An outpouring of support from Latvian fans will help propell Zemgus Girgensons into the NHL all-star game.Harry Scull Jr./The Associated Press
Fan balloting for the 2015 NHL all-star game comes to an end at 11:59 ET on New Year's Day, and unless something dramatic happens in the final few hours, the No. 1 vote getter will be an unprepossessing 20-year-old from Latvia, who is the league's 122nd-leading scorer and plays for a team ranked 28th. But who – apart from a whole lot of computer-savvy hockey fans from Riga – is really counting?
Most casual hockey fans had never heard of Zemgus Girgensons until the ballot-box stuffing began in Latvia. Thanks to a consistent campaign that never slowed during the six-week voting window, Girgensons maintained his lead over a quintet of popular Blackhawks – Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Corey Crawford – presumably proving that all those years of practice in the Chicago mayoralty races didn't go to waste on voters in the state of Illinois either.
One could argue that all five Blackhawks probably belong in the all-star game and Girgensons, while he may one day qualify on merit, probably doesn't. But does it matter? If people in Latvia care enough to get their man into the starting line-up, then so be it.
Girgensons seems to have the right attitude about it – a little polite embarrassment mixed with a lot of pride that his country would go to this much trouble. "The fans back home have always been all about hockey," he said. "They're just kind of crazy."
What they've done is focus the spotlight on a player with an engaging personality and a big NHL upside. Girgensons has been in the United States since he was 14, starting with a team you probably never heard of – the Green Mountain Glades of the Eastern Junior Hockey League.
From there, he went on to play in the United States Hockey League for Dubuque, on the same line as another rising star, the Calgary Flames' Johnny Gaudreau – Johnny Hockey. Jim Montgomery, now the coach at the University of Denver, had both in junior and says Girgensons will soon be a name to be reckoned with on the NHL scene.
"He is very American-like in his mentality, which makes sense if you think about it, because he's been here since he was 15," Montgomery said. "But the root of his maturity and intelligence is based upon how he was brought up by his parents in Latvia. He came to us at 16 and was mature beyond his years. I think that's a little more common in European players because they're brought up more independently than we raise our children in North America. He routinely flew from Latvia and would connect through two different European cities to get to Chicago and then get to Dubuque. If I think about doing that with my 14-year-old son, I'm like: 'No, not doing that.'
"Plus, he's magnetic. People are drawn to him – and drawn to him for good reasons. It doesn't matter what group he's in, he leads in the right direction. He's pulling people toward healthy outcomes. I follow him on Twitter and we still communicate quite often – and I see on Twitter, the starting quarterback for the Bills is wearing a Zemgus Girgensons Sabres jersey; and he's wearing the quarterback's jersey when he goes to Bills' games. He immerses himself in the culture he's in and he embraces it and I think people really embrace him because he's genuine."
Back in 2007, there was another minor all-star voting controversy when fans launched a campaign on behalf of a comparative unknown, defenceman Rory Fitzpatrick.
A VoteForRory campaign began on the Internet and, until the last few days of balloting, it looked as if Fitzpatrick might win a starting spot in the game. It wasn't to be. Nicklas Lidstrom and Scott Niedermayer edged him out.
Fitzpatrick eventually went from amused to slightly irritated by all the attention because, while he was an NHL player, he was not an all-star, except in the eyes of some supportive fans. Isn't that enough? The all-star game is mostly just a shinny exhibition anyway, hockey's answer to the annual corporate convention, where people come to schmooze and visit and have a good time before the serious business of the second half gets underway. Maybe Girgensons's presence can add a little competitive edge.