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This year marks the 68th edition of the NHL All-Star Game, returning to the site of the original contest in 1947, Toronto, ON. Although the league has 32 teams, not every franchise has hosted the event, while 31 different cities have seen All-Stars skate in their arenas.
Despite the dozens of changes to the game's format over the past six decades, the event tends to return to some cities more often than not. So, let's find out which NHL cities have hosted the most All-Star Games.
Cities that have hosted the most NHL All-Star Games
7.) Los Angeles, CA - 3
The Los Angeles Kings came into the NHL during the 1967 Expansion and played at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, CA, a suburb of Los Angeles located near the LAX airport. The franchise hosted the 1981 NHL All-Star Game, which the Campbell Conference won 4-1.
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Once the Kings moved into the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, the NHL brought the All-Star Game back to Hollywood in 2002 when the World All-Stars beat the North American team 8-5.
Then, in the second year of the current format, with each division playing in a knockout tournament, Los Angeles hosted the 2017 event, when the Metropolitan Division earned a 4-3 win in the finale against the Pacific Division.
6.) New York, NY - 3
As an Original Six franchise, the New York Rangers, founded in 1926, have hosted three NHL All-Star Games, including the 1979 Challenge Cup between the NHL All-Stars and the Soviet Union team, a substitute for that year's event.
Before the 1979 series, Madison Square Garden hosted the 1973 All-Star Game, which featured an East 5-4 win over West. At the end of the decade, the NHL All-Stars lost to the Soviet Union in the three-game mini-series by a 2-1 score.
Interestingly, the last time New York City hosted the All-Star Game was in 1994, with an East 9-8 victory, the same season that the Rangers won the Stanley Cup, ending a 54-championship drought.
5.) St Louis, MI - 3
The city of St. Louis welcomed the Blues as part of the 1967 Expansion, where the NHL grew from six teams to 12. As one of the best teams during those first few seasons, losing in the Stanley Cup Final three consecutive seasons, the franchise hosted its first NHL All-Star Game in 1970, a 4-1 victory for Team East.
Then, 18 years later, the league would return to the city in 1988 for the annual event, which saw the Wales Conference pick up a 6-5 overtime win over the Campbell Conference.
Eventually, over three decades later, the Blues would host another All-Star Game, this time the 2020 event at Enterprise Center, with the Pacific Division picking up a 5-4 win over the Atlantic to win the weekend.
4.) Chicago, IL - 4
Chicago hosted the second-ever NHL All-Star Game in 1948, which the All-Stars team won 3-1 over the Maple Leafs. Despite being only one of six venues with NHL hockey before 1967, the Windy City didn't get another game until 1961, when the All-Stars won 3-1 over the Blackhawks.
Eventually, Chicago would host two more All-Star Games, first in 1974 when West beat East 6-4, and again in 1991 when the Campbell Conference picked up a dominant 11-5 win over the Wales Conference. Since the United Center opened in 1994, the Blackhawks haven't held an All-Star game in over 30 years.
3.) Detroit, MI - 5
Detroit has hosted five NHL All-Star Games, starting with the fourth one in 1950, when the Red Wings picked up a 7-1 win over the All-Stars. Within two seasons, they were hosts again, but the format had changed, with the two teams of NHL All-Stars battling to a 1-1 tie.
After missing out on hosting the 1953 event, the Red Wings welcomed the league's All-Star teams back to Olympia Stadium in consecutive seasons in 1954 (loss) and 1955 (win).
Surprisingly, after hosting four of the first 10 NHL All-Star Games, Detroit had to wait 25 years for another one when the NHL returned to the Motor City in 1980 when the Wales Conference picked up a 7-6 win over the Campbell Conference.
2.) Toronto, ON - 9
In 2024, Toronto will host their ninth NHL All-Star Game at Scotiabank Arena, the same city where the game originated in 1947. Even though the city held three of the first five events, the team was 0-2, with two NHL superstar teams tying 2-2 in the 1951 game.
As three-time defending Stanley Cup champions, the Maple Leafs hosted the 1962, 1963, and 1964 All-Star Games, producing a 1-1-1 record during this stretch. After those seasons, they held the first-ever NHL All-Star Game in the expansion era in 1968, picking up a 4-3 win over the All-Stars.
Once the team moved out of Maple Leafs Gardens in 1999, the NHL awarded the franchise the All-Star Game in 2000 in the brand-new Air Canada Centre. Now, 24 years later, the league returns to the shores of Lake Ontario.
1.) Montreal, QC - 12
Despite their recognition as the greatest franchise in professional hockey, the Montreal Canadiens didn't host the NHL All-Star Game until 1953, the seventh event. Surprisingly, they lost 3-1 to the All-Stars team that year and maintained a 3-4-1 record when it was superstar teams versus one franchise, a format ending in 1968.
After hosting the last All-Star Game of the Original Six era, they held the 1969 event, followed by the 1975 game. Then, the Canadiens waited almost two decades to welcome NHL superstars to the Montreal Forum for the 1993 All-Star Game, which would end up as the highest-scoring match (at the time), with the Wale Conference destroying the Campbell Conference 16-6.
Once the Bell Centre opened in 1996, Montreal had to wait another decade, hosing the 2009 All-Star Game, now the third highest-scoring game with an East 12-11 win over the West.
