The 57th National Hockey League All-Star Game was held at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, home of the Montreal Canadiens, in conjunction with the Montreal Canadiens centennial celebrations on Sunday evening, January 25, 2009. The game was held between two teams, each representing a conference (Eastern and Western) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Eastern Conference team won the game 12–11, decided by shootout. The next NHL All-Star Game, the 58th, was held in 2011 in Raleigh, North Carolina, instead of 2010, due to the 2010 Winter Olympics, which were held in Vancouver, an NHL city.
The game was part of a weekend of activities. On Saturday, a game featuring NHL rookies and sophomores preceded a skills competition among the NHL players, called the NHL All-Star Game SuperSkills Competition. In a first for the All-Star Game, the "Breakaway Challenge", a part of the skills competition, had fans voting for the winner using their mobile phones, with the real-time voting results posted on the NHL's website. The game was preceded by a circus arts display and a concert was held between the second and third periods.
With a combined 23 points, the 57th All-Star Game holds the record for the most goals by two teams in a single NHL game, beating out the 21 goals set by both the Canadiens and Toronto St. Patricks on January 10, 1920, and the Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks on December 11, 1985.
Read more about 57th National Hockey League All-Star Game: Skills Competition, YoungStars Game, Absentee Punishment
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