2012 NHL® ALL-STAR FAN BALLOTING

Have you cast your votes for the 2012 NHL All-Star Game? The NHL gives you up to 30 votes per method of voting. There are three ways to vote for your favorite players which include the online ballot at 2012 NHL® ALL-STAR FAN BALLOTING, visiting vote.nhl.com on your mobile phone and texting your favorite player's name to 81812. You'll need to pick three forwards, two defenseman and one goalie for each entry. The website provides a listing of favorite players for you to choose from but you can also write in players names that aren't listed.

In fact, its a good thing there is a write in ballot or the All-Star Game could be a big disappointment. The NHL listed many players on the website that are injured or have not played very well at all this year when they have played. Most of them are fan favorites that people like to see play but it really just turns the vote into a popularity contest. I had thought the purpose of the All-Star Game is to have the best in the league acknowledged and allow them to compete in an exhibition of the best of the best in the league. By default some of your most popular players should be some of your biggest producers but it just doesn't seem to be that way this year. Hopefully hockey fans will vote players that deserve to play in the game for what they have accomplished this season rather then for their success in years past.

Unfortunately, comparing the league stat leaders and the current fan votes doesn't give me much hope. The top of the goalie vote list right now is the Toronto Maple Leafs goalie, James Reimer. Reimer is an excellent goalie when he is playing, but he has only played 9 of 29 games for Toronto this season and won only four of those games. The same could be said for Sidney Crosby who has only played eight games this year for the Pittsburgh Penguins after missing the beginning of the season due to a concussion injury from last season. Granted, Crosby picked up where he left off by picking up 12 points already this season but is also now sitting out at least two games as a precaution related to his injury.

Unlike in our political system, your NHL All-Star Ballot votes can make a difference. If you'd like to truly see the best of the best play in the NHL All-Star Game on January 29, 2012 in Ottawa, you should head over to NHL.com and vote for who you think is worthy of playing in this year's game. The polls close on January 4, 2012.