Here's how I see it.

A lot of people are going to be out of the office over the next week and plenty of people will step away form their computers over the holidays. That means they won't be voting for the NHL All-Star Game. that means this week is a key time for Ilya to gain some ground on Lecavalier and Alfredsson. Vote like you've never voted before and he could make it close heading into the final week. Need soemthing to motivate you? How about this video from FrenchKheldar?

Or this one? Great music choice by the way.

I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around how good Ilya Kovalchuk has been this season. Remember last year when some media outlets mentioned Hossa as a possible MVP candidate around the midpoint of the season? Kovalchuk is playing better than that. A week ago everyone was raving about what a beast Henrik Zetterberg has become, but now Ilya is just two points behind him and two goals ahead of him with a league-leading 15 goals in 18 games. He's third in overall scoring with 25 points, just behind Zetterberg and Sidney Crosby, and he's showing no signs of slowing down.

But here's the most remarkable thing to me- Ilya is a different person than he was a year ago. He used to be somewhat shy in the locker room, but now he's sticking around to talk to the media. With the reputation he had early on his career for being a bit of a hot dog (not that you cold blame a teenager for showing off with the skills that he had back then) you might think that he's sticking around to talk about how great he has been playing, but that's just not the case.

Getting Ilya to talk about himself right now is like pulling teeth. When he was asked about his OT goal last night the first thing he said was that it was all about Todd White's hard work. He's deflecting attention from himself and heaping praise on his teammates at every opportunity. I'm convinced that if a reporter offered him $1,000 in cash to take credit for a goal he'd pass it up right now. In the two or three minutes I listened to him last night after the game I don't think he used the words 'me' or 'I' more than once. Instead it was all about 'them', 'us' and 'we'.

"We're having a lot of fun."
"Things are going well for us."
"We're a good line."
"We were the better team tonight."
"They're good linemates."
"It was all because of them."

Ilya Kovalchuk has been a great hockey player for a very long time, but now he's emerging as a great teammate. There can be a big difference between the two, and now Ilya is both.

It's enough to make you want to vote for him as an All-Star.

Like him or not, Hockey Night in Canada personality Don Cherry has a large following and what he says carries a fairly significant amount of weight in hockey circles in Canada. When he comes out and says something about a team people aren't particularly familiar with they listen, and what he says goes a long way in shaping their opinions of those teams.

So when Cherry chimed in on the Thrashers earlier this week you can be pretty sure Canada was listening. So what did he have to say? Well, would you believe he was singing the praises of Ilya Kovalchuk? It wasn't exactly characteristic for a guy known for ranting about European players, but it sure was nice to see. You can watch the full Coach's Corner video right here.