Tuesday, December 02, 2008

It's their game. Shame is optional.

Fans of the Montreal Canadiens used to take the higher road. Used to. That was before they started rioting after first-round playoff wins and stuffing the all-star ballet box in an effort to prove that Alex Tanguay is better than Sidney Crosby.

Below the jump, the latest all-star ballot standings:

Forwards

Player NHL Club Votes
Alex Kovalev Montreal 393,303
Saku Koivu Montreal 390,026
Alex Tanguay Montreal 385,297
Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh 320,373
Evgeni Malkin Pittsburgh 264,914
Alex Ovechkin Washington 190,535
Alexander Semin Washington 109,917
Marc Savard Boston 98,731
Patrice Bergeron Boston 91,453
Thomas Vanek Buffalo 86,198
Simon Gagne Philadelphia 66,667
Mike Richards Philadelphia 53,486
Danny Briere Philadelphia 52,770
Derek Roy Buffalo 51,955
Vincent Lecavalier Tampa Bay 47,147
Ilya Kovalchuk Atlanta 31,208
Chris Drury NY Rangers 30,617
Dany Heatley Ottawa 29,916
Daniel Alfredsson Ottawa 27,599
Eric Staal Carolina 24,785
Zach Parise New Jersey 22,437
Markus Naslund NY Rangers 21,335
Scott Gomez NY Rangers 20,462
Martin St. Louis Tampa Bay 17,380
Jason Spezza Ottawa 14,971
Rod Brind'Amour Carolina 14,253
Brian Rolston New Jersey 13,250
*Jordan Staal Pittsburgh 13,068
Patrik Elias New Jersey 11,870
Ray Whitney Carolina 10,441
*Milan Lucic Boston 9,141
*Philip Kessel Boston 8,251
*Jeff Carter Philadelphia 6,177
Trent Hunter NY Islanders 5,300


Defensemen
Andrei Markov Montreal 440,292
Mike Komisarek Montreal 396,754
Zdeno Chara Boston 197,582
Sergei Gonchar Pittsburgh 185,051
Ryan Whitney Pittsburgh 162,461
Mike Green Washington 159,808
Teppo Numminen Buffalo 77,688
Kimmo Timonen Philadelphia 77,347
Tomas Kaberle Toronto 61,604
Wade Redden NY Rangers 45,745
Jay Bouwmeester Florida 36,499
Chris Phillips Ottawa 15,602

Goaltenders
Carey Price Montreal 429,087
Marc-Andre Fleury Pittsburgh 204,308
Henrik Lundqvist NY Rangers 87,620
Ryan Miller Buffalo 82,709
*Tim Thomas Boston 52,606
Martin Biron Philadelphia 47,090
Martin Brodeur New Jersey 36,435
Vesa Toskala Toronto 24,890
Kari Lehtonen Atlanta 12,148
Tomas Vokoun Florida 7,210
Rick DiPietro NY Islanders 7,183

Note: Write-in candidates are denoted by an asterisk (*).

5 comments:

Pattington said...

Isn't the all-star game irrelevant anyway? Who cares? Also, since it's the fans game, shouldn't the team consist of those they want to see, rather than those we argue are "more deserving?"

-Pat (self-admittedly, a die-hard Habs fan)

Duane Rollins said...

Oh, I don't. If it were up to me I would have had a team of the best Quebec players play the rest of the all-stars.

It's just that Habs fans used to be So. Damn. Smug. whenever Toronto fans celebrated minor accomplishments.

Pointing out that they have become Leafs fans gives me a little bit of joy, that's all.

(For the record, I don't actually dislike the Habs. I want them to be good because that's just the way it should be).

Pattington said...

I still am smug! And I still laugh at the Leafs when they start the parade planning after a three game winning streak. I agree that the Habs should be good; it's God's (or anyone's spiritual leader's) plan.

I am also a hyprocrite.

Cheers,
Pat

Ian Hunter said...

All the power to them! Canadians should take notice this, and stuff the ballot next year for the MLB Allstar game and vote in the Jays players.

Jordie Dwyer said...

Say Ian,
That would mean people outside the lower portion of this country would have to acknowledge the fact there is in fact STILL a baseball team in this country.
OR even care that baseball remains a sport.

As for the ballot stuffing - - YES...I AM A HABS FAN AND I ADMIT TO VOTING MULTIPLE UPON MULTIPLE TIMES FOR MY TEAM.

A 100th anniversary season comes just once and the fact the six Habs are being voted in as the starters is simply a tribute by the fans to the organization. It is in no way a reflection on how the other players in the Campbell (oops - Eastern) conference play.
As for the case put forward that the allstar game is supposed to be a reward for playing well early in the year, let me throw out these few nuggets to show that certainly isn't the case:

∞ would they even allow the fans to vote and risk someone deserving not being there:

∞ would the all-wise (okay, I couldn't type that without giggling) commissioner have to name a pair of old, close to retirement players to the team just so they can be a part;

∞ players named as a starter or asked to fill out the rest of the roster would gladly accept, not bow out so they can simply rest - as opposed to those legitimately injured.

∞ fans would actually go for the game, instead of having to be lured, cajoled or otherwise twisted into buying a ticket because they can get the rest of the sideshow entertainment for free;

∞ and lastly, us media types wouldn't have ready-made fodder to pitch to readers, viewers, listeners about how our picks would be different, better, etc...