Islanders to host 2026 NHL All-Star Game
The New York Islanders will host the 2026 NHL All-Star Game at UBS Arena, the league announced Sunday.
It'll be the Islanders' first time hosting the event since 1983.
"We have been looking forward to UBS Arena playing host to one of our major league events since before construction of this wonderful arena began," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.
There will be no 2025 All-Star Game because of the 4 Nations Face-Off. The 2026 All-Star Game will be played ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, which will be the first time NHLers compete since 2014.
Bettman said at All-Star Weekend in Toronto that the league plans on "using the (2026) All-Star Game as a send-off to the Olympics," meaning the players competing in both will travel from New York to Milan together.
The NHL didn't have All-Star Games before the Winter Olympics in 2006, 2010, and 2014. It did use the All-Star Game as a send-off ahead of the 2002 and 1998 Winter Games, though.
The 17,255-seat UBS Arena opened in 2021 at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.