Joel Quenneville said recently he didn’t know if he had ever seen Joe Sakic play better than he has this season for the Avalanche. Enough fans were impressed by Sakic’s play in this, his 18th NHL season, to make him the starting center for the Western Conference at this month’s All-Star Game in Dallas.
Sakic was named an all-star for the 13th time in his career, winning the fans’ vote for the Jan. 24 game at the American Airlines Center. He played in his first NHL All-Star Game on Jan. 21, 1990, in Pittsburgh, and his 18 points in 11 previous played games (he was injured in 1997) rank fifth on the all-time list, behind Wayne Gretzky’s 25, Mario Lemieux’s 23, Mark Messier’s 20 and Gordie Howe’s 19.
Anaheim’s Randy Carlyle will coach the game for the West. Buffalo’s Lindy Ruff will guide the Eastern Conference.
The game has not been played in three seasons of Sakic’s career: 1994-95 and 2004-05 (lockouts) and 2005-06 (Olympics).
On the mend
With John-Michael Liles out four weeks with a broken left foot suffered while blocking a shot by Minnesota’s Pascal Dupuis on Saturday night, the Avs hope to get defensemen Jordan Leopold and Patrice Brisebois back soon.
Quenneville said both players would return soon, with Brisebois (back) likely the first to return. But the word is encouraging for Leopold, who has missed all but five games this season with hernia and groin injuries. Leopold is skating again, and Quenneville indicated it could be before the end of the month when he is back.
Footnotes
Avs winger Antti Laaksonen was the lone healthy scratch for the Avalanche against Detroit. … Wings defenseman Chris Chelios, 44, returned to the lineup after an absence to commune with friends and family members of two employees who were stabbed to death last week at a Detroit restaurant he owns.
ALL-STAR VOTING
Game: Jan. 24, at Dallas
Final
x-starter; y-write-in candidate
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Forwards
x-Joe Thornton, San Jose, 663,931; x-Joe Sakic, Colorado, 473,847; x-Jonathan Cheechoo, San Jose, 444,885; Patrick Marleau, San Jose, 415,123; Jarome Iginla, Calgary, 393,213; Markus Naslund, Vancouver, 342,583; Teemu Selanne, Anaheim, 335,149; Martin Havlat, Chicago, 303,207; Daniel Sedin, Vancouver, 292,743; Henrik Sedin, Vancouver, 291,853.
Goaltenders
x-Roberto Luongo, Vancouver, 484,861; Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary, 403,313; Marty Turco, Dallas, 358,045; Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Anaheim, 286,914; Dwayne Roloson, Edmonton, 223,035; Nikolai Khabibulin, Chicago, 148,080; y-Vesa Toskala, San Jose, 129,351; Tomas Vokoun, Nashville, 128,394; Manny Fernandez, Minnesota, 119,067.
Defensemen
x-Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim, 591,657; x-Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit, 573,069; y-Rory Fitzpatrick, Vancouver, 550,177; Chris Pronger, Anaheim, 433,972; Dion Phaneuf, Calgary, 395,168; Scott Hannan, San Jose, 378,206; Mattias Ohlund, Vancouver, 326,717; John-Michael Liles Colorado, 234,598; Sergei Zubov, Dallas, 225,094; Robyn Regehr, Calgary, 223,063.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Forwards
x-Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh, 825,783; x-Daniel Briere, Buffalo, 475,857; x-Alex Ovechkin, Washington, 475,297; Maxim Afinogenov, Buffalo, 496,431; Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh, 399,081; Chris Drury, Buffalo, 330,000; Jaromir Jagr, N.Y. Rangers, 321,578; Erik Cole, Carolina, 255,063; Rod Brind’Amour, Carolina, 249,632; Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta, 226,602.
Goaltenders
x-Ryan Miller, Buffalo, 539,635; Martin Brodeur, New Jersey, 484,993; Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh, 346,530; Cam Ward, Carolina, 200,173; Andrew Raycroft, Toronto, 186,903; Kari Lehtonen, Atlanta, 161,687; Olaf Kolzig, Washington, 134,634; Henrik Lundqvist, N.Y. Rangers, 125,896; y-Cristobal Huet, Montreal, 123,590.
Defensemen
x-Brian Campbell, Buffalo, 602,982; x-Sheldon Souray, Montreal, 534,647; Zdeno Chara, Boston, 511,457; Bryan McCabe, Toronto, 479,124; Tomas Kaberle, Toronto, 451,963; Henrik Tallinder, Buffalo, 426,839; Jay Bouwmeester, Florida, 410,007; Wade Redden, Ottawa, 305,497; Dan Boyle, Tampa Bay, 254,835; Brian Rafalski, New Jersey, 228,827.
