On February 9, 1982, the NHL All-Star game came to the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. It marked the first and only time that the All-Star game took place in the Washington DC area.

The 1982 All-Star game was the first year where the All-Star teams were chosen based on the new conference alignment where, as a rule, the teams in the East were in the Prince of Wales Conference and the teams in the West were in the Clarence Campbell Conference. The Prince of Wales Conference had 10 teams while Clarence Campbell Conference had 11 teams.

The Capitals had just one representative at the 1982 All-Star game, center Dennis Maruk (above), who was part of the Prince of Wales team. Future Capitals stalwart defenseman Rod Langway, also had been chosen but he represented his original team, the Montreal Canadiens.

Another notable future Capital, forward Dino Ciccarelli, was also present. He was representing his team, the Minnesota North Stars. Ciccarelli and his Minnesota North Stars teammates, goaltender Gilles Meloche, defenseman Craig Hartsburg, and forward Bobby Smith, played for the Clarence Campbell team.

20 of the players playing in this All-Star game were rookies, with Grant Fuhr, at age 19, the youngest goaltender to appear in an All-Star Game.

Introduction

The NHL decided to introduce new uniforms featuring dozens of stars scattered across the base-colored section of the jersey. The new design also featured triangular side panels on the body of the jersey in a contrasting color that was also used on the lower sleeves.

The Wales team wore white jerseys with orange trim and black stars while the Campbell team wore orange jerseys with black trim and white stars. In addition, the names on the back of the jerseys were radially arched, with additional stars added at either end of the player’s name.

Starters

The goalies to start the game were Michel Dion (Pittsburgh Penguins) for Team Wales and Grant Fuhr (Edmonton Oilers) for Team Campbell.

First Period

Rick Vaive (Toronto Maple Leafs) started the scoring for the Campbell Team at 2:32. He was assisted by Brian Sutter (St. Louis Blues).

Ray Bourque, the Boston Bruins great and father of future Capital Chris Bourque, tied the game for the Wales Team at 12:03, getting assists from Randy Carlyle (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Capital Dennis Maruk.

Mark Tardiff (Quebec Nordiques) put Team Wales ahead 2-1 as he was assisted by Rick Middleton (Bruins) and Peter Statsny (Quebec Nordiques).

Second Period

Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers) tied the game at 0:26 on a breakaway goal, with assists from Paul Coffey (Edmonton Oilers) and Ciccarelli. The score was now 2-2.

Almost midway through the period, both Team Campbell and Team Wales switched goaltenders. Gilles Meloche (Minnesota North Stars) came in for Team Campbell and Don Edwards (Buffalo Sabres) came in for Team Wales.

At 17:10, Mike Bossy (New York Islanders) put Team Wales ahead as he got assists from Barry Beck (New York Rangers) and John Tonelli (New York Islanders).

Third Period

There was just one goal during the third period. That was by Mike Bossy at 1:19, assisted by Larry Robinson (Montreal Canadiens). The score was now 4-2 which remained the final score.

Below is video of the entire game.

Notes

• Mike Bossy, with his two goals, including the game winner, was selected as Most Valuable Player.
• Gretzky’s goal in this game was his first All-Star goal. Maruk, with his assist on Ray Bourque’s goal, scored the Capitals’ first All-Star point since Denis Dupere recorded a point back in 1975.
• The attendance at the game was 18,130, a sellout. Tickets for the game started at $10 with its highest price being $17.50. The parking fee was $2.50.

I was at that game pic.twitter.com/8GNW2aUtcV

— Bill McGee (@BillMcG07084313) February 10, 2022

By Diane Doyle

Related Reading
A Look Back at the Only NHL All Star Game Washington has Hosted
Wayback Machine — Web Archive
Wikepedia Entry — NHL All Star Game 1982