With special thanks to all the Pittsburgh Penguins fans who got out the vote and challenged the ballot stuffing in Quebec, Sid Crosby has now set the All-Star vote record gaining over 1 million 1 hundred thousand votes. I don't agree with either the Penguins or Canadians who have been furiously voting to put their stars in the starting line-up. Of course, this doesn't bode well for the future of the NHL All-Star games when fans can affect the voting so drastically. The All-Stars are vastly becoming a game that features the popular stars instead of the players who work hard and deserve a position on the roster. Sergei Gonchar, who hasn't played 1 minute in this current season has scored 969655 votes thanks to the encouragement of local sports reporters and broadcasters.
As a show of fairness, maybe the NHL will come up with a compromising solution. Could the NHL have a exhibition game between the 100 Year Montreal Anniversary team against the best of the NHL young stars. That is what Montreal wants to see.
Jagr previously held the All-Star voting record, but opted to play in Russia for his last years as a pro. It would be interesting to see just what this year would result had Jagr stayed in the NHL this season instead. Would he siphon off some of Crosby's popularity?
Anyway, the best and fairest voting would be to get a system of "One-fan, One-ballot". Since the NHL Fans Association (NHLFA) is looking for something to rally around now that the lockout is over, have all fans register with them and they can take care of the ballots.
[Via: Pittsburgh Penguins Official Website]
No comments:
Post a Comment