2021 National Hockey League All-Star Game

The 2022 National Hockey League All-Star Game is an upcoming all-star game in the National Hockey League. The game was originally scheduled to be held on January 30, 2021, at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida, the home of the Florida Panthers. The 2021 NHL All-Star Skills Competition was also scheduled for the night before on January 29. On October 22, 2020, the league announced that the game would be postponed to no earlier than 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The game could also be postponed for another year if the NHL agrees to let players participate in the 2022 Olympics.
==History==
The NHL awarded Sunrise, Florida the 2021 All-Star Game on January 24, 2020. The city previously hosted the NHL All-Star Game in 2003. During their State of the League press conference on January 24, 2020, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly stated that the league was considering changing the All-Star Game format so it has a "distinct international flavor", using a model similar to the World Cup of Hockey. The four-team, 3-on-3, single elimination format, with one team representing each of the league's four divisions, had been used for the past five All-Star Games.
On October 22, 2020, the NHL officially announced that both the Winter Classic in Minnesota and the All-Star Game had been postponed for the 2020–21 season due to "uncertainty as to when we will be able to welcome our fans back to our games", as fan participation and accompanying events are considered "integral to the[ir] success". The NHL stated that both events would not return until 2022 at the earliest, and that these events could be held in Minneapolis and Sunrise "in the near future" (but not yet naming them the 2022 hosts).
The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that the league and the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) signed on July 10, 2020, included a provision opening the possibility for the NHL to explore participation at the 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics. During seasons when the league goes to the Olympics (most recently in 2014), the All-Star Game is not normally held.
==References==
Category:National Hockey League All-Star Games
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