2012 National Hockey League All-Star Game
Ottawa has hosted two NHL Entry Drafts, a Stanley Cup Finals and the World Junior Championships all in the past five years.Senators fans voted in force, electing not only Karlsson but all three forwards as well (Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek) to the starting lineup.Reigning Vezina and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Tim Thomas was elected as the fan-voted goaltender.[5] After naming the remaining All-Stars, the participating players voted for team captains, selecting Daniel Alfredsson of the hosting Ottawa Senators and Zdeno Chara of the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins.The NHL named the coaches: head coach Claude Julien, and assistants Doug Houda, Doug Jarvis and Geoff Ward of the Boston Bruins for Team Chara; and John Tortorella of the New York Rangers and Todd McLellan of the San Jose Sharks as co-coaches for Team Alfredsson.[7] Prior to the draft several players withdrew due to injury or personal reasons: The game was played from 4pm until 7pm local time.Ottawa's annual Winterlude winter carnival opened its site at Confederation Park one week early for the game weekend.[14] Activities include:[15] Weather conditions forced the closure of the Rideau Canal to public skating during the weekend.[16] Interest in the four-day festivities broke records across the board in terms of North American television ratings and digital consumption, according to figures released by the NHL.In Canada, CBC recorded its highest viewership for the NHL All-Star Game and skills competition since the current system of audience measurement was instituted in 1989–90.