BusinessInsider.com reports that the current player standings according to the votes cast by fans for the NHL All-Star game in Raleigh next year rank infamous Forward Sean Avery above many players who are statistically better than him. Commentators on ESPN.com and SportingNews.com have also come out against the voting trends that are now in play due to the NHL applying a new voting system to choose players for the All-Star game. This is all in lieu of an online campaign that was started by fans of Sean Avery at NYRangersBlog.com who marketed and advertised for Sean Avery using the power of social media. This led to a national ?Vote for Sean Avery? day which ended up in thousands of people voting for the underperforming player.
Sean Avery has only scored one goal and three points this season and has ended up ahead of better performing stars like Eric Staal, Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Semin, Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik and Martin St. Louis. Avery is well known for his infamous antics on and off the field that have led to him and other players being suspended in the past. The online campaign to vote for Avery is not the first of its kind as many such online rallies have been started in the past with fans planning to vote for an unlikely player who wouldn?t make it to the All-Star game any other way.
The new system in place by the NHL allows for the fans to vote for the starting six players of the NHL All-Star game at the RBC Center in North Carolina. This includes 3 forwards, 2 defensemen and 1 goaltender. The players to get the highest votes in their category are then joined by 36 players picked by the NHL. These 42 players then go on to pick two captains who will pick their teams in a fantasy-style draft on January 28, 2011.
The game is to be played on January 30, 2011 and fans are understandably excited to be a part of this annual extravaganza. Speaking for the secondary ticket retailer TicketLuck.com, Anastasia Lyman commented, ?NHL tickets are always a big seller for us. The fact that fans get to pick who plays makes it a more exciting prospect for them.? On how the venue affects the sales, Lyman added, ?Raleigh is making sure the event is as sellable as possible. With their ?NHL All-Star Wide Open? week taking place and bands like Three Doors Down performing there, the NHL All-Star Tickets are practically selling themselves.?
While the fans? involvement might be good news for ticket retailers, many believe it is against the idea that only the best players get to play in an All-Stars game. The jury is still out as the voting continues; only time will tell if the end-result is a fair one for both the players and the fans of the National Hockey League.
About the NHL All-Stars Game
The NHL All-Stars Game is an annual exhibition match played between two teams usually consisting of the top players from both conferences of the National Hockey League. The game takes place mid-season and is hosted by a different city every year.
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