From high above the ice surface at the Bell Centre ... 

I was curious to see how the media arrangements would work out here in Montreal given the size of the gathering, but there's a pretty incredible press catwalk that runs around the entire rink and can accommodate a ton of people. We're wayyyy up in the nosebleeds, in any event. 

I'll have more posts in addition to this one, but consider this the running commentary thread. Would be happy to hear from you in the comments.

Both sides are just wrapping up their warmup now.

UPDATE Before I forget, thanks to SBN business whiz Kyle Ragsdale for coming through with a replacement laptop. Otherwise, there'd be no magic From The Rink tonight. 

UPDATE Pensburgh's got the goods on the lineup for the skills competition tonight. Marty St. Louis is in fact taking Crosby's spot in the deke portion.

UPDATE There's a stage with a band on it on the ice ... I'm afraid I didn't catch who the act is. At least the Jonas Brothers aren't back from last year. 

UPDATE On second thought, at least they didn't butcher some ACDC. And U2. And Queen. A few others. 

UPDATE Uh oh. Now there's a turkey on a spinning piano at the other end of the rink on another stage and the bluelines are filled with cheerleaders. And here I thought the goal was to get more people to watch the all-star game?

UPDATE Here are the player introductions, starting with the West. Luongo and Robidas get a hearty cheer. It's pretty loud in here. 

There's a lot of players in the game with a Quebec connection, actually, if you factor in former Habs and players from the province. Markov, Kovalev, Price, Komisarek, Streit, Souray, Robidas, St. Louis, Lecavalier, Luongo and Giguere. 

UPDATE Souray gets a big whoop. Heck, they might cheer just about anyone who skates out at this point. 

UPDATE Heh, now it's Vinny's turn to raise the noise level. If anything, this psydo- standing ovation might scare him away. 

UPDATE My mistake: Kaberle gets a boo. Thomas, too. And Chara gets the loudest one of all. 

Then again, Bettman's not here yet. 

UPDATE And here come all the Habs. Everyone's on their feet and screaming their lungs out. Well, not me. I'm blogging.

UPDATE In a very tight fastest skater competition, without any times below 14 seconds, the Oilers young star Andrew Cogliano bests fleet-footed veterans like Jay Bouwmeester (who I predicted to win), Jeff Carter and Brian Campbell (who finished last I believe). 

It's a great idea to have the YoungStars take part in the skills competition. 

UPDATE Time for the trick shot competition. Ovechkin shoots last, and he was telling media today his move would be 'funny.'

Who knows what that means. 

UPDATE The answer? Put on some sunglasses and a goofy beach hat, carry two sticks and whack in a garbage goal. 

Meh. 

Pretty tough to say who should win that one. The fans vote on it, so Kovalev probably has a good shot, but I'd likely go with St. Louis just for creativity. 

Good on Ovechkin for trying something different. Props should be encouraged. I want to see someone score with a plunger next time around. Or something. 

UPDATE Short break while the YoungStars warm-up. There'll be three more events in the skills after this mini-game, including the hardest shot (which is always my favourite for some reason). They should be able to set some sort of record with the sticks they use these days. 

UPDATE The YoungStars game lost my interest fairly quickly ... I'm now working on a Bettman post at the top of the site if you're interested. 

The rookies won 9-5, I believe, and Carey Price didn't look all that stellar. Good showing by Pekka Rinne though. 

UPDATE Wheeler led the way in the YoungStars with four goals, while Price allowed nine goals on 25 shots.

UPDATE I missed the accuracy shooting unfortunately. Check the comments for the latest on that one. We're already onto the hardest shot competition, and Shea Weber has an early lead. 

UPDATE Weber had quite a blast, but it's Zdeno Chara who puts up the winning shot at 105.4 miles an hour (which breaks Al Iafrate's long-standing record in the event). Chara took a big run up to the puck before unloading, which may have been the difference. 

UPDATE We're only 16 shooters into the breakaway elimination shootout (which has been revamped into a single-elimination format) and I can already tell this is going to take way, way too long. 

The first round has 36 shooters and everyone who scores keeps shooting in additional rounds until they miss. That's a lot of shootouting. 

UPDATE Shane Doan wins it in round 12,000 to close things out. Nice to see a former Kamloops Blazer (one of three in the game) win, don't you think?