Psycho Papa Joe said:
So were Potvin and Shore, but it didn't seem to hurt their standing. Harvey was no sweetheart either.
Well, Shore barely beat Bourque for No. 2, and a couple people mentioned that they didn't vote for Shore because Shore was a jerk. In the case of Harvey, he basically retained his support from No. 3, and got all of Shore's support. (The people who voted for Shore, myself included, paid more attention to how he played the game, not what kind of person he was off the ice or behind the bench).
As for Potvin, he might have had more support against Bourque, although his personality deficiencies aren't as well chronicled as Shore and Chelios.
The other factor that might weigh down on Chelios is the fact he's still playing, so those who ignorantly vote based solely on what they've seen will be more apt to hold it against Chelios, and vote for Coffey, Stevens or MacInnis.
BTW, I voted for Chelios. There isn't a defenceman remaining on this list who could dominate all facets of the game like Chelios, or carry his team on his back for extended periods of time like Chelios. (Although Fetisov is darn close).