I cast my first ballot for the All-Star Game this morning. After, I clicked on the button to see who the current leaders were:
Forwards
1. Saku Koivu 97,446
2. Alex Kovalev 95,806
3. Alex Tanguay 94,994
4. Alex Semin 50,725
6. Alex Ovechkin 30,521
7. Simon Gagne 26,323
8. Vincent Lecavalier 26,261
9. Sidney Crosby 20,039
10. Evgeni Malkin 14,929
11. Marc Savard 12,885
What stands out (besides all the Alexes)? The huge numbers for the three Canadiens at the top nearly double those of fourth place Semin. There's more:
Defense
1. Andrei Markov 103,497
2. Mike Komisarek 97,501
3. Kimmo Timonen 26,081
I could go on with the rest of the defensemen, but you get the picture. Four times as many vote for Markov as third-place Timonen. (The other Canadien on the ballot, Roman Hamrlik, checks in at seventh with 13,129). And finally:
Goalies
1. Carey Price 106.209
2. Henrik Lundqvist 40,382
3. Tim Thomas 15,429
The Habs win again.
Well, you know what they say: When in Montreal, start all the Montreal players in the All-Star Game.