Crosby headlines list of All-Star starters

Jan 3, 2009 - 7:45 PM NEW YORK (Ticker) - It is clear that Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby is the new face of the NHL.

The starters for this month's NHL All-Star Game in Montreal were announced on Saturday and Crosby headed the list with a record vote total in the fan balloting.

Though a total of 10 players surpassed the previous all-time record of 1,020,736 votes - set by Jaromir Jagr in 2000 - Crosby topped out at 1,713,021. The 21-year-old was voted into last year's All-Star Game as well, but could not play due to an ankle injury.

Joining Crosby in the Eastern Conference's starting lineup will be teammate and NHL scoring leader Evgeni Malkin (1,585,936 votes), and a quartet of Montreal Canadiens who benefited from enthusiastic voters in the host city.

Canadiens right wing Alexei Kovalev (1,343,301) will play on the top line while Montreal defensemen Andrei Markov (1,443,091) and Mike Komisarek (1,373,628) man the blue line. Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (1,515,885) will start in net.

While Markov ranks fifth in scoring among NHL defenseman, the other three Montreal representatives are not - at least statically speaking - the top players at their position this season.

Komisarek, who has been limited to 21 games due to injury, has the most glaring numbers with just two points and 45 penalty minutes this season.

The Western Conference starters consist of three Chicago Blackhawks and a trio of Anaheim Ducks.

Rising stars Patrick Kane (917,551) and Jonathan Toews (809,599) - the top vote-getters in the West - will represent Chicago along with defenseman Brian Campbell (784,476).

The Ducks contingent will consist of center Ryan Getzlaf (716,569), defenseman Scott Niedermayer (637,316) and goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, a Montreal native who also benefited from the partisan voting.

Giguere, who is 11-9-4 with a with a 2.96 goals-against average this season, ranks 10th in victories among Western Conference netminders.

The 57th edition of the All-Star Game will take place January 25.