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*FaraDian* · 01-06-2025, 05:22 PM

Hello SHL! This announcement has been some months in the making and I am very excited to be unveiling it to you as we kick off 2025. When I took stepped in as All-Star Head, I knew that interest in the event had waned, even though @Eggcracker had put together a brilliant committee and system. I wanted to shake things up, which I knew would have hurdles, but we're ready to take our swing...

The first actual All-Star Game was played way back in Season 8 (earlier seasons had All Star Teams, but there was no form of actual game). So Season 8-0 feels like the right time for another evolution of the event. I and the whole All-Star Committee are excited to invite you to join us for the biggest and best ASG ever:
[Image: oti4mK1.png]

(shoutout to committee member @TheOPSquid for the logo design!)

This isn't just an All-Star Game, it's a full on Exposition, a brand new form of Experience. Four teams will meet up, one representing each SHL Division. They kick things off with a 12-game round robin, each against each twice, followed by ranked Semi-Finals and the winners clashing in a Grand Finale! You won't just be watching your All-Star try to score a hat trick or pull a shutout in the ASG; you'll be able to see the best prove themselves against the best in a miniature tournament to see who truly stands atop the league.

"Why is it in Madison, Wisconsin?" you ask...

Because this event is as much a celebration of league history as it is a step into the future. One of the founding members of the SHL was the Wisconsin Monarchs. After several moves, they live on as the Tampa Bay Barracuda (who hosted the S78 ASG) and their nickname returned to league in the rebranding to the Minnesota Monarchs (who hosted the S79 ASG), but the state of Wisconsin remains without representation since the first relocation. So we're honoring that original team by playing the first ever All-Star Expo in the hockey heartland.

But that's not all! If you've done the math, you'll realize that twice the All-Star teams means twice the slots for players. We're very excited to be able to bring more of you great users into the All-Star event, but the expanded size gives us another unique opportunity to recognize the long and great history of this league. Each division's roster will feature 17 SHL players who stood out in the current season, but they'll be rounded out to 20 by some of the best players ever.

We've dug through the records and the data to select 3 Hall of Fame players who will appear in the S80 EXPO alongside our current stars! We've assigned their divisions based on the teams they played with most during their illustrious careers. I know there will be some quibbles, as we got to select just 12 players from among the nearly 200 players in the Hall, but here are the first ever Historical Greats to play in the All-Star EXPO:

Atlantic Division

Flacko Lagerfield @JSS
VLAD McZehrl @Chris-McZehrl
Bojo Biscuit @.bojo

North East Division

Aaron Wilson @awils13
Adam Barron @charlieconway
Elizabeth Doyle @Evok

Central Division

Ron Mexico @biggied007
Jason Visser @ToeDragon84
Alonzo Garbanzo @ArGarBarGar

Pacific Division

Esa Anrikkanen @Steelhead77
Randy Randleman @Ballerstorm
Tony Pepperoni @Sean

There is, frankly, a lot to do to pull this off and I don't want to overpromise anything just yet. I'll do my best to answer questions here and on Discord, and feel free to reach out if you want to lend a hand as well. But we're hoping to up the involvement, up the excitement, reinvigorate the stream, juice up All-Star Week, and amplify the All-Star experience for everyone. I hope you can join us on the hype train!