Wales’ NHL All-Star Game Starters Told

Center Mario Lemieux and defenseman Paul Coffey of the host Pittsburgh Penguins were voted onto the starting team today in fan balloting for the Wales Conference squad in the 41st NHL All-Star Game.

Two Boston Bruins, right wing Cam Neely and defenseman Ray Bourque, also earned starting berths for the Jan. 21 game at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, as did Philadelphia left wing Brian Propp and Montreal goaltender Patrick Roy.

The Campbell Conference starters will be announced Wednesday. Wales Coach Pat Burns of Montreal and Campbell Coach Terry Crisp of Calgary will select the rest of the 20-man rosters. Each team must have at least one player on the squad.

Lemieux, the two-time defending scoring champion and second in the scoring race this season with 76 points, led all players with 308,768 votes. He had more than three times as many votes as runner-up Pat LaFontaine of the New York Islanders, who had 99,627. Buffalo’s Pierre Turgeon was third with 98,504.

Lemieux has scored at least one point in his last 27 games, the longest streak in the NHL this season.

Coffey led defensemen with 274,579 votes, while Bourque, a two-time Norris Trophy winner, was second with 240,356. Montreal’s Chris Chelios, last season’s Norris Trophy winner, was third with 151,272.

Bourque leads defensemen this season with 47 points and is the only defenseman to lead his team in scoring. Coffey is tops among defensemen with 14 goals and second to Bourque with 44 points.

Neely, seemingly on the way to his best season with 25 goals, beat Lemieux’s linemate, Rob Brown, for the starting spot on right wing with 194,489 votes. Brown had 128,537, followed by Philadelphia’s Rick Tocchet.

Roy, who won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender last season, easily topped the goaltenders with 203,481 votes. The Montreal goaltender is second in the NHL with a 2.61 goals-against average and led the Canadiens to the best defensive record in the league.

Greg Millen, acquired last month by Quebec from St. Louis, was second with 128,224 votes, followed by John Vanbiesbrouck of the New York Rangers with 113,253.

Propp has not played for the last six weeks after undergoing surgery to remove a blood clot in his left hand. He has only five goals and six assists for 11 points in 20 games, but he received 153,918 votes. Quebec’s Michel Goulet, who also missed substantial time because of injury, was second with 126,887 votes, followed by Washington’s Geoff Courtnall with 115,506.

The balloting, conducted throughout the United States and Canada, generated a record 1,181,881 votes.