While the All-Star game is a multi-day spectacle that features some of the greatest players from across the entire NHL with at least one representative from each of the league’s 31 franchises, this wasn’t always the case. In fact, when the NHL All-Star game first made its debut in the 1940s, not only did it occur in mid-October, but it was held between the previous year’s Stanley Cup champion and the best of the rest.
On October 13, 1947, the NHL’s best faced off against the hometown favourites, the Toronto Maple Leafs at the famous Maple Leaf Gardens.