Ivan Demidov hits the ice for the first time as a Montreal Canadien.

It is hard to accurately describe just how much hype there has been surrounding the arrival of Russian star Ivan Demidov to the National Hockey League, with the Montreal Canadiens fan base in a frenzy in anticipation of what Demidov will add to their team ahead of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Demidov was swarmed by fans this week when he arrived in North America, landing in Toronto only to be greeted by a whole host of Montreal Canadiens fans dying to get their first glimpse of the new Habs forward, and the hype around him has only continued to build from that moment.

With that in mind, there was a great deal of anticipation surrounding Demidov joining his teammates on the ice on Saturday, with cameras and camera phones from just about every media member in attendance capturing the action on the ice as it happened.

Here are just a few glimpses of what we saw today.

Here is a look at some official footage published by the Montreal Canadiens themselves:

Needless to say the hype around Demidov isn't going away anytime soon, and it may be set to explode on Monday with rumblings that Montreal's game against the Chicago Blackhawks could be where we see Demidov make his debut.