Never underestimate the passion of Vancouver Canucks fans.
Last Thursday, the NHL announced the initial rosters for the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, featuring one player from every team. To no one's surprise, Canucks captain Quinn Hughes, who leads all NHL defencemen in scoring, was named as the Canucks' representative.
The NHL then opened up the voting for the remaining 12 spots on the roster — eight skaters and four goaltenders — for a total of 44 players. With so many fans around the league voting for their favourite players, it seemed certain that one of the deserving players on the Canucks' roster would inevitably get snubbed. Sure, Canucks fans might be able to get one or maybe even two more Canucks on the All-Star roster, but surely not all five of the players who deserve a spot.
Only, when the NHL revealed the current top vote-getters, four Canucks were in position to make the roster and join Hughes in Toronto.
The top vote-getter across the entire NHL so far is Thatcher Demko, receiving 788,278 votes since voting opened last Thursday. That's an average of 157656 votes per day.
That's not too surprising, as Demko has received buzz as a Vezina Trophy frontrunner as the best goaltender in the NHL, with fans across the league recognizing his star caliber. At this point, Demko is essentially guaranteed to make the All-Star Game as one of the four voted-in goaltenders.
Demko's pole position is a reflection of how Canucks fans have come out in force to vote for their favourite players, as three more Canucks are in the top eight skaters, in position to make the All-Star Game alongside Hughes and Demko.
Elias Pettersson leads the way with 518,168 votes, followed by J.T. Miller with 452,451 votes and Brock Boeser with 383,954 votes. That places the three Canucks in fourth, sixth, and seventh among skaters, with Boeser just ahead of Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers.
As much as this is surely a result of Canucks fans rocking the vote, the four Canucks are also deserving of the All-Star honour. Demko has been one of the top goaltenders in the NHL this season, Miller and Pettersson are both in the top ten in NHL scoring, and Boeser is in the top five in NHL goalscoring.
Even if all five Canucks get into the All-Star Game, there's no guarantee that they will all play for the same team. The NHL is bringing back the fantasy draft format for this All-Star Game, with captains picking four different teams. The five Canucks could end up having to face each other during the 3-on-3 tournament.
Voting runs through midnight Eastern time on Thursday, January 11. The NHL is running a special vote on Wednesday, January 10 on Twitter where every retweet vote will count twice. If fans want five Canucks at the All-Star Game, Wednesday will be a crucial day.
The results of the fan vote will be announced on Sportsnet on Saturday, January 13.
