And the Bell Center goes Wiiiiiiiiiiiild!

If there was to be a more perfect day for the Montreal Canadiens this season, I just can't imagine it. Aside from winning the cup on home ice this year, this would easily be the highlight of the season for fans of Alexi Kovalev and and the Montreal Canadiens.

The sellout crowd even chanted Kovalev's name after he assisted on a first-period goal, and went nuts when he later scored on a couple nice breakaway moves. Kovalev nearly had the hat trick, but had two different shots hit the post.

In keeping with the theme of Les Canaadiens, Mike Komisarek also made his presense felt as he was the recipient of the first penalty called in an All Star game since 2000.

Scorers for the East included, Alex Ovechkin, who had one in regulation and another in the shootout. Also Martin St. Louis had two while Eric Staal, Andrei Markov, Zach Parise, Evgeni Malkin, Danny Heatly and Jay Bouwmeester also each had one.

Scorers for the West included Keith Tkachuk, Patrick Marleau, Dan Boyle, Rick Nash, Milan Hedjuk, Jerome Iginla, Shane Doan, Johnathan Teows, and Patrick Kane. Former Habs defenceman Sheldon Souray added two goals.

Habs Captain(interim) Alexi Kovalev, delivered on his pre-game guarantee to be the games MVP.

The game featured all kinds of skill and helped make a case for leaving things as they are. There may have been no hitting or physical play, but that gave the players a platform to show off some smooth hands and flashy moves.

"At the end of the game and overtime, it was worth every penny," said Komisarek. "It was exciting to be a part of, just sitting there on the bench and being on the ice watching the top players in the world compete at such a high level."

The nicest goal of the evening came off the stick of Malkin, who pulled the puck back between his legs before beating Niklas Backstrom at 7:45 of the second period. The Pittsburgh Penguins forward leads the league in scoring but isn't as well known as other star players because he speaks limited English.

There was of course the usual criticism that surrounds every AllStar weekend.'maybe we should change this, maybe we should change that'. From what I saw, it was all pretty entertaining and I think the NHL and the Montreal Canadiens did a great job, there is always room for improvement in anything, but, as far as this particular weekend was from a fans point of view. I think it was pretty damned good.

If you missed any of this weekends action including the Super Skills, you can see all of the highlights right here, on Bench Brawl!

First Period Highlights


Second Period Highlights


Third Period Highlights


The Shootout



And a little Bonus for you courtesy of NHL.com. The Super Skills Competition 'Mic'd up'

2009 NHL All Star Skills Day Highlights

Ok, so Blake Wheeler probably wasn't sure about how the 2009 All Star weekend was going to turn out for him being his first trip and all. However, when his sticks were misplaced by Air Canada, he waited patiently for them to call. They never did so he assumed that he would simply have to borrow one from another player.

"Air Canada said they'd call when they found them, but they never called - then they magically arrived," said Wheeler. Lucky for him. He managed to score four goals as the NHL Rookies defeated the NHL Sophomore team 9-5 in the " Young Stars " Game



The Skills competition this year was a whole new story. There were some significant rule changes allowing for alot more creativity on the part of the players. All in all a very entertaining competition this year. Here are video highlights of each separate competition. Enjoy! And thanks to the NHL Network and TSN for the video!

Fastest Skater



Breakaway Challenge


Accuracy Competition



Hardest Shot



And my personal favorite, The Elimination Shoot Out!


Please stay tuned tomorrow for highlights from today's festivities!