[TestSubjekt]

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial...08/2048129.asp

Rory Fitzpatrick, who joined Vancouver this season after four sometimes-forgettable years in Buffalo, is fifth among defensemen in Western Conference voting. He was the conference's leading vote-getter in the latest polling period with 113,509, all because of a Sabres fan who started VoteForRory.com.

Fitzpatrick, who has no points in 16 games and is a minus-2, has ground to make up in order to go to Dallas for the exhibition. The top two defensemen go, and second-place Niklas Lidstrom of Detroit has 317,373 votes compared to Fitzpatrick's 144,819.

"I'm not making any plans to go to Dallas," said Fitzpatrick, who hasn't decided if he would go should he be voted in. "If it happens, then that's a whole other fence to climb at that point."

What does the NHL think of the campaign?
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=187562&hubname=nhl

NHL spokesman Gary Meagher said the league won't argue with the fans wishes.

"The purpose of fan balloting is to give our great fans a voice in the selection of the all-star starting lineup," Meagher said in an e-mail to The Canadian Press. "It should be no surprise at all that our passionate fans have responded to this opportunity with the same intensity they bring to the rink every night."