Zemgus Girgensons feels a little sheepish discussing how fans back home in Latvia have clicked and quadruple-clicked his name so often that he is running away with the NHL All-Star Game vote.
The second-year forward with the Buffalo Sabres appreciates the overwhelming support he has received from the Baltic nation, and yet the 20-year-old Girgensons does not consider himself worthy of being included among the league’s elite.
“It’s a little bit embarrassing and funny at the same time,” Girgensons said, before the Sabres hit the road for two games that conclude on Tuesday in Detroit. “It came out of nowhere. I know people know me back home, but I didn’t think it was going to go that far. That’s like crazy far.”
As of Tuesday, Girgensons had a league-leading 1.29 million votes, with about 80 percent coming from Latvia.
The only limit on voting is fans can use the same device no more than 10 times a day.
Chicago’s Patrick Kane (815,990 votes) is second among forwards, followed by teammate Jonathan Toews (803,034).
Blackhawks players hold down the three other remaining spots eligible to be selected by vote. Chicago’s Duncan Keith (790,922) and Brent Seabrook (641,736) lead defensemen, and Corey Crawford (714,471) leads goalies.
With voting set to close on Thursday next week. Girgensons is on the verge of clinching a spot to play in the All-Star Game in Columbus on Jan. 25.
“If I have to, it’s awesome,” said Girgensons, the only Latvian currently in the NHL. “It’ll be satisfaction to the fans, really.”
Selected in the first-round of the 2012 draft, Girgensons has established himself as a skilled two-way forward, and part of the rebuilding team’s young core.
Girgensons leads Buffalo with nine goals and is second with 18 points.
That puts him well off the league-leading pace. Dallas center Tyler Seguin is first with 25 goals, while Philadelphia’s Jakub Voracek tops the points list with 44.
Sabres coach Ted Nolan said Girgensons has nothing to be ashamed of.
“I wouldn’t be embarrassed at all,” Nolan said. “The whole nation’s cheering for him, which is great to see. So he should feel a lot of pride.”
Nolan knows plenty about Girgensons and Latvia. He spent the previous four years coaching Latvia’s national team, which included Girgensons.
“He’s come a tremendous long way in a very short period of time,” Nolan said.
In an e-mail, Latvian Ice Hockey Federation media manager Maris Gorbunovs wrote the support Latvians have shown Girgensons has been spontaneous, and a reflection of their passion for ice hockey and a native son.
“Canada and USA has many NHL players, but Latvia at the moment has only one,” Gorbunovs wrote. “It is not an initiative of some separate group or segment. It is an achievement of all Latvian fans.”
Gorbunovs estimated at least 11,000 Latvians traveled to Minsk, Belarus, to attend last year’s world championship.
Former Latvian NHL players include goalie Arturs Irbe, now a Sabres assistant, and defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh.
Growing up in Riga, Girgensons was a fan of the Kontinental Hockey League team based in the Latvian capital.
Girgensons was 15 when he moved to North America to play for the former Vermont-based Green Mountain Glades of the Eastern Junior Hockey League. He then spent two seasons with Dubuque of the US Hockey League, before committing to play at Vermont.
Girgensons turned down a college career for the chance to play pro after being drafted by Buffalo.
“I never would have said at age 20 that I’d be in my second year in the NHL,” Girgensons said.
Soon enough, Girgensons might be an All-Star.
Girgensons laughed when reminded that Latvia, a country with a population of about 2 million people, accounts for about 1 million of his vote total.
“Yeah,” Girgensons said, smiling. “Only half like me.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB