NHL All-Star Game: Several Players Snubbed as Senators Get 4 Starters

Fans never put the very best and most deserving players into an All-Star game in any sport, as proven by the National Hockey League voting for this year's game in Ottawa.

In an age where Yao Ming is able to be voted the starting center in the NBA All-Star Game without playing a single game, four Ottawa Senators were voted into the game by the fans, results of a clear propaganda move by the fans up in Ottawa.

Daniel Alfredsson, Milan Michalek, Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson will all be starters at this year's game, representing the hometown team. They are joined by Toronto defenseman Dion Phaneuf and Boston goaltender Tim Thomas.

So the three leading goal scorers from the eighth-highest scoring team can make the starting lineup because the fans in their home town want them to? That's ridiculous.

The only Senator in the top 35 in goals scored in the NHL is Michalek, who is tied for sixth with 19. Spezza (11th) and Karlsson (T-18th) are the only ones near the top in total points. Karlsson's 37 points is best among NHL defensemen and his 32 assists is second-best in the NHL. He is the only skater on this list that you could possibly make a case for.

Looking at the other Ontario team being represented on the list, Dion Phaneuf? Really? He's tied for 122nd in the NHL amongst all defensemen with a plus/minus of zero, ranking third on the Maple Leafs amongst defensemen. His 84 hits are impressive, but he's nowhere near one of the two best defensemen in the NHL.

Are they good players? Yes. Should they be in the All-Star Game? Most likely. Starters? No way.

Tim Thomas is once again in Vezina form this year. On a team with two No. 1 goalkeepers, Thomas has 17 wins, a 1.90 goals against, a .940 save percentage, has four shutouts and is 8-8 in shootouts.

Thomas makes sense, being the cream of the crop of goaltenders at the moment, but several skaters were snubbed, none more-so than Lightning forward Steve Stamkos.

Stamkos, with 27 goals and 17 assists, leads the NHL in goals and is fifth in total points. The fact that he has been able to dominate on a team that has been far worse than last season's Eastern Conference runner-ups is even more impressive. Stamkos is regularly one of the best players in the NHL and should be treated as such. The fans in Ontario don't give a crap about him, but he is one of the league's best.

If the league is to put the best players in, the fans cannot vote for the starters. Sure Stamkos will be there, but look at the players not on this list. What needs to happen is that the players or a group of people actually involved with the league need to have a say, not people who are only trying to see more of their players.

I don't speak for everybody, of course, but if I'm determining the starting lineup, I want to see the best players, whether they are from my team or rival teams. Here is how it would look:

LW: Daniel Sedin, VAN (18 G, 28 A, +/- 17)

C: Steven Stamkos, TB (27 G, 17 A, +/- 10)

RW: Phil Kessel, TOR (22 G, 23 A, +/- 3)

D" Zdeno Chara, BOS (+/- 22, 68 hits, 37 blocked shots)

D: Michael Del Zotto, NYR (+/- 25, 75 hits, 55 blocked shots)

G: Tim Thomas, BOS (1.90 GAA, .940 SVP, 4 SOs)

Something needs to be done. Fan voting for All-Stars in every sport is getting ridiculous. Players that don't deserve to be there will always make it if fans are allowed to keep voting. Get them involved somehow, but not in the determination of the players.