The NHL, working in conjunction with the NHLPA, has replaced the traditional Conference vs. Conference format for the All-Star teams with a player draft that will determine the team rosters for the 2011 All-Star Game and the NHL SuperSkills competition. The NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft will be held on January 28 and televised live nationwide on TSN at 8pm et/5pm pt.
- Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Marc-Andre Fleury, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Evgeni Malkin are the first six players named to the 2011 All-Star team, as voted by the fans, which came to a close at 11:59pm et on Monday, January 3
- These six players will be joined by 36 additional All-Stars that were named by Hockey Operations on January 11. Twelve NHL rookies will also be named that day and will participate with the NHL All-Stars in the SuperSkills on January 29; rookies will be selected from the pool of players in the League who qualify as rookies and who are eligible to win the Calder Trophy
- Once the selection of the 42 All-Star players is complete, the players themselves will decide which two All-Stars will serve as team captains as well vote on the four alternate captains, two for each team. Team names will be designated as the last name of each respective captain
- A coin toss will decide the first pick of the NHL Fantasy Draft, with the team captains (joined by their two alternate captains), alternately drafting the 36 remaining All-Stars through 18 rounds
- Each team will consist of three goalies, six defencemen and 12 forwards total. For sake of fairness in the draft, the captain and alternate captains for each team will consist of two forwards and one defenceman
- To ensure that the final draft picks are true selections and not predetermined due to position requirements, each team's three goalies must be picked by the end of Round 10 and each team's six defencemen must be picked by the conclusion of Round 15
- The 12 rookies participating in the NHL SuperSkills will be divided into two groups of six. At the completion of the 15th round of the All-Star Player Fantasy Draft, one NHL rookie will be selected to choose which All-Star team his group will join for the skills competition
- By virtue of winning the 2010 Stanley Cup, Chicago Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville will be the head coach of one of the All-Star teams. He will be assisted on the bench by Mike Haviland, his current assistant in Chicago
- For the remaining All-Star team, two head coaches, one from the Western Conference and one from the Eastern Conference, will be named co-head coaches. After all of the NHL regular-season games are played through Saturday, January 8, the head coach of the team with the highest points percentage (points earned divided by total possible points) in each conference will co-lead the other All-Star team
- The coaching staffs will be designated to each captain via coin toss before the NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft
- During the NHL SuperSkills competition, the NHL All-Stars and rookies will participate in six events, including:
Fastest Skater: A race to see who is the fastest on the ice
Breakaway Challenge: Goal-scoring moves and skills
Accuracy Shooting: Shooting precision
Challenge Relay: Showcasing the one-timer, passing, puck control, stick-handling and accuracy shooting
Hardest Shot: A fan favorite
Elimination Shootout: Goaltenders face penalty-shot attempts from the shooters until there is only one shooter left standing
- The 2011 NHL All-Star Game will mark the first time Carolina has hosted NHL All-Star activities. The league's mid-season spectacular will take place Saturday, January 29 and Sunday, January 30 and will include NHL SuperSkills and the 58th NHL All-Star Game at the RBC Center
