All-Star fan vote goes to Stamkos

TAMPA — Steven Stamkos received the popular vote. The Tampa Bay Lightning captain was selected by fans to participate in his seventh All-Star Game, surpassing Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis for most appearance sin franchise history.

Stamkos emerged from the “Last Men In” campaign to make the Atlantic Division squad. Each team had one player nominated, with the top vote getters in each of the four divisions being added to their respective All-Star teams.

He will join defenseman Victor Hedman and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who initially were selected by the NHL Hockey Operations Department to represent the Atlantic Division when rosters were announced last week.

The trio will participate in this year’s All-Star Game activities at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The skills competition will take place Feb. 4 and the All-Star Game tournament on Feb. 5.

Eleven players from each division will compete in a 3-on-3 tournament of three 20-minute games. The two Eastern Conference divisions and two Western Conference divisions meet, with the winners to play in the final.

Stamkos’ 46 points (18 goals, 28 assists going into Tuesday night’s games) led the other seven nominees in the Atlantic Division. His competition included Toronto center John Tavares (15 goals, 20 assists) and Florida forward Aleksander Barkov (15 goals, 14 assists).

Stamkos, skating in his 14th season, was one of two players in the top six for scoring who was not selected outright for the game; Colorado’s Nazem Kadri (49points) was the other.

Hedman and Vasilevskiy will be participating in their fourth All-Star Game.