NHL Continues to Ignore Voting Issues, Tries to Pit Penguins Fans Against Canadiens Fans

The NHL simply doesn't get it.

In a press release posted today the NHL states that "Responding to the daunting challenge issued by the devoted fans of the Montreal Canadiens, the citizens of Pittsburgh and Penguins fans around the world are proving just how passionate they are about their heroes."

The article also mentions that "Canadiens fans haven’t eased up at all since storming the virtual polls the moment they opened."

This is the wrong path for the NHL to take.

From the beginning we have said that the boycott has nothing to do with Canadiens' players being named to the team. The issue is with the voting irregularities that were never correctly addressed and the fact that voting through scripts undermines the All-Star Game and the National Hockey League.

Now the NHL has taken this situation and turned into Canadiens fans versus Penguins fans. They would love to see Crosby and Malkin rise in the votes and have them voted onto the team just as much as they would love to see Canadiens fans try to prevent that from happening.

Sadly, the NHL's moves are working.

A post on the Pittsburgh Penguins Official Message Board makes reference to a Pittsburgh Penguins voting script being used. Through its previous actions the NHL has shown fans that voting by script will not only be tolerated, but they have encouraged it. They have equated "automatically voting via JavaScript" with "devoted fans."

We mentioned last week that this was a dangerous and irresponsible path for the NHL to take, and it has clearly continued down its path of denial and secrecy.

We continue to stand by our intention to boycott the game regardless of who is selected onto the team due to the inaction of the NHL.

This is a nonpartisan boycott. Many people have assumed that we are calling for a boycott simply because members of the Penguins were not leading the balloting. That is simply not true.

Thank you to The Steel City Sports Fan for bringing this article to our attention.