2026 NHL All-Stars heading to UBS Arena

Article posted by Coliseum, February 21^st, 2024

Image: UBS Arena, Andrew nyr, CC BY-SA 4.0

The New York Islanders will host the 2026 NHL All-Star Game at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York.

NHL.com said the dates and times for the 2026 NHL All-Star Game, which will be the 69^th in NHL history, will be announced at a later date.

Situated within the historic Belmont Park, the 17,255-seat UBS Arena is home to the New York Islanders of the NHL. The arena was designed by Populous as a multipurpose facility to host both hockey and live entertainment.

The UBS Arena opened to the public on November 20^th, 2021.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said, “The National Hockey League is thrilled to have the best and brightest of our game hosted at the spectacular UBS Arena for the 2026 NHL All-Star Weekend.

“We have been looking forward to UBS Arena playing host to one of our major League events since before construction of this wonderful arena began. We have every confidence that the Islanders organization, led by (co-owners) Scott Malkin and Jon Ledecky, will deliver a celebration that will make the greater New York region and the NHL proud.”

The League will not hold an All-Star Game next year because of the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off next season, a tournament featuring the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland taking place Feb. 12-20.

All-Star Weekend at UBS Arena will be played in advance of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, where NHL players will be competing for the first time since the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Bettman said at All-Star Weekend in Toronto on Feb. 2 that the League plans on “using the All-Star Game [in 2026] as a sendoff to the Olympics,” meaning the players who will be competing in both will leave from New York to go to Milan.

NHL Players’ Association Executive Director Marty Walsh said, “After an impressive All-Star Weekend earlier this month, the players are looking forward to raising the bar even higher at UBS Arena in 2026 where we know the New York Islanders will be great hosts for the event.

“The NHL All-Star Weekend will be an exciting lead-in to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.”

The 2026 Winter Olympics will be held from Feb. 6-22, 2026. The competition dates for the men’s ice hockey tournament have not been released.

The NHL last held an All-Star Game prior to players going to the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2002, when the Winter Games were in Salt Lake City. The NHL also held an All-Star Game in Vancouver in 1998 before the Nagano Olympics, the first that featured NHL players.

The NHL did not have an All-Star Game before players went to the Olympics in 2006, 2010 and 2014.

The Islanders previously hosted the NHL All-Star Game on Feb. 8, 1983, at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, when the Campbell Conference All-Stars defeated the Wales Conference All-Stars 9-3 and Edmonton Oilers forward Wayne Gretzky being named most valuable player.

New York Islanders’ co-owner Scott Malkin said, “We are honored to be invited to host the National Hockey League, the game’s finest players and fans from around the world to join us in New York for the 2026 NHL All-Star Weekend.

“Whether our guests will be watching the talented players on the ice in UBS Arena, a building built specifically for hockey, shopping in Belmont Park Village or enjoying pre and postgame festivities in The Park, the 2026 All-Star weekend will show NHL fans the outstanding destination we have for hockey, shopping and entertainment.”

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