NHL planning competitive, on-ice All-Star event at UBS Arena in 2027
Fans line up to enter UBS Arena before an Islanders game against the Minnesota Wild on April 4, 2025. Credit: Dawn McCormick
LOS ANGELES — NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed on Friday that the league will hold a competitive, on-ice All-Star event at UBS Arena in 2027.
Daly responded when asked about league events at UBS Arena in 2026 and 2027. The NHL initially announced the Islanders’ arena would host the 2026 All-Star Game that February. But that was changed to a non-specific Olympic kickoff event tied to the Winter Games later that month in Italy, and with the NHL adding it would hold a competitive, on-ice league event at UBS Arena in 2027.
“We’re going to change up the format of what we’re doing next year,” Daly said. “It’s not going to be an on-ice competition. It’s going to be some other entertainment event that the players will attend. And then we’re going to have a competitive event at UBS in 2027 that we’re in the process of figuring out.
Commissioner Gary Bettman told a group representing the Associated Press Sports Editors in April that the league would hold an Olympic kickoff event at UBS Arena in 2026, but did not specifically say whether the 2027 All-Star event would be at UBS Arena.
Gov. Kathy Hochul sent an open letter to Bettman in May expressing her disappointment in the league’s decision to turn the 2026 All-Star Weekend into an Olympic kickoff event. Hochul urged the NHL to commit to bringing a major event of equal or greater value to All-Star Weekend to UBS Arena in 2027.
The NHL first announced on Feb. 18, 2024, that UBS Arena, which opened in 2021, would host the 2026 All-Star Weekend.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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