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• Each year at around the mid-season point, the National Hockey League hosts their All-Star Game, featuring the best players in the league. The starters are voted in by the fans, and the remainder of the roster is selected by the league.

  The East won the 2009 NHL All-Star Game, 12-11 in a shootout, at the Bell Centre in Montreal on January 25.ESPN.com: 2009 NHL All-Star Game Box Score Detroit Red Wings' Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom, who chose not to attend becuase of injury, were suspended for one game by the league on January 23, 2009, under an obscure NHL rule to legitimize injury claims and improve All-Star Weekend attendance.ESPN.com: Lidstrom, Datsyuk to Sit One Game

• Fast Facts

  1. First held in 1947
  2. From 1947 until 1965, game was held at beginning of season
  3. Also held during the All-Star weekend is the NHL All-Star Skills Competition and the NHL YoungStars Game
  4. In recent years, players are known for not hitting each other as they would during regular season and playoff contests, so there are hardly any penalties called and a lot more scoring

• Early Years

  Between 1947 and 1968, the game featured the defending Stanley Cup champions against league all-stars.

• Challenge Cup

  In 1979, game was replaced by the Challenge Cup, featuring a team of league all-stars facing the Soviet Union's Central Red Army team.

• Rendez-Vous '87

  In 1987, game was replaced by a two-game series against the Soviet Union's best players called "Rendez-Vous '87" — this was before Eastern Bloc countries allowed its players to play professionally.

• Three Years Missing

  The 1995 and 2005 All-Star games were canceled due to NHL labor strikes. The 2006 game canceled because of NHL player participation in the Winter Olympics — same thing will happen in 2010.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  NHL All-Star Game Live Coverage | National Hockey League | NHL Awards

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