The 2024 National Hockey League All-Star Game was held on February 3 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was the first time that the four-team, three-on-three format used since 2016 was combined with the "fantasy draft" format used from 2011 to 2015. The fantasy draft took place on February 1, and was followed by the NHL All-Star Skills Competition on February 2.[1] This was the 68th edition of the game.
Following this All-Star game, the NHL will instead hold a new 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in 2025, with the next All-Star Game taking place in 2026.[3]
History
The NHL awarded Toronto as the host city of the game on February 4, 2023. This was the first time since 2012 in Ottawa that a Canadian city was selected to host the game. This was Toronto's ninth time hosting the NHL All-Star Game, including the first game in 1947. This was the second time that Scotiabank Arena (then known as Air Canada Centre) hosted the game, the first time being in 2000.[4]
Rosters
On November 27, 2023, the NHL announced that the fantasy player draft, used from 2011 to 2015, would make its return to the All-Star Game, while keeping the three-on-three format used since 2016. Like in the 2023 All-Star Game, the player selection process was performed in two stages, with the league's initially selecting 32 players, one for each team, and then the remaining 12 players were decided by fan vote. The league then selected four players to be captains for each of the four teams, and the draft of the players took place on February 1, 2024.[1]
The fan vote ran from January 4 to January 11 to determine the final 12 players (8 skaters and 4 goalies).[9] The results were announced on January 13.[11]
The draft of the NHL players took place on February 1, 2024.[9] On January 4, the league announced that two of the captains would be Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs.[12] The league then announced on January 20 that Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche would captain the third team, and brothers Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils and Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks would co-captain the fourth team. For alternate captains, Morgan Rielly joined Toronto teammate Matthews, Leon Draisaitl joined Edmonton teammate McDavid, and Cale Makar joined Colorado teammate MacKinnon.[2] Although Jack Hughes was unable to play due to injury, he still participated in helping his brother Quinn in the players draft,[7] and Elias Pettersson was named alternate captain of the fourth team in his place.[8] Each team was also joined by a celebrity co-captain to help select their roster: singer Justin Bieber on Team Matthews, actor and comedian Will Arnett on Team McDavid, singer Tate McRae on Team MacKinnon, and singer Michael Buble on Team Hughes.[2]
Hughes won the first pick in the draft, Matthews received the second pick, MacKinnon was awarded the third pick, and McDavid got the fourth pick. The teams selected in reverse order during even-numbered rounds. For the final round, Hockey Hall of Famer Dave Keon conducted a random draw of envelopes with the four remaining unselected players.[13]
^Hughes was unable to play but still participated in selecting players in the draft.[7]
Skills Competition
The NHL All-Star Skills Competition, was held on February 2, having been revamped. Instead of having individual winners for each skill event, twelve specific players competed in multiple events to determine an overall winner. Each player first competed in four of the following six events: Fastest Skater, Hardest Shot, Stick Handling, One Timers, Passing Challenge, and Accuracy Shooting, with points given out based on the players' results. The top eight advanced to the One-on-One shootout. From there, the top six advanced to the final event, the Obstacle Course, with the winner of the competition winning a trophy and $1 million.[15] Different from a regular game scenario, the pucks used in the Skills Competition were not frozen.
The players who participated in the Skills Competition were determined by a fan vote held concurrently with the main All-Star fan vote that ran from January 4 to January 11.[16] Due to Jack Hughes' injury, Mathew Barzal served as his replacement.[7]
Players skated one lap around the ice to compete for the fastest time.
Player
Results
Points
Connor McDavid
13.408
5
Mathew Barzal
13.519
4
Quinn Hughes
14.008
3
Cale Makar
14.089
2
William Nylander
14.164
1
One Timers
Players received one timer passes and tried to accumulate the most points by scoring various points for hitting certain areas of the net. Passers for the event included Connor Bedard and Sidney Crosby.
Player
Results
Points
Nathan MacKinnon
23
5
Leon Draisaitl
22
3.5
David Pastrnak
22
3.5
Elias Pettersson
20
2
Nikita Kucherov
19
0.5
J.T. Miller
18
0.5
Mathew Barzal
17
0
Auston Matthews
15
0
Passing Challenge
Players skated up and down the ice trying to complete cross-ice passes to various sized targets to accumulate the most points.
Player
Results
Points
Elias Pettersson
25
5
Cale Makar
23
4
Mathew Barzal
21
3
Auston Matthews
19
2
William Nylander
16
1
Quinn Hughes
15
0
Nathan MacKinnon
13
0
Leon Draisaitl
12
0
Connor McDavid
12
0
J.T. Miller
7
0
Nikita Kucherov
5
0
Hardest Shot
Each player took two shots to achieve the hardest shot, with the best of their two shots counting to the event.
Player
Results
Points
Cale Makar
102.50 mph
5
J.T. Miller
102.30 mph
4
Elias Pettersson
98.40 mph
3
Auston Matthews
96.22 mph
2
David Pastrnak
95.27 mph
1
Stick Handling
Players raced to achieve the fastest time through a stick-handling obstacle course that include dribbling the puck, skating backwards around cones with the puck, and finishing the course with a toe drag goal.
Player
Results
Points
Connor McDavid
25.755
5
Mathew Barzal
26.929
4
William Nylander
27.272
3
Nathan MacKinnon
27.715
2
Leon Draisaitl
28.677
1
Quinn Hughes
29.038
0
Elias Pettersson
29.526
0
David Pastrnak
38.488
0
Nikita Kucherov
44.178
0
Accuracy Shooting
Players raced to achieve the fastest time to knockout a shooting target in each of the four corners of the net. Passers for the event included Blayre Turnbull, Doug Gilmour, Sarah Nurse, and Steve Thomas.
Player
Results
Points
Connor McDavid
9.158
5
Auston Matthews
9.341
4
J.T. Miller
13.587
3
William Nylander
14.099
2
Quinn Hughes
14.815
1
Nathan MacKinnon
15.958
0
Nikita Kucherov
16.460
0
Cale Makar
19.069
0
David Pastrnak
19.670
0
Leon Draisaitl
46.089
0
One-on-One
The top eight point-earners from the first six events participated. Each player got to choose which goaltender they were shooting against and had 1 minute to score as many points as possible. The goaltender with the most saves in the event won $100,000.
Player
Goaltender
Results
Points
William Nylander
Cam Talbot
9
5
Auston Matthews
Thatcher Demko
7
4
Mathew Barzal
Igor Shesterkin
6
2.5
J.T. Miller
Jeremy Swayman
6
2.5
Cale Makar
Connor Hellebuyck
4
1
Nathan MacKinnon
Sergei Bobrovsky
2
0
Elias Pettersson
Jake Oettinger
3
0
Connor McDavid
Alexandar Georgiev
3
0
Obstacle Course
The top six point-earners from the first seven events participated. Players raced from one end of the ice to the other, competing for the fastest time, while also having to complete a stick-handling challenge, a saucer pass challenge, and a slalom challenge, before having to score a goal. Points were doubled for this event.
Player
Results
Points
Connor McDavid
40.606
10
Cale Makar
43.435
8
Auston Matthews
47.271
6
William Nylander
49.065
4
J.T. Miller
49.351
2
Mathew Barzal
1:16.850
0
Final standings
Pos.
Player
Points
1
Connor McDavid
25.0
2
Cale Makar
20.0
3
Auston Matthews
18.0
4
William Nylander
16.0
5
Mathew Barzal
13.5
6
J.T. Miller
12.0
7
Elias Pettersson
10.0
8
Nathan MacKinnon
7.0
9
David Pastrnak
4.5
9
Leon Draisaitl
4.5
11
Quinn Hughes
4.0
12
Nikita Kucherov
0.5
Bracket
Semifinals
Final
Team McDavid
4 (SO)
Team MacKinnon
3
Team McDavid
4
Team Hughes
5
Team Matthews
7
Team Matthews
6 (SO)
Game summaries
Each game was played in abbreviated format, consisting of two 10-minute periods of 3-on-3 play.
The Fan Fair, held between February 1 and February 4 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, featured various fan activities during All-Star Weekend including games and appearances by NHL mascots and All-Star alumni.[17] Various local businesses hosted themed events and activities throughout the weekend featuring current and former NHL players.
As part of the festivities, the NHL hosted their inaugural All-Star Pride Cup alongside the Toronto Gay Hockey Association and Pride Tape, on February 3. The teams were coached by former NHL player and current NHL Director of Social Impact, Growth and Fan Development Andrew Ference, and former NHL executive and current PWHL executive and advocate Brian Burke.[18]
A Professional Women's Hockey League 3-on-3 Showcase game was played to conclude All-Star Thursday on February 1. Two teams of 12 players competed in one 20-minute game. The teams were named in honor of former tennis players and current PWHL advisory board members Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss.[19]
Mascot Showdown
Throughout the weekend, the thirty team mascots (the New York Rangers and Detroit did not have costumed mascots) competed in a series of events and competitions pitting the Eastern Conference against the Western Conference. Events included: Dodgeball, Skills Competition (Breakaway Challenge, Accuracy Shooting, Hardest Shot, Fastest Hoverboard, and T-Shirt Targets), Ice Hockey, Street Hockey, and Musical Chairs. Each competition was preceded by a mascot parade to the rink and concluded with a customary handshake line, demonstrating good sportsmanship.[20] The Dodgeball game was won by the Western Conference, while the Eastern Conference won the Skills Competition, Ice Hockey game, and Street Hockey game.
Entertainment
Toronto Maple Leafs anthem singer and Canada's Got Talent season 4 finalist Natalie Morris performed the Canadian and American national anthems during NHL All-Star Thursday.[21]
R&B singer Chxrry22 performed the Canadian national anthem and pop singer and Fifth Harmony member Dinah Jane performed the American national anthem to open the Skills Competition on February 2, 2024, while country singer Owen Riegling, rock band The Glorious Sons and singer-songwriter TALK headlined performances.[22]
The All-Star Game on February 3 featured DJ duo Loud Luxury during the player introductions, country music duo and America's Got Talent season 19 contestant The Reklaws performing the Canadian national anthem, R&B singer Kiana Ledé performing the American national anthem, and pop singer Tate McRae performing during the second intermission.[21][23]
American Sign Language interpretation was provided for all performances, by Lisa Dressler for All-Star Thursday and Lisa Faria for the Skills Competition and the All-Star Game.[21]
Media rights
In Canada, the players fantasy draft, the Skills Competition, and the All-Star Game were broadcast in English on Sportsnet. CBC also simulcast the Sportsnet coverage of the All-Star Game, while Citytv simulcast the ABC broadcast of that game for simultaneous substitution purposes. All three events were broadcast on TVA Sports in French, and streamed live in Canada on Sportsnet+.[21]
In the U.S., ESPN2 covered the players fantasy draft, ESPN broadcast the Skills Competition, and ABC broadcast the All-Star Game. The players fantasy draft, Skills Competition, and the All-Star Game were streamed live in the U.S. on ESPN+.[21]
^Rosen, Dan (February 2, 2024). "NHL to hold 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in 2025". NHL.com. Retrieved February 2, 2024. The NHL will not hold an All-Star Game next season... Commissioner Bettman also announced the NHL will return to Olympic participation, starting in 2026 in Milan, Italy, and again in 2030.
