2000 National Hockey League All-Star Game

2000 NHL All-Star Game

1 2 3 Total World 3 2 4 9 North America 2 2 0 4
Date	February 6, 2000
Arena	Air Canada Centre
City	Toronto
MVP	Pavel Bure (Florida)
Attendance	19,300
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The 2000 NHL All-Star Game was the 50th All-Star Game in the National Hockey League. It took place on February 6, 2000, at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, home to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The last time Toronto hosted prior was the 1968 NHL All-Star Game. The 1st NHL All-Star Game took place in 1947 and was also hosted by Toronto.

The All-Star week festivities saw the Canadian Hockey League Top Prospects Game played on February 2, and an exhibition game between the Canadian and American women's national teams on February 3. The Heroes of Hockey game and the Skills Competition were held on February 5. It is to note that the opening face-off for the Heroes of Hockey game were Ted Lindsay and Fleming Mackell, two players who played in the 1st All-Star Game.

Wayne Gretzky had retired the previous year, and the NHL announced they would retire his jersey number, 99, for every team in the league, a promise fulfilled in a pre-game ceremony at the 2000 All-Star Game. A banner with his name and number in the colors of his Edmonton Oilers team, blue and orange, was raised to the rafters, after which he performed a ceremonial puck drop between Paul Kariya of Team North America and Jaromir Jagr of Team World. The NHL was inspired to honor Gretzky in this way by Major League Baseball retiring Jackie Robinson's number 42.^[1]

Gretzky also made it clear that he would not partake in any old-timer or Heroes of Hockey game unless it was held in Edmonton, a statement that was realized with the 2003 Heritage Classic three years later.^[2]