This Day in Hockey History – October 13, 1947 – All-Stars Are Out Tonight

Oct 13, 2018

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(Photo: 1934 benefit game by Alexandra Studio, Toronto [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

The NHL has a tradition of annually selecting All-Stars to play an exhibition game to raise money for the players’ pension fund, established October 1, 1947. While the NHL had chosen All-Star teams as early as 1931, only three similar benefit games predated the first official All-Star exhibition, held October 13, 1947.

At the game, the All-Stars (coached by Dick Irvin of the Montreal Canadiens) defeated the Stanley Cup champion Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3. The First All-Star Team included Maurice Richard of the Canadiens and Ted Lindsay, Bill Quackenbush, and Jack Stewart of the Detroit Red Wings. Turk Broda, although also named to the team, played for his Maple Leafs. In preparation for the game, the Maple Leaf Gardens had glass installed on the boards, which led to complaints about muffled sounds. With a crowd of 14,169 spectators, the game still drew the highest attendance until the 1961 All-Star game.

By Kaiser matias, Wikimedia Commons

The All-Star game with the lowest attendance (9,166) happened to be the first one televised and the first one in which the All-Star team lost (and by the largest margin). On October 8, 1950, the All-Stars (coached by Lynn Patrick) played the Stanley Cup-winning Detroit Red Wings at the Olympia. Thanks in large part to Ted Lindsay’s hat trick (and an assist to Gordie Howe), the Red Wings won 8-1.

For the next two years, an American-based All-Star team played a Canadian-based All-Star team. After that, the All-Star team resumed playing the championship team until 1969, when two All-Star teams (typically divided geographically) began playing each other. The two head coaches for the previous Stanley Cup finalists coached the teams. As of 1996, the coaches are determined by the conference-leaders (in point percentage) of the current season. The games remained in October until 1967, when they switched to mid-season (January or February each year).

The 64th All-Star game will take place in San Jose on January 26, 2019.