NHL All Star Game

[Chronicle Sports]

Sabres, Sid, AO dominate East starters
Shawn P. Roarke | NHL.com Senior Writer Jan 9, 2007, 9:45 PM EST

Sidney Crosby, the 19-year-old Penguins' phenom, will be making his first All-Star Game appearance.

Final results | East starter notes | West starter notes


With Tuesday night’s announcement of the starting lineups of the 2007 NHL All-star Game, it is clear that the NHL’s blinding future is on a collision course with its storied present.

Six of the 12 starters, selected by fan voting in the recently concluded COLD-fX/NHL All-Star Fan Balloting presented by 2K Sports, are making their inaugural All-star appearance and another two players are making their first start.

The parade of newcomers is led by Pittsburgh wunderkind Sidney Crosby, who received a League-leading 825,783 votes. In this case, Crosby is, indeed, living up to his “Sid the Kid” moniker as he becomes the youngest player voted to start the All-Star Game since fan balloting began in 1986. Five months past his 19th birthday, Crosby beats out Jaromir Jagr, who at 19 years, 11 months, was elected to the Prince of Wales Conference lineup for the 1992 All-Star Game in Philadelphia.

Crosby, the League’s leading scorer with 64 points in 37 games, is joined by five other first-time starters in the Eastern Conference starting lineup.

Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin, who nipped Crosby for the Calder Trophy last season, will play one of the wings. Ovechkin, who earned the most votes by a Russian since fan balloting began, has a League-high 26 goals this season and scored 100 points last season, the first rookie to turn that trick in 13 years.



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The other wing will be occupied by 26-year-old forward Daniel Briere of the Buffalo Sabres. Two other Sabres are also in the starting lineup. Defenseman Brian Campbell and goalie Ryan Miller were also selected to the team, which will be directed by Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. Montreal veteran Sheldon Souray, who already has 11 power-play goals, is the other defensemen. Souray was named as a reserve to the 2004 All-Star Game, where he tied Adrian Aucoin for the hardest shot (102.2 mph) in that year’s Skills Competition.

Ruff will certainly find some comfort level with his three charges in the starting lineup and plans to play the same wide-open style that has led the Sabres to the top of the Eastern Conference heap at the season’s mid-point.

”I think a very lightly structured game plan,” Ruff said, days before the starters were officially revealed. “I think the competitiveness of the players will really take over.”

The Eastern Conference’s fresh faces will certainly find a formidable counterpoint in the Western Conference starters, which will be anchored by superstar vets Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom.

Sakic, the 37-year-old bedrock of the Avs, is making his 12th All-Star appearance, including four selections to the starting lineup. The 36-year-old Lidstrom, who has won four of the last five Norris Trophies, is making his ninth All-Star Game showing and his seventh start.

They will be joined by a pair of players making their fourth All-Star appearances in Anaheim defenseman Scott Niedermayer, who broke Lidstrom’s stranglehold on the Norris Trophy back in 2004, and center Joe Thornton, who won last year’s scoring title. The Western Conference starting lineup also features Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo and San Jose forward Jonathan Cheechoo, both of whom are making their first All-Star Game starts. Luongo played in the 2004 All-Star game and won the goaltender’s portion of the Skills competition. Cheechoo won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy last season as the League leading goal scorer with a San Jose franchise-record 56 goals.

Vancouver defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick fell 23,000 votes short of a starting berth, but did receive a record tally for write-in candidates and finished third among Western Conference defensemen with 550,177 votes.

Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle, who has led Anaheim to the League’s best record this season, will coach the Western Conference team in the game, which will be played Wednesday, Jan. 24 (8 p.m. ET, VERSUS, CBC, RDS, NHL Radio) at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Complete rosters for the 2007 NHL All-Star Game and the NHL YoungStars Game presented by Upper Deck, selected by the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department in conjunction with League's general managers, will be announced Saturday, Jan. 13, exclusively on CBC during its coverage of Hockey Day in Canada and on RDS.


Joe Sakic is the most tenured All-Star starter.

The Eastern Conference’s young forwards, especially the sublime talents of Crosby and Ovechkin, can only hope to reach the lofty perch occupied by Sakic, who ranked second behind Thornton in balloting for the Western Conference starters.

This season, Sakic became just the 11th player in NHL history to reach 1,500 career points and this week he moved past Paul Coffey (1,531) for 10th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,533 points. Sakic is playing in his 18th NHL season and is in his 14th season as the captain of the only team for which he has ever played -- the longest such streak among active players. Only five players in NHL history -- Pittsburgh's Mario Lemieux, Edmonton's Wayne Gretzky, Detroit's Gordie Howe, Boston's Ray Bourque and Detroit's Steve Yzerman -- have tallied more points with one organization.

Lidstrom is also the standard bearer by which all future All-Star defensemen will be measured. Not only does he have the four Norris Trophy wins, and three runner-up finishes, but he was won three Stanley Cups with Detroit, including one in 2002 that saw him become the first European to be selected as Playoff MVP. This season, he took over the captaincy of the Wings storied franchise upon the retirement of Yzerman and leads the team in scoring with 33 points in 42 games.

Yet, despite those credentials, it is a safe bet the Western Conference old-timers will be overshadowed in the eyes of many by the All-Star debuts of Crosby and Ovechkin, whose first-year battle for rookie supremacy was one of the biggest storylines of the 2005-06 season.

In fact, Crosby earned 161,852 more votes than Thornton, who finished second among the dozen starters in the fan voting. Crosby’s 825,783 are the second-highest number of votes since balloting to select All-Star starters began in 1986, finishing behind the 1,020,736 Jagr tallied in 2000.

Crosby certainly has the credentials for such popularity. He is just the second teenager in the modern era, other than the incomparable Wayne Gretzky, to lead the League in points. His 132 points in his first 100 games is the second-highest 100-game total among any active player, just 20 points behind the 152-point run that kicked off Teemu Selanne’s career. He is also the youngest player to reach 100 points in a season, doing it at 18 years and 254 days. He finished that season with 102 points, surpassing hall of Famer Mario Lemieux’s team record set in 1984-85.

2007 Eastern Conference All-Star Team Starting Lineup

Position Player NHL Club Votes A-S Game A-S Start
Goal Ryan Miller Buffalo 539,635 1st 1st
Defense Brian Campbell Buffalo 602,982 1st 1st
Defense Sheldon Souray Montreal 534,647 2nd 1st
Forward Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh 825,783 1st 1st
Forward Daniel Briere Buffalo 475,857 1st 1st
Forward Alexander Ovechkin Washington 475,297 1st 1st

2007 Western Conference All-Star Team Starting Lineup

Position Player NHL Club Votes A-S Game A-S Start
Goal Roberto Luongo Vancouver 484,861 2nd 1st
Defense Scott Niedermayer Anaheim 591,657 4th 2nd
Defense Nicklas Lidstrom Detroit 573,069 9th 7th
Forward Joe Thornton San Jose 663,931 4th 2nd
Forward Joe Sakic Colorado 473,847 12th 4th *

Forward Jonathan Cheechoo San Jose 444,885 1st 1st


* includes 1997 All-Star Game (did not play)

COLD-fX/NHL All-Star Fan Balloting,
Presented by 2K Sports
FINAL RESULTS
EASTERN CONFERENCE

Goaltenders

Ryan Miller, BUF 539,635
Martin Brodeur, NJD 484,993
Marc-Andre Fleury, PIT 346,530
Cam Ward, CAR 200,173
Andrew Raycroft, TOR 186,903
Kari Lehtonen, ATL 161,687
Olaf Kolzig, WSH 134,634
Henrik Lundqvist, NYR 125,896
Cristobal Huet *, MTL 123,590

* write-in candidate

Forwards

Sidney Crosby, PIT 825,783
Daniel Briere, BUF 475,857
Alexander Ovechkin, WSH 475,297
Maxim Afinogenov, BUF 469,431
Evgeni Malkin, PIT 399,081
Chris Drury, BUF 330,000
Jaromir Jagr, NYR 321,578
Erik Cole, CAR 255,063
Rod Brind'Amour, CAR 249,632
Ilya Kovalchuk, ATL 226,602
Marian Hossa, ATL 207,393
Saku Koivu, MTL 199,857
Brendan Shanahan, NYR 174,450
Eric Staal, CAR 168,290
Dany Heatley, OTT 167,021
Vincent Lecavalier, TBL 164,522
Mats Sundin, TOR 157,551
Thomas Vanek *, BUF 154,660
Peter Forsberg, PHI 148,690
Marco Sturm *, BOS 135,038
Patrice Bergeron, BOS 134,895
Daniel Alfredsson, OTT 122,523
Olli Jokinen, FLA 111,203
Jason Spezza, OTT 110,083
Martin St. Louis, TBL 103,573
Simon Gagne, PHI 86,843
Patrik Elias, NJD 80,538
Brian Gionta, NJD 74,599
Brad Richards, TBL 71,944
Miroslav Satan, NYI 63,067
Scott Gomez, NJD 61,901
Michael Nylander, NYR 61,623

Defensemen

Brian Campbell, BUF 602,982
Sheldon Souray, MTL 534,647
Zdeno Chara, BOS 511,457
Bryan McCabe, TOR 479,124
Tomas Kaberle, TOR 451,963
Henrik Tallinder, BUF 426,839
Jay Bouwmeester, FLA 410,007
Wade Redden, OTT 305,497
Dan Boyle, TBL 254,835
Brian Rafalski, NJD 228,827
Alexei Zhitnik, PHI 200,735
Chris Phillips, OTT 130,109

* write-in candidate

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Goaltenders

Roberto Luongo, VAN 484,861
Miikka Kiprusoff, CGY 403,313
Marty Turco, DAL 358,045
J.S. Giguere, ANA 286,914
Dwayne Roloson, EDM 223,035
Nikolai Khabibulin, CHI 148,080
Vesa Toskala *, SJS 129,351
Tomas Vokoun, NSH 128,394
Manny Fernandez, MIN 119,067

Forwards

Joe Thornton, SJS 663,931
Joe Sakic, COL 473,847
Jonathan Cheechoo, SJS 444,885
Patrick Marleau, SJS 415,123
Jarome Iginla, CGY 393,213
Markus Naslund, VAN 342,583
Teemu Selanne, ANA 335,149
Martin Havlat, CHI 303,207
Daniel Sedin, VAN 292,743
Henrik Sedin, VAN 291,853
Brenden Morrow, DAL 268,447
Mike Modano, DAL 254,178
Paul Kariya, NSH 198,855
Ryan Smyth, EDM 177,615
Pavel Datsyuk, DET 154,164
Petr Sykora, EDM 146,993
Brian Rolston, MIN 146,456
Henrik Zetterberg, DET 139,735
Rick Nash, CBJ 135,068
Ales Hemsky, EDM 130,481
Marian Gaborik, MIN 127,770
Andy McDonald, ANA 115,863
Milan Hejduk, COL 110,698
Milan Michalek *, SJS 96,446
Steve Sullivan, NSH 94,877
Pavol Demitra, MIN 94,739
Doug Weight, STL 89,348
Ladislav Nagy, PHX 87,130
Shane Doan, PHX 84,925
Keith Tkachuk, STL 81,726
Nikolai Zherdev, CBJ 72,723

* write-in candidate

Defensemen

Scott Niedermayer, ANA 591,657
Nicklas Lidstrom, DET 573,069
Rory Fitzpatrick *, VAN 550,177
Chris Pronger, ANA 433,972
Dion Phaneuf, CGY 395,168
Scott Hannan, SJS 378,206
Mattias Ohlund, VAN 326,717
John-Michael Liles, COL 234,598
Sergei Zubov, DAL 225,094
Robyn Regehr, CGY 223,063
Rob Blake, LAK 187,952
Mathieu Schneider, DET 186,431
Lubomir Visnovsky, LAK 177,650

* write-in candidate

EASTERN CONFERENCE ALL-STAR STARTER NOTES

Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins 300K|700K

Will be playing in his first NHL All-Star Game ... led all players in fan balloting (825,783) and registered the second highest number of votes since balloting to select All-Star starters began in 1986 (Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr, 1,020,736, in 2000) ... with six points (1-5-6) on Dec. 13 vs. Philadelphia, took over the League scoring lead, becoming just the second teenager in the modern era to lead the League in points (Wayne Gretzky, 1979-80 and 1980-81)... posted a 10-game point streak from Dec. 2-21 and was named the League's Third Star for the month... played his 100th game on November 20/06 and had 132 points (49 goals, 83 assists) through his first 100 career games -- the second-highest total for any active NHL player. Teemu Selanne had 152 points in his first 100 games ... one of only three players to either score or assist on at least 40 percent of their team's goals (42.0%) in 2005-06 -- others were the Rangers' Jaromir Jagr (49.2%) and Washington's Alex Ovechkin (46.1%) ... on April 17/05, at 18 years, 254 days, became the youngest player in NHL history to reach 100 points in a season, reaching the milestone with his third of three assists in a 6-1 home victory over the Islanders... finished sixth in the League with 102 points in 2005-06 ... completed his rookie campaign first among rookies with 63 assists and second with 39 goals ... 37 of his points came in the last 23 games of the season ... set a franchise record for points in a season by a rookie, surpassing Mario Lemieux's record set in 1984-85 ... tied for fifth in all-time NHL rookie scoring…represented Canada at the 2006 World Championships, becoming the youngest to win the scoring title with eight goals (8-8--16).

Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals 300K|700K

Will be appearing in his first NHL All-Star Game ... ranked third among Eastern Conference forwards in fan balloting (475,297) - his vote total is the highest registered by a Russian player since fan balloting began in 1986... played his 100th NHL game on Nov. 17/06 and had 64 career goals through that date, matching the sixth-highest total at the 100-game mark for any player in the modern era. Most goals through 100 games: Teemu Selanne (84), Maurice Richard (80), Mike Bossy (76), Dino Ciccarelli (69), Eric Lindros (67), Pavel Bure (64), Joe Nieuwendyk (64)... is on pace to join Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy as the only players in League history to tally 50 goals in each of his first two NHL seasons... scored 22.6 percent of his team's goals last season (52 of 230), the highest percentage for any NHL player... on Apr.10/06, scored the overtime game-winner in a 2-1 victory at Boston, becoming the first rookie in 13 years to post 100 points in a season (49 goals, 51 assists) -- the last NHL rookies to reach the 100-point milestone (prior to Ovechkin) were Winnipeg's Teemu Selanne and Boston's Joe Juneau in 1992-93... recorded 52 goals and 54 assists in 2005-06 becoming the second rookie (Teemu Selanne) in NHL history to post 50 goals and 100 points in a season ... his 106 points were the most by any Russian-born rookie in history and placed him first among rookies as well as third overall in the league for the 2005-06 season ... set an NHL rookie record for shots on goal in a season (425) ... won the Calder Trophy in 2006 earning 124 of a possible 129 first-place votes....was the first rookie since the 1992-93 season to be named to the NHL First All-Star Team ... competed for Russia at the 2006 Winter Olympics... his mother, Tatiana, won two Olympic gold medals in basketball (1976 and 1980) ... his father, Mikhail, is a former professional soccer player.

Daniel Briere, Buffalo Sabres 300K|700K

Will be appearing in his first NHL All-Star Game ... ranked second among Eastern Conference forwards in fan balloting (475,857) and third overall among League forwards behind Sidney Crosby and San Jose's Joe Thornton... his #48 jersey has ranked fourth overall in sales in first half of 2006-07 season ... had 25 goals and 33 assists despite missing 32 games due to injury in 2005-06 ... led the Sabres in playoff scoring with eight goals and 11 assists in 18 games ... had a pair of eight-game point streaks in 2005-06 ... named Buffalo's co-captain along with Chris Drury in 2004 ... led the Sabres in scoring with 28 goals and 37 assists in 2003-04 ... acquired along with a third-round pick from the Phoenix Coyotes on March 10, 2003, in one of the most significant trades in franchise history, sending checking centre Chris Gratton and a fourth-round choice the other way... has averaged a point-per-game since joining the Sabres... scored his first NHL goal on Mar. 21/99 -- in his second NHL game (against Stephane Fiset of the Los Angeles Kings)... was named AHL Rookie of the Year in 1998-99 ... became only the fourth player in history (Mario Lemieux, Dale Hawerchuk, Pat LaFontaine) to lead the QMJHL in goals, assists and points (67-96-163) in 1995-96 ... won gold with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships in 1997.

Sheldon Souray, Montreal Canadiens 300K|700K

Will be playing in his second NHL All-Star Game ... tied with Adrian Aucoin for hardest shot (102.2 mph) in 2004 All-Star skills contest... ranked second among Eastern Conference defensemen in fan balloting (534,647)... goal on Jan.6 /07 against the NY Rangers tied the team record of 11 power-play goals by a defenseman, established by Guy Lapointe (1974-75), Mathieu Schneider (1993-94) and Patrice Brisebois (2000-01)... has already surpassed his goal total of last season (13)... set career highs in assists (27) and points (39) in 2005-06 ... recorded 21 power-play points (21) last season including a career high seven power-play goals ... posted three assists in his 400th NHL game on Feb. 28, 2006 ... was a finalist for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in 2006 ... missed the majority of the 2002-03 and 2001-02 seasons due to injury ... his first NHL goal was the game winner for the New Jersey Devils on Dec. 16, 1997... has a restaurant in Montreal with longtime friend Martin Brodeur.

Brian Campbell, Buffalo Sabres 300K|700K

Will be appearing in his first NHL All-Star Game ... led all Eastern Conference defensemen in fan balloting (602,982) and had the third highest vote total among all players behind Sidney Crosby and Joe Thornton ... led all Sabres defensemen in 2005-06 with career highs in goals (12), assists (32) and points (44) ... tied for team lead with five game-winning goals in 2005-06 ... got his first NHL goal and assist against Washington on Oct. 8, 1999 ... split time between Buffalo and Rochester from 1999-2002 ... was selected to the AHL Canadian All-Star Team in 2000-01 ... won the Memorial Cup with Ottawa in 1998-99 ... was a member of Team Canada at the World Junior Championships in 1999 ... led all OHL defensemen with 87 points and was selected as the OHL's Most Outstanding Player (1998-99)... nickname is "Soupy."

Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres 300K|700K

Selected to his first NHL All-Star Game ... led all NHL goaltenders in votes in fan balloting (539,635) -- the second highest total among goalies since fan balloting began in 1986 (Curtis Joseph, 554,789 in 2000)... posted an 8-0-1 record with a 2.36 goals-against average and .921 save percentage in nine appearances en route to being named the League's First Star of the month for October -- he helped the Sabres tie an NHL record by winning their first 10 games of the season, matching the mark set by the 1993-94 Toronto Maple Leafs... posted a 30-14-3 record in 48 games played in his first full NHL season 2005-06 ... played all 18 playoff games for the Sabres recording a 2.56 goals-against average and .908 save percentage ... recorded his first career shutout with 22 saves Jan. 14, 2003 ... was awarded the "Baz" Bastien Award as the AHL's top goaltender in 2003-2004 ... captured the Hobey Baker Award in 2000-01 as the top collegiate player while playing for Michigan State ... set an NCAA record with 26 career shutouts, including the second best single-season total of 10 in 2000-01 ... performed for the U.S. at the 2001 World Junior Championship ... is the cousin of NHLers Kevin, Kip and Kelly Miller ... appeared in the 2003 YoungStars Game.

WESTERN CONFERENCE ALL-STAR STARTER NOTES

Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks 300K|700K

Will be playing in fourth NHL All-Star Game ... in first All-Star Game in 2002, played on a line with Jarome Iginla and Brendan Shanahan... his stall was next to Mario Lemieux in North America locker room -- "I learned a lot just sitting next to him," he told reporters... ranked second to Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby among all NHL players in fan balloting (663,931)... finished fourth in voting for The Lionel Conacher Award as 2006 Canadian male athlete of the year in a survey by The Canadian Press and Broadcast News (1. Steve Nash, NBA, 2. Justin Morneau, MLB, 3. Sidney Crosby, NHL)... cover athlete of NHL 2K7... on Apr. 9/06, tallied two assists in a 4-1 victory over Dallas, setting a League mark for the most points with more than one club in a season (113). He had recorded 33 points with the Boston Bruins before being traded to San Jose on November 30, 2005. Bernie Nicholls had posted 112 points with the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers in 1989-90... recorded career bests in assists (96) and points (125) in 2005-06 ... 72 of his 96 assists came after Dec. 1/05... first player in NHL history to record 90+ assists in a season while playing for two different teams ... recorded his 500th NHL point on Feb. 12/06 ... his combined three-year point total (299) is the most in the NHL ... won the Hart Trophy and the Art Ross Trophy in 2005-06 ... for the first time since 1929-30 the winner of the Hart Trophy's assist total topped that of the previous winners point total (Martin St. Louis had 94 points in 2004-05)... made his NHL debut on Oct. 8, 1997 ... scored his first NHL goal on Dec. 3/97 ... was the youngest player on Team Canada that won the gold medal in the 1997 World Junior Championships.

Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche 300K|700K

Selected to his 12th NHL All-Star Game (did not play in 1997 due to injury) ... played on a line with Pierre Turgeon and Kirk Muller in All-Star debut in 1990... captured All-Star MVP honors in 2004 after scoring three goals while playing on a line with Vancouver's Todd Bertuzzi and Markus Naslund... played with Mario Lemieux and Paul Kariya for North America team in 2002 All-Star Game... ranked second among Western Conference forwards in fan balloting (473,847)... voted to start in an All-Star Game for the fourth time (1991, Chicago; 1997, San Jose; 2001, Colorado)... became the 11th player in NHL history to reach 1,500 career points (on Oct. 25/06 vs. Washington)... his three assists vs. Nashville on Jan. 1/07 moved him past Paul Coffey (1,531) for 10th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,533 points... playing in his 18th NHL season and 14th as team captain, has played his entire career with the Avalanche franchise, the longest such streak among active players... only five players in NHL history have tallied more points with one organization (Pittsburgh's Mario Lemieux, Edmonton's Wayne Gretzky, Detroit's Gordie Howe, Boston's Ray Bourque and Detroit's Steve Yzerman)... on Apr. 24/06, set an NHL playoff record by scoring his seventh career overtime goal in a 5-4 victory at Dallas in Game 2 of the Western Conference QF. He passed the legendary Maurice Richard, who notched six playoff overtime goals in his 18-year Hall of Fame career. Richard had held or shared the League record since March 29, 1951... led the Avalanche with 32 goals and 55 assists in 2005-06 ... entered the season as the NHL's active leading scorer with 1,489 points ... three-time Olympian ... won gold with Team Canada at the 2002 Olympics and was named the tournament MVP ... led the 1996 and 2001 Avalanche teams to Stanley Cup Championships -- won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1996…named the Canadian Junior Player of the Year in 1988.

Jonathan Cheechoo, San Jose Sharks 300K|700K

Will be appearing in his first NHL All-Star Game ... had four assists in 2004 YoungStars Game... ranked third among Western Conference forwards in fan balloting (444,885)... missed six games (Nov. 18-29) with a leg injury... led the NHL in goals in 2005-06 with 56, becoming the first Shark to win the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy ... led the League with 11 game-winning goals and 31 home-ice goals in 2005-06…recorded 78 of his 93 points in the last 58 games of 2005-06 ... set a franchise record with 24 power-play goals ... first player to record five-or-more hat tricks in a season since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96 ... second ever aboriginal player to score 50 goals and the first member of the Moose Cree First Nations to sign an NHL contract ... played his first NHL game on Oct. 10, 2002 ... first NHL goal was the game-winner on Oct. 24, 2002…was fifth in the OHL in points with Belleville in 1999-00 ... helped lead Belleville to an OHL Championship scoring five goals in deciding Game 7.

Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim Ducks 300K|700K

Will be attending his fourth All-Star Game ... won the fastest skater competition at 2004 All-Star skills competition and at his first All-Star appearance in 1998... led all Western Conference defensemen in fan balloting (591,657)... voted an Eastern Conference starter for the 2004 All-Star Game in Minnesota... led the Ducks in scoring with 4-7--11 in 12 games in October and was named the League's Third Star of the month... helped the Ducks earn points in each of their first 16 games (12-0-4), the longest such season-opening streak in NHL history... recorded career highs in assists (50) and points (63) in his first season with Anaheim ... named the sixth captain in team history in 2005 ... his nine career overtime goals are the most for a defensemen in NHL history ... winner of the Norris Trophy in 2003-2004 ... selected to the NHL's First All-Star Team in 2005-06 ... has a plus-51 rating over the last three years ... won three Stanley Cups with New Jersey and a gold medal at the 2002 Olympics with Team Canada ... has also won a World Championship (2004), the World Cup of Hockey (2004), the Memorial Cup (1992) and a World Junior title (1991) becoming the only player in hockey history to win all six titles ... top scoring defenseman in New Jersey Devils history.

Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings 300K|700K

Will be playing in his ninth All-Star Game ... made All-Star debut in 1996 after leading Red Wings in minutes played (25 per-game) through first half of season for Western Conference's top team... served as captain of World Team at 2000 All-Star Game... ranked second among Western Conference defensemen in fan balloting (573,069)... voted as a starter in 2004 All-Star Game in Minnesota; 2003 in Florida; 2002 in Los Angeles; 2001 in Colorado; 2000 in Toronto; and 1999 in Tampa Bay... one of only four Red Wings to play 1,000 games, joining Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman and Alex Delvecchio... named the first European-born Captain of the Detroit Red Wings Oct. 5/06... won his fourth Norris Trophy in 2006 after posting a career high in points (80) and assists (64) ... ranked first among NHL defensemen in points and assists in 2005-06 ... has missed just 20 games playing in 98.2% of all Red Wing games - the highest all-time percentage among players who have played in at least 1,000 NHL games ... on Feb. 26/06, scored the game-winning goal in the third period as Sweden defeated Finland 3-2 to capture the gold medal in Men's Ice Hockey at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy and was named to the All-Star Team... captured his third Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in 2002 and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy - the first ever European to win the award ... named to the NHL's First All-Star Team seven times ... selected to the NHL All-Rookie team in 1992 and was the runner up for the Calder Trophy.

Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks 300K|700K

Will play in his second NHL All-Star Game ... won the goaltending competition at 2004 All-Star skills competition, stopping 11 of 12 shots (Bill Guerin was only player to beat him)... "I couldn't believe how nervous I was before it started," said Luongo at the time. "I was more nervous than before a game."... led all Western Conference goaltenders in fan balloting (484,861)... had 35 wins and a goals-against average of 2.97 in 2005-06 ... competed for Team Canada in the 2006 Olympics ... finished the 2003-04 season as the NHL's active shutout leader prior to turning 25 years old (23) ... finalist for the Lester B. Pearson Award (MVP as selected by players) and the Vezina Trophy in 2003-04 ... won a gold medal for Canada at the 2003 World Championships ... made 37 saves in the inaugural YoungStars game in 2002 in recording the win ... had .920 save percentage in 2000-01, tied for the second-best save percentage among rookies in NHL history ... speaks Italian and French fluently ... donates money for every win and shutout to his charity called Louie Saves Lives and provides 10 free tickets for every game to sick children in the Vancouver-area.

[Chronicle Sports]

Not crazy about the NHL All Star game mainly because the lack of phyical play and the game usually ends up 11-9 as a result. It is an amazing showing of talent but lacks the intensity of a real game. The Skills Competition is interesting.

[Doc]

I will admit that in the past I have had a lot of fun watching the skills challenge but that was back when it was Mario, and Gretz and Messier (sp?) now it wil be a bunch of Rusky's and Commies whose names I cannot pronounce or spell.

[Chronicle Sports]

Originally Posted by Doc

I will admit that in the past I have had a lot of fun watching the skills challenge but that was back when it was Mario, and Gretz and Messier (sp?) now it wil be a bunch of Rusky's and Commies whose names I cannot pronounce or spell.

Miller, Campbell, Crosby, Thornton... I'll get you a pronunciation key. Laugh.

[Doc]

Wow Americans and Canadians on the rebound in the NHL eh?

[Chronicle Sports]

Besides Ovechkin and Lidstrom the rest of the starters are all North American.

[Doc]

Scott Niedermayer, ANA 591,657
Nicklas Lidstrom, DET 573,069
Rory Fitzpatrick *, VAN 550,177
Dion Phaneuf, CGY 395,168
Mattias Ohlund, VAN 326,717
John-Michael Liles, COL 234,598
Sergei Zubov, DAL 225,094
Robyn Regehr, CGY 223,063
Mathieu Schneider, DET 186,431
Lubomir Visnovsky, LAK 177,650
Roberto Luongo, VAN 484,861
Miikka Kiprusoff, CGY 403,313
Marty Turco, DAL 358,045
J.S. Giguere, ANA 286,914
Dwayne Roloson, EDM 223,035
Nikolai Khabibulin, CHI 148,080
Vesa Toskala *, SJS 129,351
Tomas Vokoun, NSH 128,394
Manny Fernandez, MIN 119,067
Markus Naslund, VAN 342,583
Martin Havlat, CHI 303,207
Henrik Sedin, VAN 291,853
Pavel Datsyuk, DET 154,164
Petr Sykora, EDM 146,993
Henrik Zetterberg, DET 139,735
Ales Hemsky, EDM 130,481
Marian Gaborik, MIN 127,770
Milan Hejduk, COL 110,698
Milan Michalek *, SJS 96,446
Pavol Demitra, MIN 94,739
Ladislav Nagy, PHX 87,130
Nikolai Zherdev, CBJ 72,723

I know I thought about naming my kid Ladislav haha...

[Chronicle Sports]

Laugh. Starters man. Besides Lubomir is much better than Ladislav.

[hilbert]

VOTE FOR RORY!!!

when did they deo away with north america vs the world?

[Doc]

When they started running out of North Americans maybe?

[cubby]

No Dan Boyle! What a jip!