Going over history of NHL All-Star Game in current format

The 67th NHL All-Star Game will take place at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. The format will be a 3-on-3 tournament pitting the league’s four divisions (Metropolitan, Atlantic, Central and Pacific) against each other. ABC will handle the live broadcast with streaming available on ESPN+.

NHL All-Star Game history

This is the seventh time that the NHL is using the 3-on-3 tournament format. The Metropolitan division has won the event three times (2017, 2019 and 2022) and the Pacific division has won the tournament three times (2016, 2018, 2020). The Atlantic (0-3 in finals) and Central (0-2 in finals) have never won the tournament.

The first year of the 3-on-3 tournament (2016) brought about the most memorable MVP when enforcer John Scott, an enforcer for the Arizona Coyotes, won an online fan poll despite just having five career goals and one point (an assist) that season.

To make things more complicated Scott was traded to the Montreal Canadiens less than two weeks before the game and the Canadiens sent him down to the American Hockey League.

But the fans desires won out as the NHL allowed Scott to play for the Pacific division and he was named captains. Scott scored twice in the tournament and was named MVP in his final action as an NHL hockey player.

Other MVPs include Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds (2017) Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser (2018), Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (2019), Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak (2020) and Philadelphia Flyers center Claude Giroux (2022). There was no game in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.