The Problem(s) With All-Star Game Fan Voting

If the post title didn't make it explicitly clear, I can't stand fan votes for All-Star games. This is rooted in my history of playing a lot of fantasy sports, and knowing who is statistically deserving or undeserving on a year-to-year basis, rather than which under-performing and marketable star will occupy the spot. I've seen a lot of bad choices for the NHL, MLB, and MLS, but this is the cost that comes with giving the fans a hand in the process. You're going to get lousy results because the casual or moderate fan will not take their time to make a choice. I may have no right to complain about any of this, because I rarely cast a vote myself in All-Star votes. Still, there are three major problems with these votes.

1. The fans do not pick the most deserving players
As mentioned above, a lot of times the players who are definite stars in the league get in the All-Star Game, regardless of worthiness. This year, it wouldn't be a shock to see Sidney Crosby representing the Metropolitan Division despite having arguably the worst statistical season of his career, just because he's the face of hockey. Ditto Anze Kopitar in the Pacific Division. While there are better choices on their own teams and certainly in the division at large, fans vote for big names whether they should or not.

2. Joke Votes
There have been joke votes in probably every balloting system in human history. From Mickey Mouse for President of the United States to the poor kid who didn't realize what a can of laughter his election to the Homecoming Court at my high school was, there will always be people who advance a candidate for the sole purpose of being a clown. This year, the King of the Clowns is John Scott, face-puncher extraordinaire. I don't ask for much out of the All-Star Game, especially in the NHL, but if you can't propose a player without smirking, maybe you shouldn't vote for that player. If being at least an arguable star is no longer a requirement for the All-Star Game, the branding needs to be updated to reflect that. Might I propose "Game of Random Players Who Had Nothing Better to Do This Weekend."

3. The League is a better judge of which players should participate
Rare is it for a fan to have actual faith in their favorite league's decision-making process, but here we go. I think the NHL can fill out all the rosters just fine without any help from the fans. At the very least, let the general managers or coaches, who see these players on a day-to-day basis, make the majority of the decisions for the teams. It seems like a novel concept, but people will have a central target to whine about when their favorite player is left off the teams. As far as I see it, nothing will ever replace the Fantasy Draft system in creating teams, so the league doing all of the work is the next best option. I understand they already do most of it. It's more that that fan vote stirs up so much emotion for so little of the game that it would be better off for the league to do it all themselves.

If we're going to participate in this as it is, it would be fair if I gave my opinion of who deserved to be in the All-Star Game. Here's how I see it breaking down.

Metropolitan Division
Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Mike Cammalleri, Claude Giroux, John Tavares, John Carlson, Justin Faulk, Keith Yandle, Henrik Lundqvist, Braden Holtby.

Atlantic Division
Max Pacioretty, Patrice Bergeron, Tomas Plekanec, Brad Marchand, Dylan Larkin, Mike Hoffman, Erik Karlsson, P.K. Subban, Dion Phaneuf, Ben Bishop, Roberto Luongo. 

Central Division
Patrick Kane, Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Nathan MacKinnon, Vladimir Tarasenko, James Neal, John Klingberg, Dustin Byfuglien, Ryan Suter, Jake Allen, Devan Dubnyk.

Pacific Division
Daniel Sedin, Taylor Hall, Joe Pavelski, Jeff Carter, Henrik Sedin, Corey Perry, Brent Burns, Drew Doughty, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Martin Jones, Jonathan Quick.

The three teams here that are not represented are Calgary, Columbus, and Buffalo. In the case of Calgary, their best bet would be Johnny Gaudreau replacing Jeff Carter, which would also make the 3-on-3 aspect more exciting. The Buffalo Sabres could make a case for Rasmus Ristolainen to be included over Dion Phaneuf, but that would take away the Maple Leafs representative. Columbus really doesn't have anyone that should be in the All-Star Game, as I see it. Let me know what you think in the comments.