Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews surging in All-Star voting
Forwards among West leaders in All-Star voting
By Chris Kuc | Tribune reporter
December 24, 2008
A late surge in voting by fans has the Blackhawks' Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews among the leaders to start for the Western Conference in the Jan. 25 NHL All-Star Game.
Kane and Toews are currently second and third, respectively, in the voting for the game in Montreal after being in the middle of the pack since the voting began.
While Chicagoans have been doing their part, a push from the Buffalo area has no doubt had an impact.
"I don't know what happened," Kane said. "I told my mom and my sisters and all my buddies back home that if they're voting, stop voting because it's getting a little ridiculous."
Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf leads with nearly 600,000 votes. Kane, at nearly 570,000, and Toews, with about 475,000, are ahead of stars like San Jose's Joe Thornton, Calgary's Jarome Iginla and Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk and Marian Hossa.
"It's cool to be recognized by the fans," Kane said.
The top three forwards, two defensemen and goaltender voted in will start the game. Coaches select the rest of the team, and Kane is campaigning for linemate Patrick Sharp, who leads the Hawks with 18 goals.
"The guy just seems to go unnoticed, for whatever reason," Kane said. "All the guy does is score goals and help the team win in every way. It's a shame he wasn't even on the ballot."
Hawks coach Joel Quenneville believes Nikolai Khabibulin should be in the Western Conference goalie mix. The veteran, who returned Dec. 12 after missing two-plus weeks due to injury, has a 10-1-4 record, a .922 save percentage and a 2.44 goals-against average.
"He has been outstanding every night," Quenneville said. "He has to be deserving of strong consideration."
Khabibulin said he hasn't really thought about it.
"Right now I'm just happy that we're winning," he said."
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