Voting for the National Hockey League all-star game has commenced. This year the fans can vote for the captains of teams formed from each of the four NHL divisions: The Atlantic, Metropolitan, Central, and Pacific.

One of the traditions of NHL all-star voting is the prank candidate, which reached its zenith last year with the fans' election of journeyman enforcer John Scott, which unexpectedly turned into the feel-good story of the season. The NHL took small steps to avoid a repeat, but there's still plenty of room for fans to have their way with the results. At this point, no clear consensus pick has emerged, so I'd like to hype my own choice: Stanley CupTM Champion Phil Kessel.

Vote early! Vote often! Vote Phil!

Lat year's Stanley Cup MVP Sidney Crosby's probably a lock in the Metrosexual division, but his teammate Phil would be the far more interesting choice. Noted for his surly and awkward interviews, Phil was also the butt of the joke in a previous all-star appearance in 2011 when he was notably uncomfortable at being selected last in a player's draft, when the game tried that format. Phil returned to the 2015 event, when he was picked first, and then traded! Electing the unpredictable Phil as a team captain over bland poster-boy Crosby would be exactly the right sort of finger-in-the-eye that the league would hate but would have to accept.

You can vote up to seven TEN times a day, for the whole month of December. Phil needs your support!

Vote early! Vote often! Vote Phil!