NHL All-Star voting ends with Sidney Crosby at the top

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After more than 14.3 million votes were tallied, Sidney Crosby and three of his Pittsburgh Penguins teammates are among the first six players (three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender) selected for the NHL All-Star game on Jan. 30.

Crosby, who leads the league in scoring, collected the most votes of anyone: 635,509. Joining him are
Penguins’ forward Evgeni Malkin, defenseman Kris Letang and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

Rounding out the first six are forward Jonathan Toews and defenseman Duncan Keith of the Stanley Cup-winning Chicago Blackhawks.

The remaining 36 All-stars will be selected by the NHL next week. Under a new format, the 42 selected players will cast their own votes to decide the captains and alternate captains of the two teams.

The appointed team leaders will then choose their own teams in a televised draft.

Though Crosby was the top vote-getter, Letang, a write-in candidate, was next highest with 477,960 votes.

Of the Ducks and Kings? Not enough votes to get in the top six.

For the Kings, the forward with the most votes was Anze Kopitar at 64,142; for the Ducks, it was Teemu Selanne at 43,873. The top Kings defenseman in terms of votes was Drew Doughty at 166, 489. For the Ducks, it was Cam Fowler, a write-in candidate, at 14,160. Also noteworthy: Kings defenseman Jack Johnson, also a write-in candidate, collected 22,641 votes.

Among goalies, Fleury had 426,305 votes. The Kings’ Jonathan Quick came in ninth with 80,084, and the Ducks’ superb net-minder Jonas Hiller deserved more than the 15,681 he received. He has had to face 1,159 shots against (more than any other goalie by far) yet still has 19 wins (tied for second in the league) and a 2.54 goal-against average (16th) and a remarkable .925 save percentage (fourth in the league).

Click here for the full lists of the final vote count: forwards and defensemen and goalies.

-- Debbie Goffa