Readers weigh in on Rorygate, hot lines and more

	The Fitzpatrick fiasco may force the NHL to take the vote out of the hands of the fans. Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images
	MAILBAG Brian Cazeneuve will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

I've given you my takes in recent weeks on the Rory Fitzpatrick vote fiasco, the Red Wings' rejuvenated line, fun hockey names and more. I now turn the floor over to your responses.

Mike Auge from Yellowknife, NT: Interesting point you bring up on the Rory debate, about votes not being placed properly (due to someone with computer savvy). Why did the Eastern Conference votes from these ballots count and the Western Conference votes did not? Who knows who benefited in the East. Why not just throw them all out? Isn't that the better solution? And why not make a statement that the voting system had been abused and therefore the votes were being excluded, instead of doing things so covertly?

Please see the next answer. It applies to your question.

Steve Schmid (creator of www.voteforrory.com) from Auburn, NY: I just finished your head-to-head article with Allan Muir. While I'm pleased that both of you seem to understand the point (whether you agree with it or not), I just want to point out that if the league decided to toss the votes due to their being fraudulent, why wouldn't they toss the entire ballot? How is an automated vote for any other player more legal than a vote for Rory? The fact that the only votes thrown out were for Western Conference defensemen just doesn't look good at all for the league even if they were automated votes.

I think the point is that we don't know which ballots were counted or discounted. It would have raised less suspicion if the league had run a program to determine which ballots were cast with identical selections across the board, figured they were duplicates, and discarded all the votes on them. Instead, well, who knows what happened.

You are right, too, about automated votes being equally dishonest. They defeat the idea of the will-of-the-people logic in opening up the voting to everyone. Unfortunately, if the NHL and other pro sports leagues don't find a way to combat this, auto-votes will achieve the opposite of their intended effect. Instead of letting the people's voices be heard, they may actually force leagues to limit voting to coaches or others within official circles, in order to maintain the integrity of the selections.

Having said that, I reiterate one thing about Rory Fitzpatrick. However humbled or embarrassed he may have been by this campaign, he handled it very well. The one unimpeachable thing about this entire episode is Fitzpatrick's class.

Mark Cheney from Brooklyn, NY: Hey Brian, you want to talk about a Red Light Special? I think you should give a nod to that scorching hot unit in San Jose - Thornton, Marleau and, most recently, Ryan Clowe. Do you think there is a coach in the NHL who would prefer Holmstrom, Datsyuk and Zetterberg over that Sharks line?

There are nights when I'd take Scott Gomez - Patrik Elias - Brian Gionta. Or Vincent Lecavalier - Martin St. Louis - Brad Richards. Or Daniel Alfredsson - Chris Kelly - Dany Heatley. Or either of Buffalo's top two lines. Or even, yes, Flyers fans, Simon Gagne - Peter Forsberg - Mike Knuble. But right now, the Wings' trio is the league's most radically improved line, given its slow start in October and November.