Unlike previous years, the Skills Competition did not have players playing on the behalf of their respective conferences (thus, there was no conference-based scoring) and the team-based Obstacle Course was removed.

In addition, YoungStars players became eligible to play in the Fastest Skater, Hardest Shot, Shooting Accuracy, and Breakaway Challenge events.

The public chose Alexander Ovechkin, whose highlight was a shot using two sticks while wearing a series of props provided by Evgeni Malkin, by a landslide, with 47% of the votes.

35 – G Pekka Rinne (Nashville Predators) 8 – D Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings) 2 – D Luke Schenn (Toronto Maple Leafs) 21 – F Patrik Berglund (St. Louis Blues) 19 – F Mikkel Boedker (Phoenix Coyotes) 67 – F Michael Frolik (Florida Panthers) 18 – F James Neal (Dallas Stars) 91 – F Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning) 32 – F Kris Versteeg (Chicago Blackhawks) 26 – F Blake Wheeler (Boston Bruins) 31 – G Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens) 58 – D Kris Letang (Pittsburgh Penguins) 18 – D Marc Staal (New York Rangers) 36 – F Dave Bolland (Chicago Blackhawks) 13 – F Andrew Cogliano (Edmonton Oilers) 17 – F Brandon Dubinsky (New York Rangers) 10 – F Bryan Little (Atlanta Thrashers) 57 – F David Perron (St. Louis Blues) 21 – F Mason Raymond (Vancouver Canucks) 16 – F Devin Setoguchi (San Jose Sharks) Due to a growing number of otherwise healthy players choosing to skip the All-Star Game to rest, the NHL began to enforce the understanding that players that are named to the event must participate in some capacity.

Thus, because Detroit Red Wings players Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidström declined to attend the festivities due to injury,[5] they were each forced to miss one regular season game.

The rosters were announced on January 3 by retired Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame player Jean Beliveau, who played in 13 All-Star games during his career.

[7] 31 – G Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens) 44 – D Mike Komisarek (Montreal Canadiens) 79 – D Andrei Markov (Montreal Canadiens) 71 – F Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins) 4 – F Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay Lightning) 27 – F Alexei Kovalev (Montreal Canadiens) - (C) 35 – G Jean-Sebastien Giguere (Anaheim Ducks) 27 – D Scott Niedermayer (Anaheim Ducks) 51 – D Brian Campbell (Chicago Blackhawks) 15 – F Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks) 19 – F Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks) 88 – F Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks) 30 – G Tim Thomas (Boston Bruins) 35 – G Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers) 2 – D Mark Streit (New York Islanders) 3 – D Jay Bouwmeester (Florida Panthers) 15 – D Tomas Kaberle (Toronto Maple Leafs) 33 – D Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins) 7 – F Jeff Carter (Philadelphia Flyers) 8 – F Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) 9 – F Zach Parise (New Jersey Devils) 12 – F Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes) 17 – F Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta Thrashers) 20 – F Thomas Vanek (Buffalo Sabres) 26 – F Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay Lightning) 51 – F Dany Heatley (Ottawa Senators) 91 – F Marc Savard (Boston Bruins) 1 – G Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks) 32 – G Niklas Backstrom (Minnesota Wild) 3 – D Stephane Robidas (Dallas Stars) 6 – D Shea Weber (Nashville Predators) 22 – D Dan Boyle (San Jose Sharks) 44 – D Sheldon Souray (Edmonton Oilers) 7 – F Keith Tkachuk (St. Louis Blues) 9 – F Mike Modano (Dallas Stars) 10 – F Patrick Marleau (San Jose Sharks) 12 – F Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames) 18 – F Shane Doan (Phoenix Coyotes) 23 – F Milan Hejduk (Colorado Avalanche) 24 – F Dustin Brown (Los Angeles Kings) 61 – F Rick Nash (Columbus Blue Jackets) 97 – F Joe Thornton (San Jose Sharks) - (C) Referees: Marc Joannette and Brad Meier Linesmen: Greg Devorski and Pierre Racicot[9] Replacing the prototypical Reebok Edge design of the previous two games, the 2009 All-Star Game featured a unique design inspired by the Canadiens, featuring the host team's colors of bleu, blanc et rouge.

W - Tim Thomas L - Roberto Luongo A pre-game performance featured acrobatics and music by circus arts group Cirque Eloize.