To honor the top players from the 2010-11 season in the National Hockey League, the 2011 NHL All-Star Game takes place on January 30, 2011, at 4:00 p.m. EST. As announced in April 2010, the Carolina Hurricanes will host the game at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=524456

In addition to the actual game, which takes on a new format for the 2010-11 edition, the NHL All-Star Game weekend features the NHL Superskills Competition, which in 2011 takes place on Saturday, January 29, 2011, starting at 7:00 p.m. EST. The NHL Fan Fair will also take place in the area at the Raleigh Convention Center from January 28-30, 2011.http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=545725 Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nick Lidstrom and Carolina Hurricanes center Eric Staal were selected to serve as the captains of the teams.http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=549751

The NHL All-Star Game has taken many formats throughout the years, including pitting teams of players from the two conferences against one another, using the Stanley Cup champions against mixed players from across the league and separating players by nationality, but in the 2011 game, a brand new format was selected for use.http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=29002 http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=543059 Fans were permitted to vote for their favorite players between November 15, 2010, and January 3, 2011, using a pool of 100 players and an option to add write-in votes. The top six players, divided between three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender by number of votes were named to the NHL All-Star Team. An additional 36 players, to make a total of 12 forwards, six defensemen and three goaltenders per team, were selected by the NHL Hockey Operations Department and make up the rest of the All-Star rosters.http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=543059

Once the list of participating players was created, those selected players voted for two captains to lead the individual teams, Nick Lidstrom and Eric Staal. The captains have the choice to select the remainder of their teammates using a fantasy-draft or schoolyard-pick format. Captains will alternate player selections to name 12 forwards, six defenseman and three goaltenders, plus six rookies. These teams will compete against one another in the 2011 NHL All-Star Game.http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=543059