National Hockey League All - Star Game The National Hockey League All - Star Game ( French : " Match des Étoiles de la Ligue Nationale de Hockey " ) is an exhibition game that traditionally marks the midway point of the National Hockey League ' s regular season , with many of the league ' s star players playing against each other . The starting lineup for the two teams , including the starting goaltender , is voted on by fans , while the remainder of the teams ' rosters are chosen by the NHL ' s Hockey Operations Department in consultation with the teams ' general manager s . The coaches for the two All - Star Game teams are typically the head coaches of the teams that , at the time of the All - Star Game roster announcements , are leading their respective conferences in point percentage ( i . e . fraction of points obtained out of total possible points ) . The All - Star Game is preceded by the " NHL All - Star Skills Competition " , a competition showing the various talents of the all - stars , and the " NHL YoungStars Game " , an exhibition game not exclusively featuring rookies , playing under slightly modified rules . Given its checkered history , some fans have once again suggested that the All - Star Games be replaced with exhibition international games ( for example , Canada vs . the United States , Sweden vs . Finland and the Czech Republic vs . Russia ) . Proponents of such a scenario argue that these games would be much more popular with fans both in North America and Europe , thus generating more revenue for the league . In addition , the national teams would benefit from the increased exposure and more regular opportunities to play , as is the case in Football ( soccer ) . History . Although the first official All - Star Game did not begin until the 1947 - 48 NHL season , there have been several occasions in the NHL where benefit games and All - Star teams were created . The first All - Star game in hockey , however , predated the NHL , when the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association had an All - Star Game on January 2 , 1908 in memory of Montreal Wanderers player Hod Stuart , who had drowned three months after the Wanderers won the Stanley Cup . The proceeds of that game , which was won by the Wanderers 10 - 7 over a team of All - Stars from the rest of the league , went to Stuart ' s family . Ace Bailey Benefit Game . The first NHL All - Star Game , albeit an unofficial one , was held in 1934 to benefit Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ace Bailey , who suffered a career - ending injury . On December 12 , 1933 , near the end of the second period of a game between the Leafs and the Boston Bruins in the Boston Garden , Bailey was tripped from behind by Bruins defenceman Eddie Shore , in retaliation for a check that Toronto defenceman King Clancy had delivered to Shore . Bailey was not the intended target of the check ; Shore wanted to hit Clancy instead . Bailey was badly hurt , unconscious and bleeding . The Leafs ' Red Horner took offence to the hit , and subsequently knocked out Shore with a punch . Shore was forgiven after the game when both players regained consciousness , with Bailey saying that it was " all part of the game . " However , Bailey would pass out and lapse into convulsions . Bailey was not expected to live after a single night in the hospital after suffering from severe hemorrhaging . It was made well - known that Shore would have been charged with manslaughter were Bailey to die . Fortunately , he gradually recovered , but his hockey career was over . For his actions , Shore received a 16 - game suspension , a third of the 48 - game schedule of the time , while Horner was suspended for the remainder of 1933 . The game itself was proposed by Walter Gilhooley , the sports editor of the " Journal " in Montreal . This proposal would become a reality on January 24 , 1934 , in a meeting of the NHL ' s Board of Governors in 1934 . On February 14 , 1934 , the NHL ' s first All - Star Game was held , during which Bailey ' s # 6 uniform was retired by the Leafs . It was the first number to be retired in the NHL . The game saw the Leafs battle against an All - Star team made of players from the other seven teams , which the Leafs won 7 - 3 . One of the more memorable moments before the game was when Bailey presented Shore with his All - Star jersey , showing to the public that Bailey had clearly forgiven him for his actions . Bailey also presented a trophy to NHL President Frank Calder before a game in the hope that the trophy would go to the winner of an annual All - Star Game for the benefit of injured players . Howie Morenz Memorial Game . Howie Morenz was one of the NHL ' s superstars of the 1930s . However , his career , and eventually , life , ended in a game between his Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Black Hawks on January 28 , 1937 , at the Montreal Forum . In that game , Morenz was checked by Chicago player Earl Seibert into the boards in what seemed like a normal hit . However , as the boards were made of wood at the time , Morenz ' s leg shattered in five separate locations above the ankle . Morenz was carried off the ice on a stretcher to a hospital , where he died , not because of the leg injury , but because of his family , friends , and a legion of fans , all of whom wanted to wish him well . At one time , one visitor noted that it was as if a party was being held inside of Morenz ' s hospital room , complete with whiskey and beer . Morenz died on March 8 the same year , from , as teammate Aurel Joliat put it , " a broken heart " ( Morenz suffered a heart attack the night before ) . Morenz ' s # 7 , which had been hanging in its usual stall while he was in hospital , was finally retired for good . While Morenz was in the hospital , plans for a game for Morenz ' s benefit were already under way . However , the game was not as successful as Bailey ' s game , partially because it took place many months after Morenz ' s passing , on November 3 at the Forum , and partially because Morenz had not survived . The game saw two All - Star teams , the first being a team of stars from the Habs and the Montreal Maroons , the second being an All - Star team made of players from the other teams , with the latter team winning 6 - 5 . The official Games . Despite Bailey ' s hopes of an annual All - Star Game , it did not become an annual tradition until the 1947 - 48 NHL season . Since then , the All - Star Game has been played every year , except in 1966 , when the All - Star Game was moved from the start of the season to its current position in the middle of the season , 1979 with the 1979 Challenge Cup series replacing the game , 1987 with Rendez - vous ' 87 replacing it , 1995 with the season shortened by a lockout , and 2005 when the season was cancelled altogether because of another lockout . As part of the collective bargaining agreement ending this lockout , the NHL will not hold an All - Star Game during Winter Olympic years , meaning there was no All - Star game during the 2005 - 06 NHL season , the first held under the new CBA . 1940s . Both parts of Bailey ' s vision would , however , come true : The first game of the annual tradition , and the first official NHL All - Star Game , would be played in Maple Leaf Gardens , on October 13 , 1947 . The format of the All - Star Game , which remained the same , with two exceptions , until the 1967 - 68 NHL season , called for the defending Stanley Cup champions to play against a selection of players from the other five teams . For the first year , the All - Stars were a team comprising of the First and Second NHL All - Star teams ( not to be confused with the All - Stars that played against the Cup champions ) , as well as three players from the New York Rangers and one player each from the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Black Hawks . For the game , the Gardens facilities were upgraded to use glass on the boards ( in an era where wire fences were the norm ) , a point that fans complained about as the sounds of the checks were somewhat muted . In what would be another tradition , the defending Cup champions were presented before the game with various gifts that included sweater coats , golf balls , cigarette boxes , ties , cufflinks , pocket knives , watches , and lifetime passes to the Maple Leaf Gardens . All - in - all , the game was a success , with the All - Stars winning 4 - 3 . Although the All - Star Game called for the defending Cup champion to host it , the game was held in Chicago Stadium in its second year as a consequence of the negotiations that set up the first game . Also as a peculiarity as a result of the scheduling , the game was held not before the season started ( as was the case before and would be for almost 20 years following the game ) , but three weeks into the season . Like the year before , players from the First and Second NHL All - Star teams were automatically awarded spots on the All - Star Game rosters ( an exception was Leafs goalie Turk Broda , having won the Cup , played for the Leafs instead ) , with the rest of the all - stars being assembled so that each team was represented with at least three players on the All - Stars . As for the game itself , the All - Stars had won 3 - 1 with all of the scoring done in the second period . 1950s . The defending Cup champions would win their first All - Star game in 1950 by a 7 - 1 margin , thanks to Detroit ' s Production line and the fact that five of the First and Second NHL All - Star teams were Red Wings . Because of the one - sidedness of the game , many fans and hockey insiders considered options on how to make the All - Star Game more balanced , including one where the All - Star Game was eliminated altogether in favour of a best - of - nine Stanley Cup Final with the proceeds of two of the games going to the players ' pension fund , and one which saw a Canadian Teams vs . American Teams format ( a somewhat - flawed concept in that nearly all NHL players of the era , whether playing for teams representing U . S . or Canadian cities , were Canadians ) . Ultimately , the 5th NHL All - Star Game saw the First NHL All - Star team battle the Second , with the players filling out the First team being from American teams and the Second team being filled with either Hab or Leaf players . The game ended in a 2 - 2 tie , leaving many fans upset for the second straight year . The same format of First vs . Second with the First team being augmented by players from American teams and the Second being augmented by Leaf or Hab players continued the next year , but the 6th All - Star Game proved to be 60 minutes of boring hockey as the teams skated to a 1 - 1 tie . Criticisms of this new format , as well as the boring hockey , was what made the NHL revert the format of the All - Star Game to its original incarnation . Some of the criticisms included the fact that teammates often opposed each other in the All - Star Game under the new format , and some stated that the early date of the game was detrimental to the exposure of the NHL in the States , being held at the same time as the World Series and the National Football League season . In what would be later a reality , " Toronto Star " columnist Red Burnett suggested that the game should be played mid - season and that fans should choose their starting lineup , a system which had long been in use in the States with regard to Major League Baseball . 1960s . The game was moved from the start of the season to mid - season in the 1966 - 67 NHL season as part of the move to promote the NHL to six new cities who would have their own teams . Because of the move to mid - season , the method of player selection for the All - Stars , largely unchanged for 20 years , was much scrutinized , as playing the All - Star Game mid - season meant that the First and Second All - Star teams were decided almost a full year before the game itself , and that by mid - season , the Cup winners were a vastly different team from the team that had won the Cup some eight or nine months before . The mid - season move also meant that rookies with outstanding first years , such as Bobby Orr , would be shut out of the game even if they deserved a spot on the All - Stars . The 21st All - Star Game a year later was somber compared to the 20 before it , as the days before the game were tragic . On January 14 , 1968 , two days before the game , Bill Masterton had been checked by two Oakland Seals players and died from his on - ice injuries . The game itself was overshadowed by the debate on whether helmets should be worn in the NHL in the fallout of Masterton ' s untimely death . As in the previous years , the All - Stars were represented by the First and Second All - Star teams , as well as enough players so that each team was represented . The East - West format of future all - star games was announced in the 21st All - Star Game , with the intention of being able to move the game anywhere , alternating home ice between an East division team and a West division team year after year . The idea , along with the notion that the players chosen for the two All - Star teams should be the best at the time of the game rather than the best of the players from the season before , quickly gained popularity , although the Cup champions reserved the right to host the 22nd All - Star Game . The St . Louis Blues became the first Western host of the All - Star Game the following year . The 26th All - Star Game was the first in which the game MVP received a car as a prize . 1970s . In 1978 , amidst renewed interest in international hockey , the NHL decided to replace the 1979 All - Star Game with a three - game series where the best the NHL had to offer faced off against the best the Soviet Union had to offer in the Challenge Cup . The Challenge Cup was being touted as a miniature world championship , and for the first time , fans could vote for certain members of the roster . The NHL would lose the three - game series two games to one , with the third game being lost by an embarrassing 6 - 0 margin . Over the next few years , various aspects of the All - Star Game came under scrutiny , including the format of the game . To make things worse , the All - Star Game itself was viewed in some circles as a bad thing , with players opting out of the game in favour of the rest and prospective hosts repeatedly declining to host the event . 1980s . The 37th All - Star Game in 1985 marked the first time that honorary captain s were selected for each team . The game also brought forth the notion of fan balloting of the starting lineup ( already adopted in the National Basketball Association and by this time had returned , following a hiatus due to ballot box stuffing , to Major League Baseball ; the National Football League gave the fans the vote in the 1990s ) , as the game was suffering from having little media coverage . The idea came into fruition the following year . In 1987 , the All - Star Game was pre - empted in favour of Rendez - vous ' 87 , held at Le Colisée in Quebec City . Like the Challenge Cup before it , Rendez - Vous ' 87 was an event where the best the NHL could offer played against a Soviet squad which had an entire year to prepare . To reduce the possibility of the NHL being embarrassed again , Rendez - Vous ' 87 was a two - game affair . The series was split between the two teams with a game apiece . During the series , NHL president John Ziegler stated that Soviet players would never be able to join the NHL because of the way the Soviet hockey programme worked , and that NHLers would never be able to play in the Winter Olympics , both of which , as events would turn out , would eventually happen . 1990s . The " NHL All - Star Skills Competition " and the " Heroes of Hockey " game were both introduced in the 41st All - Star Game in 1990 . The " Heroes of Hockey " game featured NHL alumni and was set up much like the main game , with Wales vs . Campbell . However , it should be noted that many of these players retired before the introduction of the Wales and Campbell Conferences . Future " Heroes of Hockey " games would have the hometown alumni play against the " best - of - the - rest " , much like the all - star games of old . The 42nd All - Star Game introduced , as part of the player selection , two players chosen by the commissioner to honour their years to their game . The 45th All - Star Game in 1995 was a casualty of the 1994 - 95 NHL lockout , which shortened that season to just 48 regular - season games . San Jose , which was to host that game , was awarded the 1997 game instead . The 48th All - Star Game in 1998 saw the first change in format in years to promote the first Olympic hockey tournament where NHL players could participate . This format , which was used for five years , saw a team of North American All - Stars taking on a team of players who were not from North America known as the World All Stars . The format was not without its critics , some of which suggested replacing the game with a miniature national tournament , in the style of the World Cup of Hockey . Many fans also weren ' t happy with the system , especially some Canadian fans , who resented having a team with 75 % Canadian players labeled " North America . " The " First International Showdown " , as it was billed , saw the North Americans win 8 - 7 . 2000s . In 2003 , the game reverted back to its classic East vs . West format . Dany Heatley scored four goals , tying an All - Star Game record , plus a shootout goal . Heatley also set the record for being the youngest player to score a hat trick in the All - Star Game , a record previously held by the Edmonton Oilers ' Wayne Gretzky . This shootout , the first of its kind in the NHL in the modern era , received an enthusiastic , frezied response from the crowd when it was announced , and carried on during the event . This was influential in the later decision to decide regular season games tied after overtime with a shootout , thus eliminating tie games . The All - Star Game was dealt two serious blows in 2005 . Not only was the game canceled along with the rest of the season due to the 2004 - 05 NHL lockout , but the subsequent collective bargaining agreement that ended the lockout stipulated that heretofore the game was to be held only in non - Olympic years . Thus , there was no All - Star Game in the 2005 - 06 NHL season either . After a two - season absence , the 2007 game was played in Dallas , Texas . The West defeated the East 12 - 9 ; Daniel Briere of the Buffalo Sabres recorded a goal and four assists and was named the game ' s Most Valuable Player . The Atlanta Thrashers are scheduled to host the 2008 game ( they were originally scheduled to host the canceled 2005 game ) . The Montreal Canadiens will host the 2009 game as part of the celebration of the club ' s 100th anniversary . There will be no game in 2010 , due to the change in the collective bargaining agreement . Glendale , Arizona may be next in line to host a game . The Phoenix Coyotes were slated to host the 2006 game that was scheduled before the NHL decided not to hold the game during Olympic years . Leading Scorers . " Notes : "