The Detroit Red Wings dominated the first half of the NHL season. Now they're taking over the All-Star game, too.

Sidney Crosby is starting to do the same.

Crosby, the 20-year-old reigning NHL MVP, topped All-Star voting for the second straight year and will start again for the Eastern Conference, the league announced yesterday.

The Pittsburgh Penguins captain, in his third NHL season, received 507,274 votes, nearly 200,000 more than anyone else in the East, and about 30,000 more than West leader Nicklas Lidstrom.

Detroit (32-8-3) placed three players in the All-Star starting lineup, matching the Buffalo Sabres, who did it last season for the East en route to their first Presidents' Trophy.

Lidstrom, a five-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman, will join Red Wings teammates Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk in the Western Conference starting lineup Jan. 27 in Atlanta.

Lidstrom, who received 477,787 votes, will partner with Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf on the blue line while Jarome Iginla — also of the Flames — plays up front with Zetterberg and Datsyuk.

"You're used to playing against the top players — now, you're playing with them," Lidstrom said. "So that's always fun."

Zetterberg and Datsyuk are among eight first-time All-Star starters. Iginla and Phaneuf, who both have helped the Calgary Flames take over first place in the Northwest Division, are also set to make their initial starts in the midseason game.

Last year, Crosby at 19 years, five months, became the youngest player voted into the starting lineup since fan balloting began in 1986. He went on to be the NHL's youngest scoring champion with 120 points.

His linemates in Atlanta will be current scoring leader Vincent Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators right winger Daniel Alfredsson, who both will be making their first All-Star starts.

On defense will be fellow first-time starters Andrei Markov of the Montreal Canadiens and Boston's Zdeno Chara. Markov is the only starter making his first All-Star appearance.

BASEBALL

TRAINER'S ATTORNEYS WANT TAPE MADE PUBLIC

A lawyer for Brian McNamee called on Congress to demand and make public the recording of a December interview between his client and two private investigators hired by Roger Clemens' attorneys.

The lawsuit filed Sunday by Clemens against his former trainer contains what appears to be an excerpt of the interview, which took place Dec. 12. That was one day before the release of the Mitchell Report, in which McNamee accused Clemens of using steroids and human growth hormone.

"They should ask for the entire tape of the interview back in December. That's the tape they should ask for," Earl Ward, one of McNamee's lawyers, said yesterday. "According to Brian, they tried to get him to recant. Brian said, look, what I told the (Mitchell and federal) investigators was the truth."

On Monday, McNamee's lawyers released faxes purportedly signed by Clemens and Andy Pettitte that stated investigators Jim Yarbrough and Billy Belk work for the law firm representing them. They asked that Clemens' attorneys voluntarily release the entire Dec. 12 recording.

SOCCER

GOALIE SOLO MAKES CUT; UH ALUM KAI LEFT OFF

Goalkeeper Hope Solo is back on the U.S. women's roster and headed back to China.

Kahuku High and University of Hawai'i alum Natasha Kai, a forward, is not.

Solo was dropped from the team after last year's World Cup semifinal, when she was benched for the Americans' 4-0 loss to Brazil in favor of veteran Briana Scurry. Her strong criticism of then-coach Greg Ryan led to her being suspended from the squad for the third-place game and sent home separate from the team.

But new coach Pia Sundhage, who will make her debut with the American team at the Four Nations Tournament in Foshan, China, selected Solo and Scurry as her keepers yesterday.

Solo and Scurry have been part of a national team training camp that led to Sundhage's selections for the Jan. 16-20 tournament. Also participating will be Canada, Finland and the host Chinese.

ELSEWHERE

Ray Rice will skip his senior year to enter the NFL draft after becoming the leading rusher in Rutgers history and transforming the Scarlet Knights into a Top 25 team. Rice leaves Rutgers with numerous records, including career yards rushing (4,926), career rushing touchdowns (49) and yards rushing in a season (2,012) and game (280). ... Relatives of Rich Rodriguez have been harassed and threatened in the three weeks since his resignation as West Virginia football coach. His mother, Arleen Rodriguez, told the Charleston Daily Mail her teenage grandson received a death threat and found other harassing notes taped to his locker at East Fairmont High School. Arleen said her 12-year-old granddaughter had to be escorted to classes. Mountaineer fans are furious over Rodriguez's Dec. 16 decision to accept the coaching job at Michigan. ... Second baseman Marcus Giles and the Colorado Rockies agreed to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. He spent last season with the San Diego Padres, batting .229 with four homers and 39 RBIs.