The NHL Young-Star Game was an annual match held as part of the National Hockey League All-Star Game weekend activities, which ran from the 2002 All-Star Game to the 2009 game, featuring notable young NHL players and leading prospects.
Replacing the Heroes of Hockey Old-Timers matches during the All-Star Weekend activities, the first four games were played as separate games to the actual All-Star Game, but starting in 2008, it was changed to become part of the NHL Super Skills Competition, with the winning team gaining a point for their conference. It was not held in 2005 due to that year's league lockout, or in 2006 due to the All-Star Game not being held so that NHL players could participate in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Through the years, the game implemented different formats and rules. It was discontinued after 2009 and has not been played since.
2002 National Hockey League All-Star Game
The format The game's format: Four skaters (and one goaltender) per side. The duration of the first and second periods was 12 minutes, running time. The third period was 11 minutes, running time, plus a final minute of stop time. There was a four-minute break between periods.
The players were divided into two teams and led behind the bench by former Los Angeles Kings player and broadcaster Jim Fox and former NHL player, Kings head coach, and ESPN analyst Barry Melrose.
The game Atlanta's rookie star Ilya Kovalchuk scored six goals to pace Team Melrose to a 13–7 victory over Team Fox. Kovalchuk scored four times at even strength, once short-handed, and once on a penalty shot; his sixth goal came against an empty net at the end of the game. Kovalchuk was named the first-ever YoungStars MVP. The Edmonton Oilers' forward Mike Comrie scored three goals and added an assist to lead Team Fox in scoring.
Team Melrose Team Fox Final score 13 7 Head coach Barry Melrose Jim Fox LineupForwards: 13 - Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings) - y 15 - Dany Heatley (Atlanta Thrashers) 17 - Scott Hartnell (Nashville Predators) 22 - Kristian Huselius (Florida Panthers) 17 - Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta Thrashers) - MVP 11 - David Legwand (Nashville Predators) 19 - Brad Richards (Tampa Bay Lightning) 14 - Justin Williams (Philadelphia Flyers) Defence: 23 - Paul Mara (Phoenix Coyotes) - y 28 - Robyn Regehr (Calgary Flames) 45 - David Tanabe (Carolina Hurricanes) Goaltender: 1 - Roberto Luongo (Florida Panthers)Forwards: 19 - Kyle Calder (Chicago Blackhawks) 89 - Mike Comrie (Edmonton Oilers) 18 - Tim Connolly (Buffalo Sabres) 12 - Mike Fisher (Ottawa Senators) - y 10 - Marian Gaborik (Minnesota Wild) 10 - Brenden Morrow (Dallas Stars) 71 - Mike Ribeiro (Montreal Canadiens) Defence: 44 - Nick Boynton (Boston Bruins) 7 - Andrew Ference (Pittsburgh Penguins) 23 - Karel Rachunek (Ottawa Senators) Goaltender: 31 - Dan Blackburn (New York Rangers) Scoring summary Heatley (Datsyuk) 4:19 1st Hartnell (Tanabe) 5:13 1st Kovalchuk (Richards, Hartnell) 5:37 1st Kovalchuk 2 (Tanabe) 10:24 1st Richards (Kovalchuk) 11:59 1st Kovalchuk 3 (Legwand, Williams) 0:22 2nd Legwand (Mara) 1:27 2nd Huselius (Richards, Datsyuk) 3:44 2nd (GWG) Legwand (Mara, Heatley) 7:17 2nd Kovalchuk 4 (unassisted) 10:42 2nd (SHG) Huselius (Legwand, Heatley) 7:47 3rd Kovalchuk 5 (penalty shot) 9:48 3rd Kovalchuk 6 (Williams, Mara) 11:38 3rd (ENG) Comrie (Ribeiro, Morrow) 1:38 1st Connolly (Comrie) 4:31 1st Comrie (unassisted) 4:46 1st Calder (Fisher, Rachunek) 5:56 2nd Morrow (Ribeiro) 11:52 2nd Comrie (Ribeiro) 6:35 3rd Ribeiro (Calder) 11:48 3rd Penalties Luongo (delay of game) 9:24 2ndnone Shots on goal10–9–10–2618–13–13–43 Win/loss W - Roberto Luongo L - Dan Blackburn
Notes y — were named as injury replacements. Krystofer Kolanos (Phoenix Coyotes) and Rostislav Klesla (Columbus Blue Jackets) were selected to play for Team Melrose, but were unable to play due to injury. Martin Havlat (Ottawa Senators) and Alex Tanguay (Colorado Avalanche) were selected to play for Team Fox, but were unable to play due to injury.
2003 National Hockey League All-Star Game
The format The assistant coaches of the teams with the best points percentages in their respective conferences were selected as coaches for the Eastern Conference and Western Conference YoungStars, respectively.
The YoungStars players were selected by the NHL's Hockey Operations Department, in consultation with League General Managers.
The game's format: The game was played using five skaters and one goaltender per team. The duration was three 10-minute periods, running time with 15-second stops after goals. There was a four-minute break between periods. The Eastern Conference was considered the "home" team.
The game Washington's Brian Sutherby won the MVP award for the Eastern Conference YoungStars by scoring two goals and an assist as the East cruised to an easy 8–3 victory. Stephen Weiss of the host team Florida Panthers scored a goal and an assist for the East.
East West Final score 8 3 Head coaches Roger Neilson, Perry Pearn, Don Jackson (Ottawa Senators) Jack McIlhargey, Mike Johnson (Vancouver Canucks) LineupForwards: 55 - Pavel Brendl (Philadelphia Flyers) 14 - Niklas Hagman (Florida Panthers) 81 - Marcel Hossa (Montreal Canadiens) 24 - Taylor Pyatt (Buffalo Sabres) 46 - Brian Sutherby (Washington Capitals) - MVP 16 - Alexander Svitov (Tampa Bay Lightning) 11 - Mattias Weinhandl (New York Islanders) 9 - Stephen Weiss (Florida Panthers) Defence: 4 - Jay Bouwmeester (Florida Panthers) 36 - Dennis Seidenberg (Philadelphia Flyers) 10 - Henrik Tallinder (Buffalo Sabres) 24 - Anton Volchenkov (Ottawa Senators) Goaltender: 30 - Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabres)Forwards: 39 - Tyler Arnason (Chicago Blackhawks) 23 - Stanislav Chistov (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) 24 - Alexander Frolov (Los Angeles Kings) 18 - Adam Hall (Nashville Predators) 10 - Shawn Horcoff (Edmonton Oilers) 39 - Niko Kapanen (Dallas Stars) 61 - Rick Nash (Columbus Blue Jackets) 29 - Branko Radivojevic (Phoenix Coyotes) Defence: 5 - Barret Jackman (St. Louis Blues) 44 - Rostislav Klesla (Columbus Blue Jackets) 4 - Jordan Leopold (Calgary Flames) 55 - Nick Schultz (Minnesota Wild) 4 - Ossi Vaananen (Phoenix Coyotes) Goaltender: 1 - David Aebischer (Colorado Avalanche) Scoring summary Brendl (Svitov, Hossa) 2:28 1st Volchenkov (Weinhandl, Weiss) 6:26 1st Weiss (unassisted) 7:06 1st Sutherby (Seidenberg, Hossa) 7:58 1st (GWG) Weinhandl (unassisted) 2:40 3rd Pyatt (Sutherby) 7:59 3rd Sutherby (Bouwmeester, Seidenberg) 9:05 3rd Brendl (unassisted) 9:45 3rd Hall (Nash, Schultz) 9:06 1st Nash (Arnason, Hall) 9:26 1st Nash (Radivojevic, Horcoff) 6:48 2nd Penaltiesnonenone Shots on goal11–7–11–293–5–5–13 Win/loss W - Ryan Miller L - David Aebischer Erik Cole (Carolina Hurricanes) was named to the YoungStars game, but did not play due to a broken leg he suffered two days before the game. Ales Hemsky (Edmonton Oilers) was named to the YoungStars game, but did not play and was replaced by Horcoff.
2004 National Hockey League All-Star Game
The format The game went back to the four-on-four format with each roster consisting of six forwards, four defensemen, and one goaltender. The game was played in three 10-minute running-clock periods and a four-minute intermission between each period. The head coaches of the game were Lou Nanne and Tom Reid, both former players of the relocated Minnesota North Stars, with Minnesota being the venue of the All-Star Game for the first time in twenty seasons.
The game The Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference 7–3. Anaheim's Joffrey Lupul scored a hat trick, San Jose's Jonathan Cheechoo picked up four assists, and Colorado goaltender Philippe Sauve was named the Game's MVP, stopping 18 of 21 shots.
West East Final score 7 3 Head coaches Lou Nanne Tom Reid LineupForwards: 96 - Pierre-Marc Bouchard (Minnesota Wild) 14 - Jonathan Cheechoo (San Jose Sharks) 18 - Matthew Lombardi (Calgary Flames) 15 - Joffrey Lupul (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) 15 - Tuomo Ruutu (Chicago Blackhawks) 14 - Raffi Torres (Edmonton Oilers) 13 - Nikolai Zherdev (Columbus Blue Jackets) Defence: 44 - Christian Ehrhoff (San Jose Sharks) 2 - Dan Hamhuis (Nashville Predators) 5 - Alexei Semenov (Edmonton Oilers) Goaltender: 30 - Philippe Sauve (Colorado Avalanche) - MVPForwards: 37 - Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins) 7 - Trent Hunter (New York Islanders) 12 - Ryan Malone (Pittsburgh Penguins) 9 - Derek Roy (Buffalo Sabres) 73 - Michael Ryder (Montreal Canadiens) 12 - Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes) 14 - Matt Stajan (Toronto Maple Leafs) Defence: 44 - Joni Pitkanen (Philadelphia Flyers) 7 - Paul Martin (New Jersey Devils) 44 - Brooks Orpik (Pittsburgh Penguins) Goaltender: 1 - Andrew Raycroft (Boston Bruins) Scoring summary Torres (Cheechoo) 6:45 1st Zherdev (Ruutu) 9:35 1st Ehrhoff (Zherdev) 1:35 2nd Lupul (Cheechoo) 8:22 2nd (GWG) Lupul (Cheechoo) 2:05 3rd Bouchard (unassisted) 4:31 3rd Lupul (Cheechoo) 6:42 3rd Staal (Bergeron, Ryder) 5:24 1st Malone (Stajan, Martin) 2:23 2nd Stajan (Hunter) 8:52 3rd Penaltiesnonenone Shots on goal8–6–10–249–9–3–21 Win/loss W - Philippe Sauve L - Andrew Raycroft Garnet Exelby (Atlanta Thrashers) was named to the YoungStars game, but did not play and was replaced by Stajan.
2007 National Hockey League All-Star Game
The format The format was unchanged from the 2004 game. The assistant coaches in the NHL All-Star Game were chosen as the head coaches for the YoungStars Game.
The game The East's win was spurred by the six points from YoungStars MVP Zach Parise of the New Jersey Devils who had two goals and four assists, while Boston's Phil Kessel recorded a hat-trick just one month removed from undergoing successful surgery for testicular cancer.
East West Final score 9 8 Head coaches Bob Hartley (Atlanta Thrashers) Barry Trotz (Nashville Predators) LineupForwards: 44 - Patrick Eaves (Ottawa Senators) 81 - Phil Kessel (Boston Bruins) 71 - Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins) 9 - Zach Parise (New Jersey Devils) - MVP 11 - Jordan Staal (Pittsburgh Penguins) 10 - Alexander Steen (Toronto Maple Leafs) 26 - Thomas Vanek (Buffalo Sabres) Defence: 52 - Mike Green (Washington Capitals) 14 - Andrej Meszaros (Ottawa Senators) 54 - Paul Ranger (Tampa Bay Lightning) 19 - Ryan Whitney (Pittsburgh Penguins) Goaltender: 32 - Kari Lehtonen (Atlanta Thrashers)Forwards: 15 - Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks) 36 - Jussi Jokinen (Dallas Stars) 11 - Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings) 47 - Alexander Radulov (Nashville Predators) 12 - Lee Stempniak (St. Louis Blues) 8 - Wojtek Wolski (Colorado Avalanche) Defence: 18 - Matt Carle (San Jose Sharks) 7 - Brent Seabrook (Chicago Blackhawks) 5 - Ladislav Smid (Edmonton Oilers) 6 - Shea Weber (Nashville Predators) Goaltender: 31 - Peter Budaj (Colorado Avalanche) Scoring summary Parise (Vanek, Perreault) 1:32 1st Whitney (Staal, Steen) 3:35 1st Meszaros (Green, Steen) 9:47 1st Kessel (Ranger, Vanek) 0:26 2nd Ranger (Green, Parise) 7:39 2nd Meszaros 2 (Steen, Parise) 9:22 2nd Kessel 2 (Green, Parise) 1:57 3rd Parise 2 (Ranger, Kessel) 2:41 3rd Kessel 3 (Staal, Parise) 4:00 3rd (PPG, GWG) Kopitar (Weber, Jokinen) 0:27 1st Jokinen (Kopitar, Budaj) 4:30 1st Kopitar 2 (Smid) 3:35 2nd Carle (Wolski, Stempniak) 3:39 3rd (SHG) Getzlaf (Kopitar, Weber) 4:15 3rd Getzlaf 2 (Kopitar) 5:39 3rd Carle 2 (Stempniak, Wolski) 7:01 3rd Radulov (unassisted) 7:51 3rd Penaltiesnone Seabrook (hooking) 3:02 3rd Shots on goal8-13-6-288-7-9-24 Win/loss W - Kari Lehtonen L - Peter Budaj
2008 National Hockey League All-Star Game
The format