The 2024 NHL All-Star Game returns to Canada and will take place at Scotiabank Arena on February 2-3, 2024.
The league has announced that the Toronto Maple Leafs will host the event next year for the first time since 2000. This will be the ninth time Toronto has hosted the event, second only to Montreal, which last hosted in 2009 The Ottawa Senators were the last Canadian team to host the game in 2012.
The 2000 event was the 50th in a row, with Pavel Bure winning the MVP award in a 9-4 victory for the World All-Stars.
Toronto hosted the PHF All-Star Game last week at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, the building formerly known as Maple Leafs Gardens. As a city, Toronto’s last major non-hockey All-Star Game was the 2016 NBA All-Star Game, with Toronto FC hosting the MLS event in 2008.
The NHL has recently moved to warmer climes during All-Star festivities, with Los Angeles, Tampa Bay, San Jose, Vegas and Florida having hosted five of the past six events. Yesterday at the NHL Skills Competition, Toronto faced extremely cold temperatures that reached a wind chill of minus-30.
So it’s safe to say there won’t be any beach-related events in Ontario’s capital next year.
The Toronto Maple Leafs currently sit second in the Atlantic, 13 points behind the Boston Bruins. The team is 31-13-8 this year with a 5-4-1 streak over the last 10 games. Toronto is looking to advance to the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the NHL lockout in 2004. The Leafs beat Ottawa 4-2 in a first-round series in 2000, so perhaps hosting the 2024 event could boost the team’s fortunes.
It’s unclear how the format might work, but the league has opted to move to a four-team 3-on-3 split format in recent years.
