Parker Smeb was invited to the SHL red carpet but decided not to intend. Instead, he flew back home to Korea and attended the esports awards, he stood on their red carpet which was streamed to millions on Afreeca.TV (much higher viewership than the SHL awards). Some say Parker only did this due to not being nominated for an award but he was interviewed by Afreeca.TV employees and said his decision was mainly because of the SMJHLs treatment of his brother, Khan Smeb.

Parker was quoted as saying "Quite frankly I'm disgusted about how North America has treated my poor brother. He moved to NA to play hockey and not only was he not drafted but the season is nearly over and he still hasn't been signed even though hes active. He's also been barred from doing PGS's due to not being on a team but that makes zero sense since the point of the SMJHL is to encourage rookies to stay active. If teams won't sign him then why is he also being punished for staying active? Shouldn't the teams be the ones being punished? I refuse to attend awards shows of leagues that punish activity. Also, scoring in the SMJHL is way too low."