The 59th National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 All-Star Game

National Hockey League All-Star Game

The National Hockey League All-Star Game is an exhibition ice hockey game that is traditionally held at the midway point of the regular season of the National Hockey League , with many of the league's star players playing against each other...

, also known as the 2012 Tim Hortons NHL® All-Star Game is scheduled for January 29, 2012 at Scotiabank Place

Scotiabank Place

Scotiabank Place is a multi-purpose arena, located in Kanata, a suburban district of Ottawa, Ontario. It is home to the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. It has also hosted the Canadian University Men's Basketball Championship...

 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

. , the NHL has not released whether the game will use the Eastern Conference versus Western Conference format, or the "fantasy team" format used in the 2011 All-Star Game

58th National Hockey League All-Star Game

The 58th National Hockey League All-Star Game, also known as the 2011 National Hockey League All-Star Game presented by Discover, was the National Hockey League’s annual All-Star game played on January 30, 2011. The game took place during the 2010–11 NHL season at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North...

.

This is the first time that Ottawa will have hosted the NHL All-Star Game. Ottawa has hosted two drafts, a Stanley Cup final, and the World Junior Championships all in the past five years. It will mark the 20th anniversary of the Ottawa Senators

Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

 joining the NHL. It will be the second time in three consecutive All-Star games that Canada hosts it, as the Montreal Canadiens hosted it in 2009 and the Carolina Hurricanes hosted the game in 2011.

Fan balloting

Voting for NHL all-star players started on November 14, 2011. Online voting requires fans to register with the NHL.com web site. Votes are limited to 30 votes per "platform", i.e. desktop computer, web-enabled mobile devices and SMS text. Fans are presented a list of 127 players, sub-divided into Forwards, Defence and Goaltending. Three forwards, two defence and one goaltender are to be selected from the league-wide list of players. The selection of league-wide list of players was done in 2011, which used the "fantasy team" format.

Planned events

In conjunction with the game and the skills competition, the Ottawa Senators are planning a "Fan Fest" at the Ottawa Convention Centre

Ottawa Convention Centre

The Ottawa Convention Centre is a convention centre in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada which opened in April 2011. The Centre replaces the Ottawa Congress Centre, which opened in 1985. The new centre is built on the site of the Congress Centre building, which was demolished in 2008-2009. The...

 and a "legends shinny game" on the Rideau Canal

Rideau Canal

The Rideau Canal , also known as the Rideau Waterway, connects the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on the Ottawa River to the city of Kingston, Ontario on Lake Ontario. The canal was opened in 1832 as a precaution in case of war with the United States and is still in use today, with most of its...

. Ottawa's Winterlude

Winterlude

Winterlude is an annual festival in Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec that celebrates winter.Winterlude is run by Canada's National Capital Commission and was started in 1979. The event is one of Ottawa's most important tourist draws, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year...

winter carnival will start early to coincide with the game weekend.