Excerpt from the TSN article:
If the first week of fan balloting is any indication, the 2009 NHL All-Star Game could be the first to feature a starting lineup with all six players voted in from one team.
With more than 110,000 votes each, all six Montreal Canadiens on the ballot – goaltender Carey Price, defencemen Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek and forwards Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev and Alex Tanguay – are the leading vote-getters for all six positions for the Eastern Conference.
Price leads all players on the ballot with 128,642 votes, more than twice the number tallied for goaltender Roberto Luongo (60,958) in the Western Conference.
Saku Koivu (118,329), Alex Kovalev (117,080) and Alex Tanguay (115,828) lead all forwards in votes, with former Canadien-turned-Dallas Star Mike Ribeiro next up with 55,101. By comparison, forwards Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby – the last two Hart Trophy winners – have 35,547 and 25,986 votes respectively.
Montreal’s top defensive pairing of Andrei Markov (126,263) and Mike Komisarek (118,202) are also the top pairing among the league’s defencemen, with six-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom next at 57,376 votes.
TSN: Ahead In The Polls
Habster:
It’s still early but wouldn’t it be something for the Eastern conference starting lineup to be an “All Habs” affair (sorry, I couldn’t resist!!).
Some might make the argument that there are more deserving players to consider for the starting lineup. Players like Jay Bouwmeester ahead of Mike Komisarek or Alexander Semin instead of Alex Tanguay.
With that out of the way, let’s look beyond what is reasonable and right!!! Hab fans around the world, let’s stuff those ballot boxes (errr…..computers!!) like our mothers stuff the 25 lbs Christmas turkey or the PQ scrutineers did in 1995…….you get my point!!
I’ve added a widget to the top of our site which allows All Habs readers to access the NHL voting site so get to it Canadiens fans…..get voting!!!!
It’s not like the Canadiens’ nominations aren’t deserving enough of the starting lineup nod. Regardless, how often will the Canadiens organization get to hold the NHL All-Star?….not for another 12-15 years, I’m sure!!
In the end, the ballot stuffing for an “All Habs” lineup (sorry for the self promotion again!!) is a great way to show the players how much we appreciate their play this season.