The city of Saint Paul in honor of the All Star Game being held built the Ice Castle for the first time in over 20 years at the Saint Paul Winter Carnival right across the street from the Xcel Energy Center.
NHL YoungStars Game
The YoungStars game, featuring rosters composed entirely of rookies and some second-year players, saw the Western Conference YoungStars defeat the Eastern Conference 7–3. Anaheim'sJoffrey Lupul scored a hat trick, San Jose'sJonathan Cheechoo picked up four assists and Colorado goaltender Philippe Sauve was named the Game MVP, stopping 18 of 21 shots. It is notable that instead of a regular 5-on-5 hockey game, the YoungStars game is played in a four-on-four format with each roster consisting of six forwards, four defencemen, and one goaltender. The game was played in three 10-minute running-clock periods and a four-minute intermission between each period.
SuperSkills Competition
The Eastern Conference were the overall victors of the SuperSkills Competition, in which select all-stars compete in various competitions, including a shootout, a relay race and a fastest skater competition. The East defeated the West 13–6. Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo won the Goaltenders Competition, Islanders defenceman Adrian Aucoin won the Hardest Shot competition and Devils defenceman Scott Niedermayer won the Fastest Skater competition.
For the first time, the NHL used All-Star uniforms inspired by the host team, and opted to go with a retro flavor. The uniforms were distinct for the lack of white - the Eastern Conference uniforms were cream-colored (officially the Minnesota Wild's "Minnesota Wheat" color) with red trim, while the Western Conference wore green jerseys with cream trim. In a departure from the overall retro theme of the uniforms, the names on the back of the jersey were in the Kabel typeface used by the Toronto Maple Leafs at the time.
