All Farce GameMontreal Loses Interest; Penguins Fans Vote For Injured Reserves

It was always a joke they said. unfortunately though, the Canadiens have decided to make this farce that is the all-star game a central piece of the Centenary celebrations.

You all know about the clever (read no social life) fans from Montreal voted thousands of times for each of the six nominees from the Canadiens. The league stripped some votes and added a very basic security screen (they probably never appreciated how little social lives the guys really had).


Everything looks rosy for a while. But now it seems the Pittsburgh Penguins hopefuls are getting the full support of a similarly childish campaign. The worst part, in terms of making this event more farcical than it already is, is that they are voting for non-stars such as Whitney and Gonchar, both of whom haven't played a second since the finals last spring. Just wait, slow to wake Caps fans will be next...

Carbonneau thinks it's off. I think most us are almost at the point of calling it all off.


What can the league do?
I think it can strip the vote away from fans. Few would contest that those of us who read blogs day and night and think and write about the Habs are big fans. But I doubt many of you readers have submitted thousands of votes. I haven't voted at all. I'm not sure I will – certainly not this year.

The vote could be stripped because the fans who do vote have a few times now (Rory Fitzpatrick, Canadiens 08 and Penguins 08) crossed the line. In their place, I would suggest a simple ballot among the players. It would be like the Lester Pearson award time 6. You could bar voting for oneself, or even teammates. Personally, I think that would be just as fun to see for the fans.

Ah, but the league doesn't care about that really. They care more about traffic to their website, right? I think a little more concern for their image, even at the expense of the pennies they can get from housebound teenagers in Pittsburgh and Montreal, would be a new and possibly refreshing approach.

While the league is about it, maybe they could scrap the requirement for a player from each team. By the time that happens, there's little room for actual all-stars. Imagine if all six Canadiens made it. With the need to represent every team, only one player from each remaining team could crack it. That would mean Malkin or Crosby sits so Doug Weight or Matt Stajan can play. Some teams have been so devoid of real all-stars for so long that they are making Hall of Fame resumes for their lame-stars (DiPietro anyone?).

Anyway, who are the all-stars so far?

I have Tim Thomas in goal (mindful that December, as usual, will probably alter this one); Markov and Green on defence; Malkin, Crosby and Ovechkin (no surprises) up front.

Anyone still voting for Komi?

Sporting News: Habs Players Snubbed

Thanks to Mike Boone for keeping up his posts and fishing this one out:

The Sporting News has named Bob Gainey National Hockey League Executive of the Year.

Gainey received 12 of 28 votes cast by league executives. Detroit vice-president/GM Ken Holland was second with six votes.

Sporting News Coach of the Year Mike Babcock got six of 18 votes cast by his peers, while Guy Carbonneau picked up five votes to finish second.

Alex Ovechkin was named Player of the Year, picking up 250 of a possible 287 votes in a poll of players conducted for the magazine. Evgeni Malkin finished second with 18 votes.

The Sporting News named Patrick Kane Rookie of the Year. The magazine's All-Star team includes Martin Brodeur, Mike Green, Nicklas Lidstrom, Ovechkin, Malkin and Jarome Iginla.

How funny that the year the players put it together and Gainey does little more than watch his previous work come to fruition, it is Gainey that is honoured and the players, namely Markov, that are snubbed.

I am excited for Washington that they are up and coming and made the playoffs for the first time in a while, but I don't think they necessarily merit 33% of the places on the all-star team for the season. One can hardly argue with the selections of Brodeur, Lidstrom, Ovechkin, Iginla and Malkin from this past season, but Mike Green should be up for discussion.


Questionable choice

Mike Green is definitely an up-and-comer, but I would hesitate to lay this honour on him just yet.

For on thing, the Capitals were not a good defensive team. While Lidstrom led defencemen in the NHL for scoring, he also led his team to the Jennings trophy. Green, while scoring 18 goals and 56 points led his team to a tied 17th best GA record (tied with Phoenix, no less).

For another thing, the Capitals play in what is hands down the worst division in the NHL. They played 32 games against division rivals, all of whom missed the playoffs. Most of their success came against these teams, as well.

Finally, I thought everyone was in agreement that Washington Capitals = Alexander Ovechkin. At least, that's why a player from a seventh place team is the heavy Hart trophy favourite, right? I would suggest that Mike Green without Ovechkin is probably a lesser player than all the alternatives (who incidentally, all play without Ovechkin).


My 6th All-Star

Looking through the league I see at least three legitimate candidates who would supersede Green in my ranking:

1) Dion Phaneuf
Already a Norris trophy candidate. Plays well at both ends. And, unlike Green, his team's seventh place finish came in what is probably the toughest division in the NHL.

2) Zdeno Chara
We saw what kind of a defender he was in our series. And, having seen what else Boston has to offer, it wouldn't be a stretch to say Chara led a team pretty much bereft of talent (certainly Ovechkin-calibre talent) to the same number of points as Washington in a much tougher division.

3) Andrei Markov
Outpointed Green. Led his team to first overall in the East. Choreographed the best PP in the league. Played on a defense that was significantly stingier in much tougher divisional games. What's more, he did it all without Ovechkin (with all respect to Kovalev).


I select Andrei Markov for the team instead of Green. He not only has better credentials than Green to make it, but the Canadiens deserve to be recognised for the season they had (and Markov would be a good representative) rather than the Capitals being given a double gong for pipping the flailing Canes at the post.

As if to prove the point, in the last head-to-head, Markov's Russia prevailed. Let's hope the next magazine gets its selections right...