It’s Not Too Late To Send Brock Boeser To The All-Star Game!

On Wednesday morning, Elias Pettersson was named to the Pacific Division roster for the 2019 NHL All-Star Game. On Wednesday evening, he responded with his first ever hattrick–including an overtime winner–and perhaps the best performance yet of his young career.

Any fan of the Vancouver Canucks hoping to inspire a similar response in Brock Boeser will be pleased to learn that the power to do so rests entirely in their hands.

After a fan vote resulted in Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, and Alex Ovechkin (who declined) being named as the four All-Star captains, the remainder of the lineups were revealed on Wednesday–save for one roster spot on each of the four divisional teams. That last spot will be filled by a new initiative somewhat awkwardly called the “Last Men In” fan vote, and that means that Boeser has one last opportunity to be named to the team–but it will take a concerted effort by the fanbase to make it happen.

Last week, this author advocated for Canuck fans to vote Bo Horvat into the All-Star Game, but that is no longer a possibility. The Last Men In vote consists of one player from each of the 31 teams, selected by the NHL, and player who receives the most fan votes in each division will join their Divisional All-Star Team. For the Vancouver Canucks, the NHL has chosen Brock Boeser–and he’s as worthy a candidate as anyone else on the ballot.

Whereas previous All-Star ballots forced fans to choose between their favourite players–Vancouver fans could only vote for one of Pettersson, Boeser, Horvat, or even Jacob Markstrom at a time–this new ballot pits Boeser directly against players on the Canucks’ rival teams.

Competing with Boeser in the Pacific category are Ryan Getzlaf, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Mark Giordano, Leon Draisaitl, Anze Kopitar, Logan Couture, and Jonathan Marchessault. They’re all fine candidates, and it is definitely arguable that at least Giordano and Draisaitl are having better seasons than Boeser, but they’re not anyone that Vancouver fans would want to vote for. Therefore, it is imperative that the fanbase put their considerable collective power to use to shut these players out and send Boeser to San Jose in their stead.

That point bears repeating–a vote FOR Boeser is a vote AGAINST an additional Flame or Oiler going to the All-Star Game, and if that doesn’t provide some extra motivation to vote, we don’t know what will.

Voting for the Last Men In began on the morning of Thursday, January 3, and will be open until Thursday, January 10. Individuals can vote up to ten times per day. The ballot can be found at this link.

All ballots must contain a vote for each of the divisions, so fans won’t be able to vote for just Boeser. We recommend votes for Brayden Point in the Atlantic, Kris Letang in the Metropolitan, and Tyler Seguin in the Central.

Vote for Brock, and vote for Brock often. The event just wouldn’t be the same without The Flow taking part, and there’s never been a more direct opportunity to turn the All-Star Game into a Brock-Star Game.

#VoteForBrock