| | NEW YORK -- Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Jaromir Jagr is on the verge of becoming the leading single-season vote-getter since All-Star fan balloting began 14 years ago.
| |  | | | Jagr |
Jagr, the reigning Hart Trophy winner, remained the top
vote-getter for the World team that will face the North American
squad in the NHL All-Star Game on Feb. 6 in Toronto.
Again leading the league in scoring, Jagr has 610,850 votes
through Monday. With nearly two weeks of balloting remaining, he
is less than 10,000 votes shy of the record established by Paul
Coffey in 1995-96.
Jagr has a lead of more than 210,000 votes over Teemu Selanne of
the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in balloting among World wingers.
Pavel Bure of the Florida Panthers, the current NHL Player of
the Week, is still 139,000 votes behind Selanne for the second
starting spot.
Among centers, Mats Sundin of the Toronto Maple Leafs has a
comfortable lead over Swedish countryman Peter Forsberg of the
Colorado Avalanche. Sundin has 322,046 votes, while Forsberg --
who has missed 25 games this season with shoulder and hip injuries -- has 288,101.
Another Swede, Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings, is the
top vote-getter among defensemen with 553,144. The real battle
is between Sergei Zubov of the Dallas Stars and Sandis Ozolinsh
of the Avalanche for the second starting spot on defense. Zubov
moved nearly 34,000 votes ahead of Ozolinsh with 371,422.
Despite missing all but nine games this season with a groin
injury, Dominik Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres leads all
goaltenders with 314,085 votes. With Hasek still sidelined,
Arturs Irbe of the Carolina Hurricanes is battling Roman Turek
of the St. Louis Blues for the likely starting spot. Irbe was
selected on 242,942 ballots, some 10,000 more than Turek.
Of the leading vote-getters at each position, two are Swedish
and two -- Jagr and Hasek -- are from the Czech Republic.
Selanne is from Finland and Zubov is from Russia.
This is the third straight year in which the NHL is using the
World-North American format at the All-Star Game. Balloting will continue through Jan. 3. | |
ALSO SEE
World All-Stars voting
Blake, Bourque in tight battle for starting All-Star defenseman
North America All-Stars voting
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