Robitaille, Gretzky Top All-Stars

Los Angeles’ Luc Robitaille outpolled his more famous teammate, Wayne Gretzky, for the second consecutive year to lead all vote-getters today in balloting for the Campbell Conference starting team in the 41st NHL All-Star Game.

Robitaille, a left wing who leads the Kings with 31 goals, received 298,914 votes in fan balloting for the Jan. 21 game at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena. His vote total was more than three times the number received by runner-up Gerard Gallant of Detroit.

“I’m pretty happy. It’s always a surprise,” Robitaille said. “I guess I picked the right position as a kid, left wing. It’s always fun to be there.”

Gretzky, who broke Gordie Howe’s career scoring record earlier this season and leads the NHL in scoring, had 276,980 votes, more than twice as many as Detroit’s Steve Yzerman.

Robitaille and Gretzky were joined on the starting team by two members of the defending Stanley Cup champion Calgary Flames, goaltender Mike Vernon and defenseman Al MacInnis, as well as right wing Brett Hull of St. Louis and defenseman Kevin Lowe of Edmonton.

Vernon received 216,448 votes, beating out Edmonton’s Grant Fuhr to earn his first All-Star start. MacInnis, last spring’s playoff MVP, led all defensemen with 218,000 votes, followed by Lowe, one of eight Oilers on the ballot, with 187,091. Steve Duchesne of the Kings was third, less than 5,300 votes behind Lowe.

Gretzky was happy for Lowe, his long-time teammate with the Oilers, and Robitaille, a teammate since the trade that sent Gretzky to Los Angeles in August, 1988.

“Kevin works hard every game and comes to win every game. It’s great to see the fans recognize his contributions,” Gretzky said. “Luc is having a great year, 31 goals. What else do you need to say?”

Of his own selection, Gretzky said, “It’s nice of the fans. I just come out to play every night. All-Star games are fun.”

Hull, son of Hall of Famer Bobby Hull, has 35 goals, tying him with Pat LaFontaine for the league lead. He was tops among right wings with 248,024 votes, edging Edmonton’s Jari Kurri, who got 230,565. Kurri became the 25th player in NHL history to reach 1,000 career points when he had a goal and two assists in a 6-4 victory over Hull and the Blues Tuesday night.

The Wales Conference starters, announced Tuesday, include Pittsburgh center Mario Lemieux and defenseman Paul Coffey, Boston defenseman Ray Bourque and right wing Cam Neely, Montreal goaltender Patrick Roy and Philadelphia left wing Brian Propp.

Wales Coach Pat Burns of Montreal and Campbell Coach Terry Crisp of Calgary will select the rest of the 20-man rosters. Each of the 21 NHL teams must have at least one representative.