The NHL All-Star Game: A Comprehensive Guide for Canadian Fans
Overview of the NHL All-Star Game
The NHL All-Star Game, which has now expanded to being the NHL All-Star Games, is traditionally an exhibition game or games that take place in the middle of the regular season.
The idea behind the event is to celebrate the performances and skills of the NHL’s very best players in the form of a hockey event for the fans.
Significance in Canadian Hockey Culture
With Canadians being the dominant force in the NHL and, more often than not, the cohort of the league’s best players being from Canada, the NHL All-Star Game tends to showcase a great many of Canada’s outright best sporting talents.
Further, it’s a rare opportunity to see the nation’s best players go head-to-head while alongside other all-stars, creating a lot of intrigue in sports betting circles.
Origins and Evolution
Inception in 1947: Stanley Cup Champions vs. All-Stars
The first NHL All-Star Game, which was held in Toronto, set the format as being the Stanley Cup champions taking on a team comprised of the best players of all of the other teams. This ran until 1968 with a couple of novel exceptions.
These two games took place in 1951 and 1952, when players from Canadian teams took on players from American teams.
Transition to Conference-Based Teams (1969–1997)
At the end of the 1960s, the NHL transitioned away from the champions taking on the best of the rest to conference teams. It’d be the all-stars of the Wales or Eastern Conference taking on those of the Campbell or Western Conference, with fans getting to vote for the starting line and goaltenders on each team.
North America vs. World Format (1998–2002)
Riding the enthusiasm of international competition enflamed by the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan through to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah, the NHL All-Star Game turned to a battle of North America vs. World All-Stars.
Taking place from 1998 to 2002, North American won three of the five All-Star Games in this format. The league then reverted back to the Eastern versus Western Conference setup to see out the 2000s.
Player Draft Era (2011–2015)
The conference alignments for NHL All-Star teams was ditched for the 2010/11 season. Instead, the league adopted the drafting process of popular fantasy sports. The league and a fan vote would decide the pool of players, and then, the captains for each team would draft from the total pool. The Winter Olympics and Lockout limited this format to three outings, during which time Team Lidstrom, Team Chara, and Team Toews split the wins.
Introduction of the 3-on-3 Divisional Tournament (2016–Present)
Alongside the switch for NHL regular season games to use the 3-on-3 format in overtime, the All-Star Games also pivoted to playing entire games with the high-octane setup. Through to the end of the 2025 season, this format has prevailed, with the NHL All-Star Skills Competition, which has run since the 1990s, taking a more prominent role in the weekend-long event.
Selection Process
Fan Voting Mechanisms and Campaigns
Fan voting has been a commonplace mechanism for deciding the participants in the NHL All-Star Games since 1969, with a few exceptions coming from format changes.
The rules for NHL All-Star Game voting have been tweaked a lot over the years, with a notable turning point being the fan vote that got journeyman enforcer John Scott into the 2016 event.
The NHL Commissioner wasn’t best pleased with this, but relented to allow Scott to attend. The towering pugilist would win the NHL All-Star MVP Award, making him a cult hero.
Role of Coaches and NHL Officials
Traditionally, the head coaches selected for the teams were the ones who coached the last two Stanley Cup finalists. Since 1996, the NHL has decided to give preference to the two head coaches who lead each conference based on point percentage to the point of selecting the NHL All-Star Teams.
The event itself tends to be quite a low-impact, casual affair for the players as they don’t want to pick up an injury in the middle of the season for the sake of some exhibition games. So, while the NHL will send deserving officials to manage All-Star Games, they’re not often called into action.
Criteria for Player Eligibility and Selection
The NHL quite heavily curates player eligibility for selection to the NHL All-Star Games these days.
They pick the best player from each team to attend, and then 12 other places are put to the fan vote. Since John Scott made it to the All-Star Games in 2016, the available picks for the fan vote have been more refined.
Canadian Contributions
Legendary Canadian All-Stars
The two most legendary Canadian All-Stars also happen to be two of the most legendary Canadians to play hockey. Both Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux went to multiple All-Star Games and won the MVP crown a record-setting three times. Gretzky leads the all-time points list with 25, but Lemieux’s a mere 23 behind, having attended eight fewer events.
Notable Performances by Canadian Players
Gretzky and Lemieux to one side, Gordie Howe stands as one of the most notable NHL All-Star Games competitors. He made a record 23 appearances at the event across his massive career and still stands as the fifth-leading scorer, having put away ten goals and 19 points.
That said, one of the few major records held by a single player goes to Sidney Crosby, who has the All-Star Game record for the most points in a single game with four goals and eight points in the 2019 game.
Canadian Teams' Representation Over the Years
Despite the NHL becoming more and more dominated by US teams – whether you look at the number of teams or Stanley Cup wins since the 1990s – Canadian teams have always been very well represented over the years. This is particularly true in the early days, when the Stanley Cup champions would make up one team and, of the 23 Cup winners from 1946 to 1968, 18 were Canadian teams.
Memorable Moments
Iconic Goals and Plays
The most impressive goals and play overall goes to Owen Nolan. In 1997, the San Jose Sharks forward had scored twice before pointing to the goal and firing the puck beyond the keeper. Adding the legendary nature of this feat, Nolan scored his hat-trick against Martin Brodeur and Dominik Hašek.
Historic MVP Performances
The NHL All-Star Game often sees coaches rotate their star-studded goaltender corps, but in 1986, Grant Fuhr made the best case possible to stay on the ice.
Facing the likes of Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux, he stopped 15 shots in a single period.
His Campbell Conference ended up losing 3-4 in overtime, but Fuhr rightly landed the MVP award.
Unforgettable All-Star Game Highlights
While the format had been running for some time, the 2001 NHL All-Star Game that saw North America versus the World team was stuffed with goals – ending 14-12 to North America.
Most importantly, a goal and an assist in this one marked the long-awaited return of Mario Lemieux.
Skills Competition
Overview of Events
The NHL All-Star Skills Competition has been a feature since 1990, with the events contested changing over time.
As of the most recent NHL All-Star Games, the Breakaway Relay, Elimination Shootout, Four Line Challenge, Goaltenders Competition, NHL Shooting Stars, NHL Shootout, Puck Control Relay, Save Streak, and Skills Challenge Relay weren’t a part of the Skills Competition slate.
Instead, select players competed in the rather self-explanatory Accuracy Shooting, Breakaway Challenge, Fastest Skater, Hardest Shot, Passing Challenge, One Timers, Stick Handling, One on One, and Obstacle Course skills challenges.
Canadian Players' Dominance in Skill Events
Since the dawn of the NHL All-Star Skills Competition, Canadian players have dominated.
In Accuracy Shooting, Ray Bourque was a persistent winner or joint-winner for 11 years, with Connor McDavid being its last winner. The same can be said of the Fastest Skater, with McDavid holding the record while surrounded by Canadian winners.
Hardest Shot, however, has been a bit more mixed in recent years, but it created a fascinating head-to-head between Canadian powerhouse Shea Weber and towering Slovak blueliner Zdeno Chára.
Evolution and Fan Engagement
The NHL All-Star Skills Competition has become a huge part of the draw for this exhibition event that breaks up the regular season.
As the league has evolved more towards speed and skill, so too has the focus in the competition and its format.
In the 2024 NHL All-Star Games – the last such event until 2027 – the competition took the form of a set collection of skaters who would compete in a knockout-style tournament of all of the skill contests to determine a final winner rather than multiple skill winners.
With massively increased connectivity and changes to how fans immerse themselves in and engage with sports, the skills competitions have become a useful tool for the NHL.
These quick snapshots of incredible skills being on show make for very sharable content. To further encourage fan engagement in the new Skills Competition format, the NHL opened the voting up to the fans to pick which players would compete in the multi-skill contest.
The format also better lent itself to NHL betting futures, with fans being able to bet on the overall skill winner.
Comparison with Other All-Star Events
NHL vs. NBA All-Star Games
In 2025, the NBA All-Star Championship pivoted from what was a conference-based team setup to one more akin to the NHL All-Star Games.
A draft selected by TNT analysts and legendary players determined who would play for three of the four teams, and they’d then go into a single-elimination knockout bracket.
A staple and huge draw of the NBA All-Star event is the Skills Challenge, which has been around since the 2002/03 season.
How the NBA All-Star Games differ distinctly from the NHL event now is through the Rising Star Challenge, which pits teams of the league’s best young players against each other.
The winner of that exhibition game enters the NBA All-Star Games proper as the fourth team. Like the NHL event, the NBA games also hail the top performer of the weekend as the All-Star MVP.
NHL vs. MLB and NFL Pro Bowls
In the modern space, NFL Pro Bowl appearances are probably the ones that hold the most weight within the league and for analysts across all of the major league all-star games.
Being a Pro Bowler is a big deal in the NFL, and while being an all-star in the NHL is a great honour, it isn’t quite as compelling when ranking and grading players within the league.
However, with its introduction of flag football, it’s clear that the Pro Bowl event itself is trying to find new ways of reaching a substantial audience.
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the Midsummer Classic, is the oldest of the major league all-star events, having started in 1933.
Like with the Pro Bowl, being an MLB All-Star also holds more weight within the league than being an NHL All-Star does, generally speaking.
Unique Aspects of the NHL All-Star Experience
Over the last few decades, what’s enabled the NHL All-Star experience to stand out has been its willingness to adapt, try new things, and generally be a light-hearted event that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
The games can be intense, but players coming to an All-Star Game don’t hail the honour in the way that players at the Pro Bowl, for example, do. Rather, they’re there to have a unique experience, show off some skills for the fans, and have a good time.
Bringing in the All-Star Skills Competition in 1990, which the NBA mimicked a few years later, offered another way to encourage its star performers to demonstrate their skills.
Then, switching to the fantasy draft format allowed for truly intriguing team combinations, while going with 3-on-3 play makes games much more unique to regular season contests. It’s an exhibition and entertainment event, and it’s treated as such by everyone involved.
NHL All-Star FAQs
How Are Players Selected for the NHL All-Star Game?
Players are selected for the NHL All-Star Game through a combination of league selection and fan vote.
First, the NHL picks one player from each team, which amounts to 32 selections. Then, 12 more players are decided by the fan vote.
Have Any Canadians Won the All-Star Game MVP?
The vast majority of NHL All-Star Game MVPs have been Canadian.
Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux both won the accolade three times. Bobby Hull and Frank Mahovlich are the other Canadian players to take this crown multiple times.
What is the Significance of the 3-on-3 Format?
The 3-on-3 format was introduced for overtime in regular season games by the NHL in 2015 in an attempt to make it more exciting and to help create more chances for goals. In 2016, 3-on-3 was embraced for the All-Star Game tournament as well, helping to add a different facet of entertainment to the mid-season event.
How Can Fans Participate in the Selection Process?
The NHL All-Star Games usually take place in February. During the January prior, fans are given the chance to vote on which final players will be going to the event via the official NHL website and NHL app.
Are There Any All-Star Games Held in Canada?
Many All-Star Games have been held in Canada. The very first NHL All-Star Game took place in Toronto in 1947, and the very last to date, and until 2027, also took place in Toronto.
Including those two, a total of 27 NHL All-Star Games have been held in Canada, the majority of which were hosted by Toronto or Montréal.
What Time is the NHL All-Star Game?
The last time the NHL All-Star Game was played, in February 2024, it took place from 15:00 and ran until 18:00 ET.
How Do the NHL All-Star Games Work?
The current format of the NHL All-Star Games sees four teams use a fantasy format draft to pick their players. From there, each puts players into the various skills competitions, and the teams compete in a single-game knockout tournament to help decide the All-Star Games winners.
Where Can I Watch the NHL All-Star Game?
In Canada, the NHL All-Star Game was most recently available to watch on Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, CBC, CBC Gem, and Citytv.
When Was the NBA All-Star Game in Toronto?
The 2016 NBA All-Star Game took place in Toronto, which, more specifically, was played on February 14 that year.
How Long Are the Periods in the NHL All-Star Game?
Periods in the NHL All-Star Game are ten minutes long, with each game having two periods of regulation play.