Happy Holidays!
NHL All-Star Game Fan Voting
The 2019 NHL All-Star Fan Vote™ presented by adidas, which allows fans to determine the four captains for the 2019 Honda NHL® All-Star Weekend, now is open online at NHL.com/Vote and via the NHL® App.
[VOTE NOW: CHOOSE ALL-STAR GAME CAPTAINS]
This marks the fourth straight year that fans can vote for captains of the four All-Star teams. adidas, the authentic outfitter of on-ice uniforms and an official supplier of licensed apparel and headwear of the NHL, is the presenting sponsor of the NHL All-Star Fan Vote for the first time.
The 2019 Honda NHL® All-Star Weekend will once again consist of a three-game tournament, played in a 3-on-3 format, featuring four teams – one for each NHL division. Fans can cast votes online at NHL.com/Vote and via the NHL App for one player from each division, without regard to position. Voting concludes at 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, Dec. 23, with the top vote-getters by division – regardless of position – named All-Stars and captains.
Fans are permitted to select as few as one player and a maximum of four players per ballot. The maximum number of ballots cast per 24-hour period for each fan is 10.
How to vote:
• NHL.com/Vote features interactive ballots available in eight languages – English, French, Czech, Finnish, German, Russian, Slovak and Swedish – and accessible anywhere in the world.
• The NHL App offers fans a mobile interactive ballot that is available on most devices.
• Fans can join the conversation by using the official hashtag #NHLAllStar.
Eligible residents of the United States and Canada who vote online at NHL.com/Vote can enter in the 2019 NHL All-Star Fan Vote Sweepstakes for a chance to win one Grand Prize: a trip for two to attend the 2019 Honda NHL® All-Star Weekend in San Jose. There is no purchase necessary to enter or win. For Sweepstakes rules, visit NHL.com/Vote.
The Sharks and city of San Jose will host the 2019 Honda NHL® All-Star Weekend, from Jan. 25 26, including the 2019 SAP NHL All-Star Skills™ on Friday, Jan. 25 (6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS) and the 2019 Honda NHL® All-Star Game on Saturday, Jan. 26 (5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS). The 2019 Honda NHL® All-Star Weekend marks the second time NHL All-Star activities will take place in San Jose. The Sharks previously hosted the event in 1997.
The Playoff picture at Thanksgiving
Every year US Thanksgiving serves as a natural breaking point in the NHL calendar, coming in at the quarter mark of the season. At this point, the playoff picture really starts settling in and teams can already be virtual locks, ready to put the season in cruise control or reach a point-of-no-return, a depressing reality with so many games left to play.
There’s also the “Thanksgiving Day Rule” where – since the league expanded to 30 teams – roughly 80 percent of teams in a playoff position at this point generally hold on to their spot for the rest of the season. That doesn’t leave much room for leeway going forward.
Here are the numbers of teams that qualified for Stanley Cup Playoffs, after being in a spot on US Thanksgiving:
- 2013-14: 13 of 16 qualified
- 2014-15: 13 of 16 qualified
- 2015-16: 12 of 16 qualified
- 2016-17: 13 of 16 qualified
- 2017-18: 11 of 16 qualified
Here’s how things stand right now, and why they may differ from the actual standings.
