The Vancouver Olympics provided a great spotlight for the National Hockey League last winter. One of the impacts of the NHL’s greatest stars representing their nation was the shelving of the league’s All-Star weekend.

This year, the All-Star showcase is back. And the way the teams will be selected this time around will be vastly different.

The 2011 All-Star weekend will be culminated with the All-Star game on Jan. 30 at RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C. Six of the players will be chosen as captains (three on each team). On Jan. 28, the captains will choose from the remaining 36 players to form the teams that will face off in the All-Star game.

Of the 42 players who will play in the All-Star game, 21 will make their All-Star debut. Twelve of the players selected are rookies.

Between the draft and the game, the NHL Superskills competition will be held on Jan. 29.

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The 2011 NHL All-Star Game will be held on Jan. 30, 2011, in Raleigh, N.C. at the RBC Center, home to the Carolina Hurricanes. One of the best things about the game is that the FANS get to choose which players they want to see during the game. Let your vote be heard before they close the polls and read how the players are chosen here.

The 2010 All-Star game was never scheduled because the Winter Olympics were hosted in Vancouver, which meant many NHL players would be participating. There’s no word on whether the All-Star game will be affected in 2014 for the next Winter Olympics, but we’ll keep you posted.