was no way I could get to a part where I could walk up because at the end of my dock it’s probably 20 feet deep and I couldn’t get around to where the beach starts, so I was like, ‘either I get up on the dock or I don’t get up at all.’ I managed to find a somewhat solid piece of ice to put my foot up on and kind of hoist myself up luckily.”
It’s a heart-pumping read as Scott re-tells what happened. Scott shared a video showing the spot he fell through.
Scott said that his family will just go to the local rink for some skating this winter.
