Power winger Todd Bertuzzi of the Vancouver Canucks and three members of the struggling Dallas Stars were elected by the fans to start the 54th NHL all-star game, the league announced Thursday.
Bertuzzi will be in the Western Conference line-up when it meets the Eastern Conference in the all-star game Feb. 8 in St. Paul, Minn.
The six-foot-three 235-pound right-winger led Western forwards with 104,361 votes by fans, who elected the starting line-ups for an 18th year.
Bertuzzi's line will include winger Bill Guerin (86,657 votes) and centre Mike Modano (86,199), both of Dallas. The Stars' Marty Turco will be the starting goaltender after drawing 79,305 votes.
``It's certainly a great honour considering all the things that have happened this year, and personally the way I've been playing,'' said Modano, who had eight goals and 17 assists heading into their game Thursday. ``If I wasn't voted in, I probably, absolutely wouldn't be going.''
The West defence has Detroit Red Wing Nicklas Lidstrom (90,995), who will make a sixth consecutive all-star game start, and Rob Blake (104,809) of the Colorado Avalanche, who will make his fourth start in five years.
The Eastern Conference team includes the backbone of the Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils, with Martin Brodeur (136,495) in goal behind defencemen Scott Niedermayer (104,567) and Scott Stevens (121,838).
Toronto Maple Leafs' boss Pat Quinn be the coach for the East and Philadelphia's Ken Hitchcock will be the assistant. Quinn earned the honours with the best point percentage at the mid-point of the season.
It will be a 14th all-star game for Stevens and the seventh for Brodeur.
``Having three of us starting is the ultimate honour,'' said Brodeur.
Added Niedermayer: ``This will be my third time there, but with three of us starting it is going to be a lot of fun.''
The most popular player was dynamic Atlanta Thrashers winger Ilya Kovalchuk, who drew 145,380 votes. His linemates are Martin St-Louis (79,707) of the Tampa Bay Lightning and centre Joe Thornton (51,247) of the Boston Bruins.
``It's a great honour,'' said St-Louis, who responded to his election with a career-high four points in the Lightning's 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. ``But it's an individual thing and I try not to pay attention that.
``I'll enjoy my time there but until then, I need to help this team win. That's the most important thing.''
The remaining all-stars will be picked by the NHL's Hockey Operations Department in consultation with the league's general managers. The full teams will be announced Jan. 22.
As usual, there was some bizarre voting.
The Thrashers' Dany Heatley, who has not played this season due to injuries from a car crash last summer that killed teammate Dan Snyder, drew 38,158 votes, 11th among Eastern Conference wingers.
``(Heatley) tells me it was lots of fun. It's going to be exciting,'' said Kovalchuk, a first-time All-Star. ``He is a great player. We all miss him.''
And Jason Allison of the Los Angeles Kings, who also missed the first half because of an injury, was fifth among Western centres with 47,833 votes.
Three Canucks just missed starting assignments. Markus Naslund finished third among wingers with 82,622 votes, goaltender Dan Cloutier was second to Turco with 59,078 and Ed Jovanovski was third among defencemen with 85,208.
Toronto goaltender Ed Belfour came in second to Brodeur in the East with 89,685 votes while Montreal's Jose Theodore (39,951) was fourth and Ottawa's Patrick Lalime (35,091) was fifth.<
Toronto's Owen Nolan was fourth among Eastern wingers with 61,082 while Leafs captain Mats Sundin was fifth among centres with 36,618.
Fans also voted for an NHL Legendary All-Star Team among retired greats. It is to be announced during all-star game weekend in St. Paul.