Report: No NHL All-Star Game in 2026

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced yesterday that the New York Islanders will, in fact, NOT host the 2026 NHL All-Star Game in February, but rather will host... well... some sort of undetermined Olympic 'kick off' event.

What will it be? A “kickoff going to the Olympics,” per commissioner Gary Bettman, who spoke to the Associated Press Sports Editors on Tuesday, according to Newsday.

What that means though isn't exactly clear.

“We’ll have an event at UBS before we go to the Olympics, but then we’ll do something that’s more focused on a major hockey event for the following year,” Bettman said. “We have a little bit of time to finalize what we’re doing.”

The Islanders have been appealing to the NHL to host the All Star Game since 2021 when UBS Arena opened up. They were awarded the 2026 All Star Game in 2024, but with the success of this year's 4 Nations Faceoff and with the Olympics on the docket for February, 2026, the decision was made to axe to annual All Star Game.

“We look forward to working with the league on any event that will showcase our world class facility, UBS Arena,” the Islanders said in a statement.