I voted for my choices for the NHL All-Star game tonight. (C’mon, Timmy Thomas.) After I voted, I was able to take a look at the leaders. I was pretty shocked to see that the top leaders for the Eastern Conference were all Canadians. They were ahead not just by a few votes, but by thousands!
Take a look at the forward leaders:
The three Canadians listed have almost three times as many votes as Semin. (How the hell is he beating Ovechkin?)
Let’s look at the defenseman voting:
Over 100,000 more votes than the next defenseman! Something seems fishy here…
Now for the goalies:
Another vote where the Canadian has over 100,000 more votes than the next player.
I know that the game is being held in Montreal, and that it is the 100th anniversary of the team, but come on. Are all votes for Canadians being counted twice? I do know that I can keep voting and voting and voting if I want. “NHL fans will be able to vote as often as they like” according to the NHL rules.
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about 1 month ago
This is for sure something strange. Thanks for pointing it out Dan!
about 1 month ago
It's probably the same thing when there was the 'Vote For Rory' a few years ago to get him in, except it's a larger effort.
about 1 month ago
I was actually talking to Miah Elodie about this the other day through BR, look at our bulletin boards. Plus, my facebook status is a shot at Bettman and the NHL, because I know he looks at my facebook.
But yes, this is a bit fishy. I've been preaching conspiracy since the lockout, and I still stand by it, especially after this. Can anyone actually agree that Mike Komisarek is better than Kimmo Timonen, Mike Green, or Zdeno Chara?? Hell no.
from about 1 month ago
I'll buy you a tin foil helmet to wear as you preach your conspiracy theories. Montreal is the biggest market for hockey in the league so why is it shocking that their fans are voting, and voting by the ton?
Maybe if every other teams' fans voted and showed how they actually cared, the numbers would be more even for all the players.
Personally, as with baseball, the voting should NEVER be up to the fans because it is only a popularity contest. Am I happy that five Canadiens will start the ASG? No. But I'm not going to bitch and moan about fraud either.
from about 1 month ago
So why hasn't this happened before if it's only because Montreal is a huge market? And btw, with your second comment, you're taking a shot at your own team, because none of them are really up there in the voting, other than Lundqvist
from about 1 month ago
How was voting done last year? I think I remember voting online....was there some issues like this last season as well?
from about 1 month ago
No, there wasn't, that's the thing. This is the first year that there is any sort of possible fishiness.
from about 1 month ago
All I know is, if it was a Bettman conspiracy, Crosby, Malkin, Letang, and Fleury would be the forerunners. Not guys from a team no one in the US cares about....
about 1 month ago
i wouldnt call it fraud. i call i say its just montreal canadien fans are voting and voting and voting. its like the baseball all star game where kosuke fukidome (spelling??) was voted into the NL starting lineup when he clearly did NOT deserve to even make the team with "average" numbers. I'm sorry but Carey Price is NOT the top goalie...Lundqvist and Ryan Miller are off to stellar starts this year, Tim Thomas as well.
from about 1 month ago
It just seems like the #s are even way to high for one motivated fan base to get so far ahead of all the others. There is a big push in NC to get people to vote, yet no hurricanes have # that are even close. Just seems odd to me.
from 29 days ago
Ummm, the only goalie in the League who can compete with Price this year is Thomas; Miller has always been overated, as he will continue to be as long as the Sabres offense bails him out.
Lundqvist gets pulled every other night, so I don't know what you're talking about (I'll give you this one break though, since this post is almost a month old).
Price has been sharp, minus the explosive offense Boston has been providing Thomas (although Thomas will be at the All-Star game.
Give Price the credit he deserves; this guy is a Vezina candidate and having a better season than Lundqvist, Miller, Kipper, Gigure, Fluery, Nabokov...in fact, the only two other goalies at the moment who could challenge Price for the Vezina are Thomas (the leader at the moment) and Luongo (who is still a top candidate, despite the injury).
As a Canadiens fan and member of the Habs forum, I know that my fellow fans have in fact been voting like mad dogs; that`s not to say there hasn`t been any dirty business going on: vote program schemes were developed by a rogue fan at some point; the took care of this problem and stripped each Hab of the amount of votes the fraudulent programmer contributed (Kovalev was stripped of at least 20`000!).
As far as I`m concerned, the only Montreal players I feel deserve to be in the starting line-up are Markov and Price; Komisarek is worthy, except his style of play doesn`t really fit the all-star criteria, so I don`t know why he`s even on the ballet; isn`t the all-star cheese-fest a hit free affair?
Hopefully Koivu gets chosen to play in the game though, as well as Kovy or Tanguay (if Kovy manages to get number 6 by then...).
D`Agostini for the young stars game ;)
about 1 month ago
And btw, Semin is beating Ovechkin because he is doing much better this year. If you take away the Canadien players, people are voting based on who is doing well this year, not on reputation, which is good.
from about 1 month ago
Semin might be doing better...but is he more popular? Maybe he is getting votes from outside of DC.
about 1 month ago
People must be multiplying their votes for the Canadiens players. Still, I'm glad Semin is doing well. I want to see his shot at the competition.
about 1 month ago
this is complicated ...
about 1 month ago
Ok, conspiracy fans, just to let you know that every radio station, in both english and french, is promoting the hell out of the fact that so many Habs have made the ballot. So you can bet thousands of Montrealers (and other Quebeckers) are stuffing the ballot box.
Nothing out of the ordinary, I'm afraid, just more proof Montreal fans are rabid about their team.
And besides, are you telling me that if the Leafs had six players on the ballot, Toronto fans wouldn't be stuffing the ballot box?
No smoke, no fire.
from about 1 month ago
You know what, scratch that. Maybe there is something a little fishy going on.
(placing tin-foil hat on head)
Hackers, perhaps?
from about 1 month ago
Lol why the sudden change of heart?
from about 1 month ago
No amount of Montreal rabid-fan results get 4:1 voting margins.
from about 1 month ago
Yeah, I did some more checking around online and it does seem a little exagerated.
about 1 month ago
Not a Leafs fan but sorry to disappoint you Montrealers, Toronto is the biggest Martket in the NHL whether they are doing well or not, they are by far the biggest, not even close. As far as the fans stuffing the ballots, good for them let them support their players, however, 5 out of the 6 players shouldn't be on the ballot, that is where the problem occurs!
about 1 month ago
The PensBlog uncovered the Montreal scandal. Here's the link to the post that provides a picture of the JavaScript some Habs fans got a hold of: http://thepensblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/gameday-16-philadelphia-flyers.html
Kind of hard to read, but what I get from it is you download a program, install a script to the program, then go about your daily business while the program runs on its' own, in this case racking up votes for only Habs' players every so often.
This could be done with any team, and as the PensBlog states, if the NHL doesn't fix this problem, other fanbases are going to start pulling the same gimmick.
Saku Koivu isn't an all-star in his own building or any other building in the league. Great captain, no all-star.
about 1 month ago
The whole thing is a joke, script or no script you had to know the Habs fans were gonna stuff the ballot box.
I can understand wanting some local representation but I have a hard time picking a single Hab player who should be an All-Star starter, maybe Price but only because Brodeur is hurt.
about 1 month ago
I realize that there is something fishy but you also have to understand that the fans of the Habs are not just sitting home. The widget that you can get on the site makes like easier. You just copy paste and your votes get counted. So while, you are doing your stuff online, you just redo the process several times and if every person does it...voila thats what you get....As for Price, I think people just adore him...he is talented and the population probably wants to see someone other than Thomas or Brodeur for a change...And you know what is even fishier is that the nubmers are not equal like...at the moment Price has like 203 587 while Koivu has only 188 754 leading the forwards...If the people voting all vote only for the Canadiens...shouldn'T the number be the same?
about 1 month ago
Listen. it is a scam. On a message board, links were supplied so computers can vote while you are at work and stuff. i read about it on a pittsburgh blog, with screen shots of the post from a Canadiens page. thepensblog.com if you want to see it yourself. they said if the NHL doesnt fix it, then they're calling every radio station and getting people involved to fix this. don't worry. it will get taken care of.
from about 1 month ago
What a joke.
I LOVE hockey, but the league keeps looking worse and worse with stuff like this.
It is time to get a NEW commissioner.
about 1 month ago
this is computer hacking at its finest. its a joke the nhl refuses to even acknowledge this is a problem, this has NEVER happened in ANY SPORT FOR VOTING FOR AN ALL STAR TEAM.
its no biggie is my players dont make it but when u see all 6 montreal players over 200,000 votes ea as of 8 pm when they had 160 this morning u know something is fishy. and bettman has his thumb up his ass if he thinks fans believe montreal is winning all 6 positions without some foul play or like i said computerized bots placing votes.
about 1 month ago
There is something seriously wrong going on here. When it's uncovered that there is a huge scam going on involving hacking, bots, or whatever, the vote will be taken away from the fans, and that will be a huge blow to the popularity that is starting to come back into the NHL.
from about 1 month ago
I agree. Just another thing that is making the NHL fall further from the list of the top 4 sports....
about 1 month ago
Any major news sources picking this up?
from about 1 month ago
I believe TSN had something on this. Isn't the NHL investigating?
about 1 month ago
First things first, I am a Montreal fan. I live in Quebec and I am all about the Canadiens. I've read all the comments that were posted in here, and I must say that I agree. I love "my" players, but I got to admit that this is too big. I mean, Kovalev fits in, Tanguay fits in; he is playing well since the start, maybe Price, even though he's not the best, but Koivu, oh well, I don't even know what he's doing on the ballot. As for Markov and Komisarek, I think the other defensemen are better, but wait... Markov isn't bad either, so let's say he can do it.
What I want to say is that I feel kind of disgusted. I trully don't want to see my everyday team on the first line in the All-Star game. What's the point ? The All-Star game is meant to be a game where we see the bests (or at least those who are doing great at the moment) playing together (or against).
So, I don't know if this thing with the balloting is a hack or fans voting like crazy (personnally I voted once just for the sake of it), but either way it is NOT something we want. I'd prefer to see three players for different teams, and I hope the NHL is going to do something for it.
(By the way, I know my english is not perfect, so bare with it please, eh. :P)
about 1 month ago
ya gotta be kidding me... not one of the canadian players, except Price (mine you there are less goalies), are in the top 20 of any catagory....allstar teams should be determined by either the press or the coaches. there are alot of quebec sites and billboards telling fellow quebecors to vote there players in ....Cities like NY,dDetroit and Boston should do the same...damn frenchman
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