At least that’s what NHL all-star ballot stuffers think. Because of rampant stuffing from Canadiens fans, and then counter-stuffing from Pittsburgh Penguins fans, the Eastern Conference starting lineup has four Canadiens players (Alex Kovalev, Andrei Markov, Carey Price and Mike Komisarek) and two Penguins players (Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin).
Though Habs and Penguins fans should be embarrassed by this, the fault lies in the National Hockey League, which setup a system of unverified voting for its all-star lineup and even encouraged people to vote as many times as they wanted.
Maybe it’s time to realize that online voting isn’t a proper way to poll the public on anything.
No one was voting for who they thought was the best, they voted for who they wanted to see.
Why would you vote for Ovechkin and Crosby when you KNOW they’re going to be there no matter what. Personally I think Ovechkin is the best player in the NHL but I still voted for Kovalev because I think he can do some sick stuff in the SuperSkills competition. The fans get to put in 10 people and the other 30+ you know are going to be the big name usual suspects.
The only guy I don’t see as an all-star on that starting lineup is Komisarek. He’s a great defenceman and makes a team a LOT stronger with his presence but his physical defensive style of play isn’t really suitable for an all-star game.
Or maybe it’s just an all-star game and it doesn’t really matter.