NEW YORK - The ballot for online voting by fans for the NHL all-star teams will be heavy on players from the host Montreal Canadiens and the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.
The Canadiens and Red Wings each have six players on the ballot - the most among the 30 NHL clubs. The Canadiens will play host to the all-star game Jan. 25 at the Bell Centre as part of their 100th anniversary celebrations.
Voting begins Nov. 12 for the starting lineups of the Eastern and Western Conferences teams. Fans can vote in English or French from anywhere in the world at Vote.NHL.com.
The Canadiens are represented by goaltender Carey Price, defencemen Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek and forwards Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev and Alex Tanguay.
The Red Wings have goalie Chris Osgood, defencemen Nik Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski and forwards Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Marian Hossa.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars all have five players apiece on the 104-player ballot.
Among Canadian teams, the Ottawa Senators have defenceman Chris Phillips and forwards Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley, while the Calgary Flames have goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, defencemen Robyn Regehr and Dion Phaneuf and forward Jarome Iginla.
The Edmonton Oilers have defenceman Sheldon Souray and forwards Ales Hemsky and Shawn Horcoff; the Vancouver Canucks have goalie Roberto Luongo and twin forwards Henrik and Daniel Sedin; and the Toronto Maple Leafs have goalie Vesa Toskala and defenceman Tomas Kaberle.
Newcomers to the XM NHL All-Star Fan Balloting ticket include Price, Chicago Blackhawks phenoms Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, Philadelphia's Mike Richards, Nashville's Shea Weber, Washington's Alexander Semin and Minnesota's Brent Burns.
While Anaheim centre Ryan Getzlaf is on the ballot, his linemates Teemu Selanne and Corey Perry are not. Neither are three players off to the hottest starts this season - Chicago's Patrick Sharp, Nashville's J.P. Dumont and Calgary's Mike Cammalleri.
The NHL says it will be the first league to provide updated results at nhl.com through the voting period, which ends Jan. 2. Fans in North America will also be able to vote by text messaging.
Fans can vote as often as they like. They are asked to select one goalie, two defencemen and three forwards from each conference, but can vote for as few as one player if they wish. Write-in votes are accepted.
