The National Hockey League announced on Wednesday that the 2016 NHL All Star game will be getting a makeover.
NHL All-Star Game to be Given a Makeover
The new format will divide the 2016 Honda NHL All Star Game into three 20-minute 3-on-3 games with the All-Stars being composed of players representing the league’s four divisions.
The Central Division All Stars will face off against the Pacific Division, while the Metropolitan Division will go head to head against the Atlantic. The winning teams will then compete against each other for the chance at the one million dollar prize pool.
Each team will consist of 11 players featuring six forwards, three defensemen and two goalies. The 2016 NHL All-Star Fan Vote will give the fans the opportunity to vote for one All-Star from each division. The players from each division to receive the most votes will be the captain for their respective team. The remaining 40 All-Stars will be named by the NHL Hockey Operations Department. Each team in the NHL will have at least one representative in the All-Star Game.
The 2016 NHL All Star Weekend will include the Honda All-Star Skills Competition taking place on Saturday, January 30, and the All-Star Game to be played on Sunday January 31. In addition to the new format, the NHL also announced that Honda, the exclusive automotive partner of the NHL, will expand its league support as title sponsor for the entire four days of celebration in Nashville, Tennessee.
On the league’s website, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said, “The NHL All-Star Weekend festivities provide a unique opportunity for our fans, players, clubs and business partners to come together in one city to celebrate the game at its highest level.
“We are introducing a creative new format this year in Nashville not only as a way to enhance the competiveness of the event, but also as a vehicle to highlight and emphasize the skill the incredible skill, size and athleticism it takes to play our game.”
Matthieu Schneider, special assistant to the executive director of the NHL Players’ Association, went on to add, “We are excited to see the new All-Star Tournament this year. It has been a collaborative effort, and we hope the fans will be looking forward to the NHL All-Star Weekend in Nashville as much as the players.”
Honda Division Vice President and General Manager Jeff Conrad told NHL.com, “This is an incredible expansion of our long standing relationship with the NHL, our commitment to sports and to hockey fans across North America. As the official vehicle of the NHL, the All-Star Game aligns well with Honda’s owner’s fun and spirited nature and love of sports.”
The 2016 NHL Skills Competition will return to the East versus West format, with the conference that wins the skills competition winning the right to decide whether to play their semi-final matchup in the 20 minute mini tournament first or second.
For the 3-on-3 tournament, the teams will switch ends at the 10 minute mark of the period. If the mini games are tied at the end of 20 minutes, they will go to a shootout to determine the winner. The winning teams in each semi-final will battle each other to determine the overall winner of the tournament for the one million dollar prize. The four division leading head coaches as of January 9 will serve as the coaches for each of the four All-Star teams.
Continuing a tradition of change
Over the years a number of new formats and innovative changes have been implemented. In 1947, the first official All-Star Game called for the defending Stanley Cup Champions to play a team of the league’s All-Stars.
Over the course of 60 All-Star Games, the format has gone from First Team vs. Second Team, East Division vs. West Division, Campbell vs. Wales, Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference, North America vs. World and the most recent Fantasy Draft.
Timeline of NHL All-Star Format Changes
1934 – An “All-Star” game takes place at Maple Leaf Gardens, serving as a benefit fundraiser for Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ace Bailey, who suffered a career-ending injury during the 1933-34 season.
1947 – The first official NHL All-Star Game called for the defending Stanley Cup Champions to play against a selection of All-Stars from the other five teams.
1951 – The 5th and 6th editions of the All-Star Game called for the NHL’s First Team All-Stars to take on the league’s Second Team All-Stars, with players from the American and Canadian clubs rounding out the lineups of the First Team and Second Team, respectively.
1953 – The game returns to the original format of 1947, where the defending Stanley Cup Champions faced off against a selection of All-Stars from the other teams.
1967 – The date of the All-Star Game is moved from the preseason time period to a window midway through the regular season.
1969 – With 12 teams in the League, an East Division vs. West Division All-Star game is introduced.
1975 – With 18 teams in the League, a new format was created featuring the Campbell Conference All-Stars vs. the Wales Conference All-Stars. In 1994, the names of the conferences were changed to Western and Eastern, respectively.
1998 – Highlighting the NHL’s unique international make-up, a new format was introduced which matched All-Stars born in North America against a group of All-Stars from around the World. Five All-Star games would be contested under this format.
2003 – The game returns to an Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference format.
2011 – A Player Fantasy Draft is introduced, where All-Star players themselves determined the composition of the two teams involved in the NHL All-Star Game and NHL Skills Competition.
2016 – A three-game, 3-on-3 tournament among teams made up of 11 players representing each of the NHL’s four divisions is instituted.
Photo credit: NHL.com
