41st NHL All-Star Game

The 41st NHL All-Star Game was held in Civic Arena in Pittsburgh (home to the Pittsburgh Penguins) on January 21, 1990.

The game saw the team of all-stars from the Wales conference defeat the Campbell conference all-stars 12–7.

The Montreal Canadiens were slated to host the 41st All-Star Game, however, they withdrew their bid to considerations due to the superb hosting by Quebec City of Rendez-Vous '87.

This had allowed the Penguins who wanted to host an All-Star Game in 1993, to move up three years early.

For its part, Pittsburgh's organizers added much more to previous games, creating the first "true" All-Star weekend.

Firstly was the addition of the Heroes of Hockey game, a two-period oldtimers' game between past NHL greats.

The second was the addition of the National Hockey League All-Star Skills Competition, a competition between the players invited to the All-Star Game.

To accommodate the altered activities, the game itself was played on a Sunday afternoon instead of a Tuesday night, as was the case in previous years.

This allowed American broadcaster NBC to air the game live across the United States, marking the first time that a national audience would see Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux play.

Referees and other officials were also wired with microphones in this game as were the two head coaches.

Finally, NBC also was allowed to conduct interviews with players during stoppages in play to the chagrin of the Hockey Night in Canada crew whose attempts to do likewise were repeatedly denied by the league in past years.