Canadiens top All-Star ballot

Tuesday, 11.04.2008 / 4:12 PM / News

By Mike G. Morreale - NHL.com Staff Writer

It's seems rather appropriate that a leading 6 players from the Montreal Canadiens were named to the XM/NHL All-Star Fan Balloting presented by 2K Sports Tuesday.

After all, Montreal will host the 2009 NHL All-Star weekend in January as part of its year-long Centennial celebration. The 57th NHL All-Star Game will be played at the Bell Centre on Jan. 25.

The 6 Canadiens -- goaltender Carey Price, defensemen Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek and forwards Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev and Alex Tanguay -- equal the number from the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.

Representing the Wings on the ballot are Conn Smythe Trophy-winning forward Henrik Zetterberg, along with Marian Hossa and Pavel Datsyuk, defensemen Brian Rafalski and Nicklas Lidstrom and goalie Chris Osgood.

Montreal and Detroit placed the most players on the ballot, followed by the 5 members of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Fans can vote for their favorite players to be in the starting lineups as many times as they want, and for the first time in professional sports history, the NHL will provide real-time All-Star fan balloting results online at NHL.com. Fans around the world can vote online from Nov. 12 through Jan. 2 via interactive English and French ballots at Vote.NHL.com. Those in the U.S. and Canada also will be able to cast their votes via text message using any wireless carrier. During the voting period, real-time results will be available exclusively on Vote.NHL.com/results. This marks the third-consecutive year the All-Star balloting process is entirely digital.

One player on the ballot who likely will be sidelined, even if he's voted in by the fans, is New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, who will undergo surgery Thursday to repair the distal biceps tendon in his left elbow. Brodeur, who has played in 9 All-Star Games, is expected to miss 3-4 months.

Eight of the current top 10 point-producers in the League are on the ballot -- Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin (18 points) and Sidney Crosby (15), Washington's Alexander Semin (16), Chicago's Patrick Kane (15), Hossa (15), Boston's Marc Savard (15), Buffalo's Thomas Vanek (14) and New Jersey's Zach Parise (14).

Additionally, Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, the reigning League MVP, is shooting for his third All-Star Game appearance. Ovechkin rejoined the Capitals Monday after spending the previous 6 days in Russia with his ailing 83-year-old grandfather.

Eight of the top 10 scorers among defensemen also are on the ballot -- Markov (13 points), Nashville's Shea Weber (12), Detroit's Lidstrom (9) and Rafalski (12), Chicago's Brian Campbell (9), Calgary's Dion Phaneuf (9), Anaheim's Chris Pronger (11) and San Jose's Dan Boyle (9). Lidstrom, who won his sixth Norris Memorial Trophy as the League's top defenseman last season, seeks his 11th All-Star Game appearance.

Among the goalies, 6 of those listed on the ballot are among the top 10 in goals-against average -- Buffalo's Ryan Miller (1.62 GAA), Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist (1.99 GAA), Brodeur (2.16 GAA), Price (2.17 GAA), Minnesota's Niklas Backstrom (2.26 GAA) and Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury (2.34 GAA).

The 104-player ballot features 23 players under the age of 25, and 10 of those players are making their first career appearance on the ballot: Dustin Brown, Los Angeles (24); Brent Burns, Minnesota, (23); Mike Green (23) and Semin (24), Washington; Kane (19) and Jonathan Toews (20), Chicago; Parise, New Jersey, (24); Price, Montreal, (21); Mike Richards, Philadelphia, (23) and Weber, Nashville, (23).

Fans will be able to vote for up to 6 Eastern Conference players and 6 Western Conference players: 3 forwards, 2 defensemen and 1 goaltender. For the first time, fans will be permitted to select as few as 1 player -- a balloted player or write-in -- per online ballot at Vote.NHL.com or via text message. The 3 forwards, 2 defensemen and 1 goaltender from each conference receiving the most votes will comprise the starting lineups. Each of the 30 NHL clubs has at least two representatives on the ballot.

The 2009 NHL All-Star Weekend in Montreal will celebrate the Montreal Canadiens’ Centennial season with live national broadcasts of the Honda/NHL SuperSkills event on Jan. 24 and the All-Star Game, on VERSUS in the United States and CBC and RDS in Canada. NASN, ASN, J Sports, Sky Mexico, Fox Sports Australia and other NHL international broadcast partners will provide live coverage of the Honda/NHL SuperSkills event and the NHL All-Star Game to more than 150 countries and territories in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the Pacific Rim, Mexico and the Caribbean. NHL Radio will provide exclusive national radio coverage which can be heard on stations around the United States and Canada as well as on Sirius XM Radio's NHL Home Ice, located at XM channel 204 and on SIRIUS channel 208 with the “Best of XM” programming package.

2008-09 XM / NHL All-Star Fan Ballot

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Goaltenders