The games were done as a CBC Sports production because Molson, which owned Hockey Night in Canada's rights at the time, was not allowed access to Le Colisée in Quebec City.

Carling O'Keefe Breweries, owners of the Quebec Nordiques, assumed advertising rights for the telecasts, and the normal host(s) for Hockey Night in Canada in 1987, rookie Ron MacLean and Dave Hodge (before his late-season exit) were replaced by Brian Williams.

The games were shown in the United States on ESPN, with Ken Wilson and Bill Clement in the booth with both Tom Mees and John Saunders serving as hosts for the event.

NHL All-Stars won the game 4–3, thanks in part to the line of Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri and Esa Tikkanen.

This game featured the emergence of the young Soviet forward line consisting of Valeri Kamensky, Viacheslav Bykov, and Andrei Khomutov.