SENShobo
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Stop The Pittsburgh Madness
by SENShobo on 12/06/08 at 05:17 PM ET
Comments (7)
November 20th, a 3-2 Penguins win over the Thrashers, and a very important date for Penguins fans, one they seem to have forgotten, along with a great many other fans of the NHL.
Figured it out yet? I only thought about it today myself…
Maybe you’ve been busy, boosting Sergei Gonchar’s and Ryan Whitney’s vote totals either as fans of the Penguins, or fans of not seeing Markov and Komisarek be a part of a nearly all-Habs lineup, Crosby having finally put a dent in that armor.
The game in question marked the start of a 20 Pittsburgh games countdown to January 2nd, 2009. Neither player played in that game (or any since, or any this season at all), and thus cannot fulfill the NHL requirement: “To be eligible for the 2009 All-Star team, a player must have played 20 games by January 2, 2009.”, listed at the bottom of the NHL All-Star Fan Balloting Leader Board.
Judging by the near 650,000 votes currently shared between the two, which has been increasing ever since that date to hold them in 3rd and 4th place and just out of the starting lineup, many fans let that date pass by unnoticed.
A humble plea: stop the Pittsburgh Madness. Neither will play in this All-Star Game, it has already been decided. Please, help further restore the dignity to the voting process, tarnished by some earlier Montreal Madness, and stop voting for the pair.
Vote for Komisarek and Markov if you like, don’t vote for any Eastern Conference defensemen, or (what a crazy idea) vote for someone like Zdeno Chara or Mike Green, All-Star defensemen who are eligible to take part in the All-Star game. This is not an affront to the world-class skills of either Gonchar or Whitney, just a simple plea:
Stop The Pittsburgh Madness
Filed in: NHL General | SENShobo | Permalink
Comments
who cares. there will be no sens deserving of the honor, you might as well not watch
Posted by dave on 12/06/08 at 06:55 PM ET
I’m pretty sure what most Pens fans are doing, purely out of convenience, it texting to a number with Pens in the subject, and that votes for all Pens….
Posted by Tony F from Virginia Beach, VA on 12/06/08 at 08:09 PM ET
Greg: He has 18 GP, and one month to tack on another two.
Tony F: That’s about two thirds of the votes (taking Gonchar’s votes divided by Crosby’s), hard to believe that it’s that big a margin, 2 to 1, phone votes over internet votes, especially since text message rates apply. But it’s possible.
Posted by SENShobo from Waterloo, ON on 12/06/08 at 09:31 PM ET
has there been any news on Mike Green? i hope he’s back sooner than later…
Posted by Greg on 12/06/08 at 10:33 PM ET
In today s world of unlimited texting and what not, everyone I know has just been texting away for the pens, especially after all the Montreal cheating, and the continuing coverage of how “great” the Montreal fans are because of all the votes.
Also I know some of my friends have been voting for Gonch and Whitney despite them not being able to play. Why? Because its not like it makes a difference first off. IF they wound up 1st and 2nd, they would just take the 3rd and 4th guys as starters instead. And secondly, it shows the Penguins fans dominance, that when you piss us off by making Alex Tanguay a starter, we’ll take over all 6 spots just for the hell of it.
And last but not least, are you really mad that Pittsburgh is taking the lead, or are you just upset that there isn’t an Ottawa player in the leaders of any position?
Posted by Kevin from Pittsburgh on 12/07/08 at 09:16 AM ET
The fact that it makes no difference and can’t is what makes it something to chuckle at. Trying to show that names of exclusion can be pushed higher is as funny as bringing a 23-tiered wedding cake to a cage match. It makes no sense, and it just makes you laugh.
If Penguins fans really wanted to push out Montreal players, say Komisarek being one of the low hangers, it would make more sense to push them out for real. If you wanted to get personal or something, you would be voting in Chara, as he can play, and because of the Boston-Montreal rivalry, and the same would be true of Kaberle. Do you think Montreal fans would be disappointed if both their defensemen got in because a still-injured Gonchar was sitting in 2nd, or do you think they’d be laughing themselves silly at the futility?
No though, I am not upset to see no Ottawa Senators. Auld is not at the top of the goalie stats, and this is the first year he’s come close, and it doesn’t surprise me that people don’t think him the single most deserving goalie. Phillips is a great stay at home defenseman, but at least to me, the All-Star game is about players who can put the puck in the net, or put the puck in the net and defend, but never only/primarily the latter. At best Kuba, who leads all defensemen in assists, could be mentioned, but again, this is the first time he’s done that.
Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin; all are known offensive quantities, and if you went based solely on production this season and career-wise, they are the three names that pop up most prominently in the East, especially with popularity coming to mind, and there are plenty of others in the East that could be mentioned alongside Heatley, Spezza, and Alfredsson, impartiality being present during. Lastly, given their ‘showing’ for much of the start of the season, and that they had been working on bringing their defense to be top five in the League (not an All-Star trait), it makes sense that they were forgotten. Mind you, I would not be surprised to see a Senator in Montreal, just not from the fan balloting.
Posted by SENShobo from Waterloo, ON on 12/07/08 at 10:01 AM ET
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mike green may not have 20 games in either…
Posted by Greg on 12/06/08 at 06:32 PM ET