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Here's a first for me, in the new give-and-take world of cyberspace sports writing. Ted Leonsis, the Washington Capitals' owner and AOL mover and shaker, took a shot at me in his blog, Ted's Take (http://www.tedstake.com/?p3108).

Leonsis took exception to my views on the ballot-box stuffing controversy in Montreal, in which Canadiens supporters have their six candidates miles ahead of the pack in the voting for the 2009 All-Star Game. What fun

Usually, it's the other way around — writers critically analyzing the work of owners, general managers and players, mostly done in a vacuum. Turnabout is absolutely fair play - I wish more of them did it. A real dialogue could be a useful tool in ridding the industry of the lame blah-blah-blah that passes for analysis these days, fuelled largely by professional athletes who are coached to say nothing of consequence, for fear of alienating opponents or tarnishing their brilliantly polished images.

For the record, Leonsis took issue with my theory that if Montreal fans cared so much about the All-Star Game that they were willing to vote excessively for their six candidates, why not let them? Leonsis asked: "What if the NHL All-Star Game was held in Nashville … and the local fans stuffed the boxes via a web-based robotic call-in software program? And the six starters were from Nashville? I am sure this Canadian writer would be as equally upbeat on the process. Don't you agree?"

My answer: Yes, absolutely. If the All-Star Game was held in Nashville and the Predators were a strong-enough team to place six candidates on the ballot, I would absolutely support their right to do so. In fact, the one place where Leonsis misrepresents my argument is that he suggests I'm OK with computer-generated programs voting over and over for a single slate of candidates. I never wrote that. The NHL did identify six such programs on the opening day of the balloting and disqualified those votes as of last Monday.

Even so, the sextet of Habs — Alexei Kovalev, Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay, Andrei Markov, Mike Komisarek and Carey Price — continues to lead the rest of the field by wide margins. If that trend continues — and online voting goes on for another six weeks, so it can still change — then the options for NHL senior vice-president Colin Campbell to fill in the gaps for the Eastern Conference line-up will be limited. But look at it this way: Three of the six — Price, Markov and Kovalev — would probably qualify on merit anyway; and all of the others are playing decent hockey. This isn't a Rory Fitzpatrick sideshow.

The thrust of my argument was that in the 100th anniversary of the Montreal franchise, at a time when any attempt to make the All-Star Game meaningful has come up decidedly short, doing something different and innovative would not have been a bad thing. They could have played Montreal vs. the rest of the NHL. Or maybe play six to eight of the top Canadiens players, supplemented by some of the top Quebec-born players, against all stars from the rest of the league. Sadly, even if 97 per cent of the rational world might have embraced that concept, the three per cent that would railed long and loudly against it — for its innate political incorrectness — would have won the day.

If something meaningful were at stake in the All-Star Game — say home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup final — my thinking would probably be different. But it's an exhibition, a game of shinny, and if you put the vote in the hands of the fans — perfectly acceptable, from my side — it evolves into a popularity contest. If Montreal fans want to see Montreal players play in a Montreal all-star game, why shouldn't they get their wish?

And even if the voting patterns don't change, it probably isn't going to keep Leonsis' Big Three — Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin and Mike Green — out of the game anyway, assuming that Green's shoulder injury the other night doesn't keep him out of the line-up for an extended period. Campbell and the rest of the NHL's hockey operations department generally fill in the remaining slots with input from the league's general managers.

Thankfully, Campbell no longer feels the need to get a player from every team into the game. Nowadays, if a team has no viable all-star candidate, hockey operations puts one of their players into the YoungStars Game — so that no team is completely shut out of the All-Star Weekend celebrations. The bottom line is this: Every year, there are controversies about who's in and who's been snubbed and guess what? This year will be no different.

Ideally, I'd like to hear Leonsis' view of how to improve the All-Star Game, or is he content with the game as it is played now — in three-quarter time and more closely resembling the Legends game played during Hall Of Fame induction ceremonies than what passes for NHL hockey on a nightly basis.

As it stands right now, the All-Star Game does provide one important, unintended annual lesson — it shows what the game would be like without hitting. That's a significant reminder, in the context of the head-shot debate that's going on within the NHL right now — and the cause of a memo from Campbell's desk to the 30 teams in the league that was posted in dressing rooms last Friday. And while I support the move to rid the game of the cheap shots — and especially the hits from behind — whatever changes are phased in, need to be introduced without taking all the body contact out of the game. Otherwise, instead of just the one- no-hit game that occurs every year at the All-Star break, you'd suddenly get 1,230 of them. And that would kill the industry faster than any global financial crisis can.

MORE ON BALLOT-BOX STUFFING: It would be nice if Boston Bruins fans did a little on behalf of Tim Thomas, a mainstay of the team's recent surge (only one regulation loss in 12 games, 3-2 on the road in Calgary), but someone who is only available as a write-in candidate. Thomas is the latest victim of Reggie Lemelin syndrome, the inability of a player who consistently performs on the ice to overcome a label that he was tagged with at the start of his career, namely, back-up goalie. All Lemelin ever did was stop pucks and win — not necessarily in a pretty or classic manner. He just did it better than all the high-priced, high profile help brought in to displace him, at his various stops around the NHL. The same applies to Thomas. On a percentage basis, the Bruins are the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference right now, in no small part because of Thomas's exceptional play. He was named to last year's All-Star team, by the NHL's hockey operations department. That option, of course, exists again this year.

AS THE LIGHTNING TURN: So what would life be like in the NHL this season if there wasn't a weekly Tampa Bay Lightning controversy to kick around? Decidedly, dull to be sure. Except for the ongoing intrigue over the futures of Brian Burke and Mats Sundin, nothing captures the imagination like a pair of hands-on owners (Oren Koules and Len Barrie), a bitter unhappy unemployed coach (Barry Melrose) and a stand-up guy, team captain Vincent Lecavalier caught in the crossfire after he was charged with being an accessory to Melrose's eventual dismissal. This development incidentally was predicted almost to within the hour on Hockey Night In Canada by Al Strachan in late October, but he wasn't he only one to sound alarm bells early. Soon after Denis Savard was fired four games into the season, I suggested that Melrose might be next to go, in part because as soon as one coaching change is made in any given year, it makes it easier for other teams to follow suit.

Lecavalier is scheduled to appear on HNIC Saturday to clarify his role in the debacle; and he will undoubtedly plead innocent to the charge that a player revolt ultimately convinced Koules and Barrie to tie the can to Melrose. The reality is, the explanation may be far simpler than player dissatisfaction, which was likely a contributing factor, but not the sole, or even, primary reason for a change. After watching the Lightning play for 16 games, Koules, Barrie and GM Brian Lawton must have realized that Melrose — mostly a motivator, not a strong Xs and Os kind of guy — just wasn't right for these increasingly structured and organized times, and especially on a team that made so many off-season changes that developing chemistry was not the job of a moment.

Accordingly, you can either rag on Koules and Barrie for making an ill-advised hire in the first place; or you can praise their fortitude in admitting a mistake and trying to correct it before the season was lost. At a time when their financial picture can't be looking too good, it takes a lot of courage to be pay three head coaches all at once, one to work (Rick Tocchet) and two to watch (Melrose and his predecessor John Tortorella). Tortorella is already doing some TV work for TSN; Melrose is expected to return to ESPN, his old stomping grounds, in some capacity shortly.

ETC. ETC.: A small piece of good news for the Burke-less Anaheim Ducks: Rookie Bobby Ryan — promoted from the minors after starting the season playing in Iowa, largely for salary-cap reasons — had a three-point night in Tuesday's 6-4 loss to the Washington Capitals. If Ryan — the second overall pick in the Sidney Crosby draft - can demonstrate that this time he is finally ready to play a day-in, day-out role at the NHL level, it will ease the Ducks' need to add another top-six forward, which is just as well, since defence seems to be a priority now that Francois Beauchemin is probably out for the season after undergoing major knee surgery Thursday. On the downside, Rob Niedermayer — a mainstay of the checking line on the '07 championship team - sat out last Saturday's game as a healthy scratch for the first time since joining Anaheim in the trade with Calgary five years ago. Coach Randy Carlyle apparently wasn't happy with Niedermayer's play and decided to send a message to him. Niedermayer was back for the Caps' game three nights later … Ryan, incidentally, challenged the Caps' Alex Ovechkin towards the end of the game, but the reigning MVP wouldn't be sucked into a fight. "I told him it's not my job to fight," said Ovechkin, "it's my job to score goals."

THE MEDICAL WARD: Justin Williams, the Carolina Hurricanes' hard-luck forward who hasn't played a game since last December, returned to the ice this past week to do some light skating. Williams missed 45 games last season — 43 of them recovering from knee surgery — and then tore his Achilles tendon in September, an injury that required more surgery. There is no official word as to his return date, but the fact that he's skating already is a mostly positive development. The toll of recovering from two major surgeries in a calendar year is as much physical as mental, said Williams, who noted to the Raleigh News-Observer: "You don't want to be regarded as a guy who gets hurt often. When I come back, whenever that may be, I need to get myself back healthy and able to help the team. And stay healthy."

MORE INJURY NEWS: Joe Sakic, the Colorado Avalanche captain, could get back in the line-up this weekend, either for Saturday's date with the Kings or Sunday's game against the Ducks. Sakic's injury is a weird one — he hurt his back, lifting weights back on Nov. 5. He missed a game, played one and has been out ever since. Sakic is a notoriously fit athlete — in the past, he has received permission to use visiting teams' weight rooms, in the early hours of the day, to get a workout in on the road, so it's not as if he's a novice at this. But a back injury for him is new and so he's taking it slow. It's hard to say where the Avs miss him most — on the power play (struggling of late), or in the dressing room, where his voice is missed … The Dallas Stars' overall defensive game received a major boost when the perennial Selke Trophy candidate Jere Lehtinen finally made his season debut about a week ago, after recovering from a lingering groin injury that kept him out 14 games. Three games into his comeback, Lehtinen is out again. Upper body injury, this time. Seven-to-10-days. Whoever said, the problem with injury-plagued players is that they often get hurt must have had Lehtinen in mind. In only one of the past five years has Lehtinen come close to playing a full season (80 games in 05-06). He missed 34 games last year, nine the year before and 24 in the season before the NHL lockout … Phillippe Boucher to Pittsburgh for Darryl Sydor? Someone needs to explain that to me. It can't be about hockey; it has to be about dollars.

AND FINALLY: The Oilers are the only team in the league to rotate three goalies consistently this year, for reasons of performance as opposed to injury, but the nominal No. 1, Mathieu Garon, has only started two of the past 13, as both Dwayne Roloson and Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers continue to play well. Or Roloson was playing well until he got the hook after allowing four goals to Detroit Thursday night. Garon came on in relief and you'd have to think he'll get the call when the Oilers next get into action — not until Wednesday of next week, by the way, or when the Kings visit. Six days between games helped the Oilers' provincial rivals, the Calgary Flames, get back on track — they swept a home-and-home series with the Colorado Avalanche. Maybe the time off will help coach Craig MacTavish sort out what ails his team. As for MacTavish's goalie rotation, his explanation, via the Edmonton Journal, was altogether disarming: "I don't want to get into who's No. 1? I could put out a press release every day, ranking the goalies, like college football. So and so lost to so and so, so they've now taken over ... there's no BCS (college football rankings) here."