The 40th National Hockey League All-Star Game was held at

Northlands Coliseum Northlands Coliseum is a now-unused indoor arena located in Edmonton, Alberta, situated on the north side of Northlands. It was used for sports events and concerts, and was home to the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association (WHA) and ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, home to the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

, on February 7, 1989.

The return of Wayne Gretzky

The previous year saw the then-unthinkable trade of

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

to the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

, a move that shocked many Canadians, but allowed the NHL to expand into new American markets. As Gretzky was a no-brainer to be a starter due to the fan-balloting process, the game was highly touted as Gretzky's return to Edmonton (despite the Kings having faced the Oilers in Edmonton earlier in the season). To this extent, even

Campbell conference Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

coach

Glen Sather Glen Cameron “Slats” Sather (born September 2, 1943) is a Canadian ice hockey player, coach and executive. He is the current senior advisor and alternate governor of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the Rangers ...

reserved Gretzky's old stall in the Oilers'

dressing room A changing-room, locker-room, (usually in a sports, theater, or staff context) or changeroom (regional use) is a room or area designated for changing one's clothes. Changing-rooms are provided in a semi-public situation to enable people to ch ...

, and he played on the line with then-current linemate

Luc Robitaille Luc Jean-Marie Robitaille (born February 17, 1966) is a Canadian–American professional ice hockey executive and former player. He currently serves as president of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). During his 19-season N ...

and former linemate

Jari Kurri Jari Pekka Kurri (; born May 18, 1960) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger and a five-time Stanley Cup champion. In 2001, he became the first Finnish player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2017 Kurri was named on ...

. Gretzky was warmly welcomed in Edmonton, and for his part, scored a goal and two assists and earning the ceremonial car as the game's MVP (which he promptly gave to friend and former linemate Dave Semenko). Gretzky himself arrived in Edmonton a week early, with wife

Janet Janet may refer to: Names * Janet (given name) * Janet (French singer) (1939–2011) Surname * Charles Janet (1849–1932), French engineer, inventor and biologist, known for the Left Step periodic table * Jules Janet (1861–1945), French psych ...

and seven-week-old daughter Paulina to

test drive A test drive is the driving of a motor vehicle to assess its drivability or roadworthiness, and general operating state. A person who tests vehicles for a living, either for an automobile company, automotive media for review purposes, or a moto ...

two

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s that he had bought before being traded. In comparison,

Mario Lemieux Mario Lemieux (; ; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played parts of 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins between 1984 and 2006, and he assumed ownership of the f ...

, who was perennially being compared to Gretzky, had only a single assist and was a -4 in plus/minus ranking. What was interesting, however, was that Lemieux, who was on pace to shatter Gretzky's record of 215 points, was the star in the previous year's game and would be the star in next year's game.

Uniforms

Following Rendez-Vous '87, the NHL had removed the conference names from its All-Star uniforms for the 1988 All-Star Game. The league made further changes to the uniforms this year, changing the primary color of the dark jersey from orange to black, with the contrasting shoulder and sleeve stripe in white, while the white jersey's shoulders were changed to black, and the separating stripe on both uniforms was widened and changed to orange. Orange stripes were placed above and below the band of stars at the waistline, which was reduced from six stars on each side to five. The stars were also removed from the sleeves, although the All-Star shield and individual game patch continued to be used on the shoulders. The numerals were colored orange with a contrasting outline. The corresponding pants would remain the same, while the stripes on the socks were altered to correspond to the stripe and star patterns on the respective jerseys. The uniforms would continue to be used through

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, with the exception of the 1992 game, which featured

throwback uniform Throwback uniforms, throwback jerseys, retro kits or heritage guernseys are sports uniforms styled to resemble the uniforms that a team wore in the past. One-time or limited-time retro uniforms are sometimes produced to be worn by teams in games ...

Team rosters

Game summary

*Referee: Ron Hoggarth *Linesmen: Ron Asselstine, Wayne Bonney *TV: CBC, SRC, SCA

Notes

* Mats Naslund named to Wales team, but did not play *

Denis Savard Denis Joseph Savard (born February 4, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1980 to 1997, and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2017 Savard was named one of ...

named to Campbell team, but did not play *Pre-game entertainment featured a performance by the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers

References

* {{Hockey Night in Canada

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...