2004 NHL All Star Game: Boring Event Needs Your Vote

For those who care about this sort of thing, the NHL has released early results from balloting for the 2004 All Star Game. All those insufferable media snobs who whine about the fans picking all the wrong players will be happy to see that, according to the numbers so far, the starting lineups look like a list of the NHL's best players.

Besides, why shouldn't the fans vote for whomever they please? It's called the All Star Game, not the All Best-Performers-of-the-First-Half-of-the-Season Game. Peter Forsberg is a star. He deserves the votes, even if his stomach muscle doesn't.

If voting ended today, the starting lineups would look like this:

Eastern Conference:
Goaltender: Martin Broduer (Devils)
Defense: Scott Stevens (Devils), Scott Niedermayer (Devils)
Wings: Ilya Kovalchuk (Thrashers), Marian Hossa (Senators)
Center: Joe Thornton (Bruins)

Western Conference:
Goaltender: Dan Cloutier (Canucks)
Defense: Rob Blake (Avalanche), Nicklas Lidstrom (Red Wings)
Wings: Todd Bertuzzi (Canucks), Markus Naslund (Canucks)
Center: Peter Forsberg (Avalanche)

You could quibble with those names: Lidstrom did not have his best October or November. Hossa, who was among the league leaders in scoring last season, is a little slower off the mark this year. Rick Nash isn't on the ballot. But all things considered, that's a pretty good looking set of hockey players.

NHL.com has the complete voting results through December 1. If you care, the site also provides an online ballot, along with lots of other All Star-related nonsense.

You must make your picks from a list of top players at each position. But there is also the option to write in one name, which is a good thing, because I'm voting for Moose Dupont.