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| Date | January 24, 1999 | |||||||||||||||
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| Arena | Ice Palace | |||||||||||||||
| City | Tampa | |||||||||||||||
| MVP | Wayne Gretzky (NY Rangers) | |||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 19,758 | |||||||||||||||
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The1999 National Hockey League All-Star Game took place on January 24, 1999, atIce Palace inTampa, home to theTampa Bay Lightning.
The major criticism of the North America versus World format was that Canadians still represented the majority of the NHL players, and it clearly showed in the team selection: the 49th game only saw five Americans as part of the North America roster, and many notable greats were left off theall-star ballot simply as there were too many names to choose from. Some pundits even claimed that a second competitive North American all-star team could have been made from players that were not invited.
The format also allowed for teammates to face each other, something that had not been done since the6th National Hockey League All-Star Game. Where theColorado Avalanche,Dallas Stars,Detroit Red Wings,Montreal Canadiens, andVancouver Canucks were among the teams that sent players to both all-star teamsthe year before, the fact that teammates now opposed each other was more evident in this game.
Among the more pronounced comments came from last year's winning coachKen Hitchcock, who came off his first ever all-star game victory at any level of hockey (he had been 0–11 prior to this game): he wished that perhaps the game could be held in Europe so that the World team would have a "home game".
TheWorld All-Stars won their second-straight skills competition over theNorth American All-Stars.Boston Bruins'Ray Bourque for the second straight season would have to share hisAccuracy Shooting event victory withPhoenix Coyotes'Keith Tkachuk andJeremy Roenick. In theHardest Shot event,St. Louis Blues' defencemenAl MacInnis would win the event for the third-straight season and fifth all-time.
TheNorth American All-Stars defeated theWorld All-Stars for the second-straight year by a score of 8–6.Dallas Stars'Mike Modano andToronto Maple Leafs'Mats Sundin recorded four points, whileCarolina Hurricanes' goaltenderArturs Irbe recorded an assist to become the first goaltender in history to be credited with a point in the All-Star Game. However,New York Rangers' centerWayne Gretzky would steal the spotlight in his last All-Star appearance by recording three points to win his third-career All-Star M.V.P. honor.
| North America | World | |
|---|---|---|
| Final score | 8 | 6 |
| Scoring summary |
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| Penalties |
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| Shots on goal | 19–15–15–49 | 9–15–12–36 |
| Win/loss | W -Ron Tugnutt | L -Arturs Irbe |
