No Smith on All-Star ballot

Guess no one at the NHL figured Mike Smith was going to have any kind of season, and the Lightning goaltender was left off the NHL All-Star ballot. Forwards Marty St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier are on the ballot.

Voting for the starting lineups begins Nov. 12 and goes through Jan. 2. Go to vote.nhl.com to cast your ballot as many times as you want, and you can include Smith as a write-in.

Here is the notice from the league:

Six players from the All-Star host Montreal Canadiens -- goaltender Carey Price, defensemen Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek plus forwards Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev and Alex Tanguay -- have been named to the ballot in XM NHL All-Star Fan Balloting presented by 2K Sports. The Canadiens' ballot representation is tied with the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings for the most among NHL clubs.

The Canadiens, who captured the Eastern Conference regular-season championship in 2007-08 and have compiled a searing 8-1-1 start to this season, will host the 2009 NHL All-Star festivities in January as part of their year-long Centennial celebration.

The 104-player ballot features 23 players under the age of 25. Ten of those players are making their first career appearance on the ballot: Dustin Brown, Los Angeles (24); Brent Burns, Minnesota, (23); Mike Green (23) and Alexander Semin (24), Washington; Patrick Kane (19) and Jonathan Toews (20), Chicago; Zach Parise, New Jersey, (24); Price, Montreal, (21); Mike Richards, Philadelphia, (23) and Shea Weber, Nashville, (23).

Voting opens Nov. 12.

In a first for all major professional sports leagues, the NHL will provide real-time All-Star fan balloting results online at NHL.com. From Nov. 12 through Jan. 2, NHL fans will be able to vote as often as they like to select the starting lineups for the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal. Fans around the world can vote online via interactive English and French ballots at Vote.NHL.com. Those in the U.S. and Canada also will be able to cast their votes via text message using any wireless carrier. During the voting period, real-time results will be available exclusively on Vote.NHL.com/results. This marks the third consecutive year the All-Star Balloting process is entirely digital.

Fans can vote for up to six Eastern Conference players and six Western Conference players: three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender. For the first time, fans will be permitted to select as few as one player -- a balloted player or write-in -- per online ballot at Vote.NHL.com or via text message. The three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender from each Conference receiving the most votes will comprise the starting lineups. Each of the 30 NHL clubs has at least two representatives on the ballot.

EAST

Goaltenders

Martin Biron, Philadelphia Flyers
Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
Rick DiPietro, New York Islanders
Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins
Kari Lehtonen, Atlanta Thrashers
Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres
Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
Vesa Toskala, Toronto Maple Leafs
Tomas Vokoun, Florida Panthers

Defensemen

Jay Bouwmeester, Florida Panthers
Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins
Sergei Gonchar, Pittsburgh Penguins
Mike Green, Washington Capitals
Tomas Kaberle, Toronto Maple Leafs
Mike Komisarek, Montreal Canadiens
Andrei Markov, Montreal Canadiens
Teppo Numminen, Buffalo Sabres
Chris Phillips, Ottawa Senators
Wade Redden, New York Rangers
Kimmo Timonen, Philadelphia Flyers
Ryan Whitney, Pittsburgh Penguins

Forwards

Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Senators
Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins
Daniel Briere, Philadelphia Flyers
Rod Brind'Amour, Carolina Hurricanes
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Chris Drury, New York Rangers
Patrik Elias, New Jersey Devils
Simon Gagne, Philadelphia Flyers
Scott Gomez, New York Rangers
Dany Heatley, Ottawa Senators
Trent Hunter, New York Islanders
Saku Koivu, Montreal Canadiens
Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta Thrashers
Alex Kovalev, Montreal Canadiens
Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
Markus Naslund, New York Rangers
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils
Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers
Brian Rolston, New Jersey Devils
Derek Roy, Buffalo Sabres
Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning
Marc Savard, Boston Bruins
Alexander Semin, Washington Capitals
Jason Spezza, Ottawa Senators
Eric Staal, Carolina Hurricanes
Alex Tanguay, Montreal Canadiens
Thomas Vanek, Buffalo Sabres
Ray Whitney, Carolina Hurricanes

WEST

Goaltenders

Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild
Ilya Bryzgalov, Phoenix Coyotes
J.S. Giguere, Anaheim Ducks
Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames
Pascal Leclaire, Columbus Blue Jackets
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks
Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Sharks
Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings
Marty Turco, Dallas Stars

Defensemen

Rob Blake, San Jose Sharks
Dan Boyle, San Jose Sharks
Brent Burns, Minnesota Wild
Brian Campbell, Chicago Blackhawks
Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim Ducks
Dion Phaneuf, Calgary Flames
Chris Pronger, Anaheim Ducks
Brian Rafalski, Detroit Red Wings
Robyn Regehr, Calgary Flames
Sheldon Souray, Edmonton Oilers
Shea Weber, Nashville Predators

Forwards

Jason Arnott, Nashville Predators
Brad Boyes, St. Louis Blues
Dustin Brown, Los Angeles Kings
Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Shane Doan, Phoenix Coyotes
Marian Gaborik, Minnesota Wild
Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks
Milan Hejduk, Colorado Avalanche
Ales Hemsky, Edmonton Oilers
Shawn Horcoff, Edmonton Oilers
Marian Hossa, Detroit Red Wings
Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames
Olli Jokinen, Phoenix Coyotes
Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
Paul Kariya, St. Louis Blues
Mikko Koivu, Minnesota Wild
Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings
Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks
Mike Modano, Dallas Stars
Brenden Morrow, Dallas Stars
Rick Nash, Columbus Blue Jackets
Mike Ribeiro, Dallas Stars
Brad Richards, Dallas Stars
Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche
Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
Paul Stastny, Colorado Avalanche
Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks
Keith Tkachuk, St. Louis Blues
Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks
Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings

Comments

[Wade]

i'm glad this is for starting lineups only because we all know what it will be.

Ovechkin-Crosby-Malkin
Chara-Kaberle
Brodeur/Lundqvist

[danger]

of course they finaly recognize boyler for the all star game once he plays for the sharks.

[rod]

Shouldn't all players be allowed on the ballot????

[harvey]

center ice has reported that niskala has been placed on waivers. Isn't he on a one way deal?

[mike p]

Yea i agree with you slapshot...Kari Lehtonen? How'd they figure that?

[Don in St. Pete]

Interesting. Two players from the Lightning's Davidson era and two players traded last season. I don't see any of the cowboy imports on the list. Hmmmm...

[slapshot]

Smith deserved a spot on the ballot, he is a lot better than Lehtonen. Hope people see what a good season hes having and put him on the write ins.