Associated Content Source Reviews His Selections for 2008-09 NHL All-Star Teams Versus Official Results

Nine of 12 Players Selected Earned All-Star Recognition from the Professional Hockey Writers' Association

By writing this article, I am keeping my promise to compare my selections for the 2008-09 National Hockey League (NHL) all-star teams against the results of the official voting by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association (PHWA).

Today is Tuesday, June 23, 2009. I made my selections last month on Associated Content.

On May 19, I published an article that listed the players on my first team. The main headline of the article is "Associated Content Source Selects His 2008-09 National Hockey League All-Stars: Part I, First Team."

Then on May 20, I published an article that listed the players on my second team. The main headline of the article is "Associated Content Source Selects His 2008-09 National Hockey League All-Stars: Part II, Second Team."

If you have not read those articles, feel free to do so before continuing to read this article.

In both articles, I mentioned that I planned to write a follow-up article to compare with the results of the official voting by the PHWA.

As did the members of the PHWA, I selected six players for each team -- one center, one left wing, one right wing, two defensemen and one goaltender.

Last Thursday - June 18, the NHL announced the players selected by the PHWA as all-stars. The announcement of the first and second teams was part of the NHL's annual awards event. This year, the event was staged in a new venue - Las Vegas, NV - after taking place for many years in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The PHWA's selections for the first team were center Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins, left wing Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, right wing Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames, defenseman Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins, defenseman Mike Green of the Washington Capitals and goaltender Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins.

Malkin is the first-team center for the second straight season and an all-star for the second time in his three seasons in the NHL.

Ovechkin is the first-team left wing for the fourth straight season and an all-star for the fourth time. He is the only player in the long history of the NHL to be a first-team all-star in his first four seasons.