Today In NHL History - Rory's All-Star Game Vote

On January 9th in 2007, the NHL revealed that Vancouver Canucks defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick finished 3rd in fan voting behind Western Conference Norris winners Scott Niedermayer and Nicklas Lidstrom, eliminating him from contention for the All-Star Game.

Yearning for an underdog in the asinine exhibition affair, 22 year old Mike Schmid crafted a six-week Vote For Rory write-in campaign complete with spoof smear spots against ballot front-runners to support his cause.



Though on pace to cinch second place with a week remaining, Fitzpatrick finished with 550,117 votes (22,892 shy of a starting spot) ending significant media speculation and even some outrage surrounding the circus. The suspicious result raised eyebrows with Slate who reviewed the data and surmised in Rorygate that the NHL engaged in foul play dumping 100,000 votes in order to yield their desired defensemen.

In the end, the NHL frowned upon fans having the final say, electing to silence the everyday normal fan and bench the blue collar blueliner.

That's today in NHL history.