The Professional Hockey Writers' Association (PHWA) had annually chosen participants of the NHL All-Star Game prior to the league's fans voting for the starting players as of the 1986 All-Star Game.[1] When the league's fans voted Pelle Lindbergh as a starting goaltender in the 1986 game despite his death a few months earlier, PHWA president Rod Beaton doubted that the PHWA would have been chosen Lindbergh since its members were not sentimental and took the choice seriously.[1] Beaton felt that the fans "had voted with reasonable intelligence", and choosing Lindbergh "was a quality gesture", but was disappointed when a deserving player did not play because fans voted for a long-term star instead.[2]