NHL All-Star Game Balloting: Is It Worth The Headache?

Perhaps its time to rid ourselves of the online balloting process, and go back to the old process of restricting it to voting only at NHL games.  Even better yet, perhaps its time to scrap the whole fan balloting all together, and let the NHL itself decide who should play in the game.  Ultimately, it wouldn't change things all that much, as guys like Crosby and Malkin would still make the team.  But, would a guy like Alexei Kovalev?  I think not.

I've never been a huge "All-Star Game" fan, whatever sport it is.  Unfortunately, it never really is a true showcase for the sport.  You don't see all the aspects of the game, whether it's a big check in the corner of an NHL game, or a player giving a hard slide into second base to break up a double play, this is the kind of hard-nosed play you won't see in an All-Star game. 

However, if you are going to have the fans vote for starters, then it should be all the fans who have somewhat of an equal say and not one small block of voters controlling the results and essentially making everyone else's votes almost null and pointless.

After all, the NHL would like for fans beyond those of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens  to tune into the game.  Or better yet, to think that guys like Thomas Vanek of the Buffalo Sabres, Marc Savard of the Boston Bruinsor Zach Parise of the New Jersey Devils all had a fair chance to be a starter in the All-Star game. 

Unfortunately, as of right now, it appears unlikely that those not wearing sweaters in Pittsburgh or Montreal didn't get a fair shake to be a starter.  You should still see all three players in Montreal, but it would have been nice if they had a fair chance to become a starter.

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