The very public ballot box stuffing campaigns of the past seemed to be missing in this year’s NHL All-Star fan voting. However, very quietly, the fans of the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs stuffed the ballot boxes to get their boys into the game as starters. In fact, of the six starters voted in by fans, four are Sens and one is a Make Believe. Eight of the top-nine vote getter played for one of the two Ontario teams.

It has become painfully obvious that the current system of fan voting is broken. Whether the ballot stuffing campaigns are public or not, NHL fans are clearly not using their power to vote in All-Star starters to vote for the best players in the league but as a means to execute some sort of cruel joke on hockey fans everywhere. It’s time that the current system is scrapped in favour of one that mitigates the risk of blatant fan tampering with the All-Star Game. Continue reading →