40th National Hockey League All-Star Game

40th NHL All-Star Game

1 2 3 Total Wales 2 1 2 5 Campbell 2 3 4 9
Date	February 7, 1989
Arena	Northlands Coliseum
City	Edmonton, Alberta
MVP	Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles)
Attendance	17,503
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The 40th National Hockey League All-Star Game was held in the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta, home to the Edmonton Oilers, on February 7, 1989.

The return of Wayne Gretzky

The previous year saw the then-unthinkable trade of Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings, 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 coach Glen Sather reserved Gretzky's old stall in the Oilers' dressing room, and he played on the line with then-current linemate Luc Robitaille and former linemate Jari Kurri. 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 and seven-week-old daughter Paulina to test drive two snowmobiles that he had bought before being traded. In comparison, Mario Lemieux, 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.

Team rosters

	Campbell Conference	Wales Conference
Head coach	Glen Sather (Edmonton Oilers)	Terry O'Reilly (Boston Bruins)
Honorary captain	Bruce MacGregor	Norm Ullman
Lineup	Starting lineup: 4 - D Kevin Lowe (Edmonton Oilers), Alternate 17 - RW Jari Kurri (Edmonton Oilers) 22 - LW Luc Robitaille (Los Angeles Kings) 28 - D Steve Duchesne (Los Angeles Kings) 31 - G Grant Fuhr (Edmonton Oilers) 99 - C Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings), Captain Reserves: 2 - D Dave Ellett (Winnipeg Jets) 3 - D Dave Manson (Chicago Blackhawks) 7 - RW Joe Mullen (Calgary Flames) 9 - C Bernie Nicholls (Los Angeles Kings) 10 - RW Gary Leeman (Toronto Maple Leafs) 11 - C Mark Messier (Edmonton Oilers, Alternate) 12 - C Jimmy Carson (Edmonton Oilers) 16 - RW Brett Hull (St. Louis Blues) 19 - C Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings) 20 - RW Dino Ciccarelli (Minnesota North Stars) 21 - D Gary Suter (Calgary Flames) 23 - D Paul Reinhart (Vancouver Canucks) 25 - C Joe Nieuwendyk (Calgary Flames) 30 - G Mike Vernon (Calgary Flames)	Starting lineup: 7 - D Paul Coffey (Pittsburgh Penguins) 8 - LW Cam Neely (Boston Bruins) 30 - G Sean Burke (New Jersey Devils) 66 - C Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins), Alternate 77 - D Ray Bourque (Boston Bruins), Alternate 44 - RW Rob Brown (Pittsburgh Penguins) Reserves: 1 - G Reggie Lemelin (Boston Bruins) 3 - D Scott Stevens (Washington Capitals) 6 - D Phil Housley (Buffalo Sabres) 11 - RW Kevin Dineen (Hartford Whalers) 14 - RW John MacLean (New Jersey Devils) 15 - C Bobby Smith (Montreal Canadiens) 16 - C Pat LaFontaine (New York Islanders) 17 - C Mike Ridley (Washington Capitals) 18 - LW Brian Mullen (New York Rangers) 19 - D Larry Robinson (Montreal Canadiens), Captain 22 - RW Rick Tocchet (Philadelphia Flyers) 25 - D Glen Wesley (Boston Bruins) 35 - LW Mike McPhee (Montreal Canadiens) 75 - C Walt Poddubny (Quebec Nordiques)

Game summary

	Campbell Conference	Wales Conference
Final score	9	5
Scoring summary	Kurri (Gretzky, Robitaille) 1:07 first Gretzky (Duchesne) 4:33 first Mullen (Messier, Nieuwendyk) 7:57 second Yzerman (Duchesne, Ciccarelli) 17:21 second Leeman (Carson) 17:35 second Mullen (Manson) 6:53 third (GWG) Robitaille (Kurri, Gretzky) 12:18 third Carson (Leeman, Hull) 14:35 third Messier (Nieuwendyk, Mullen) 17:14 third	Neely (Lemieux, Stevens) 9:47 first (PPG) Poddubny (Ridley, Robinson) 10:38 first Wesley (LaFontaine, Mullen) 3:16 second Poddubny (Tocchet, Robinson) 4:40 third Ridley (Bourque, Tocchet) 9:35 third
Penalties	Messier, holding 9:35 first	Bourque, tripping 13:44 first
Shots on goal	14–9–15–38	13–10–14–37
Win/Loss	W - Mike Vernon	L - Reggie Lemelin

• 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 named to Campbell team, but did not play

See also

• 1988–89 NHL season