A Day in the NHL: NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft Recap
By Editorial Staff
In preparation for the week’s All-Star festivities, we’re going to take your pick-by-pick through the 2012 NHL All-Star Fantasy Player Draft.
First we’ll introduce the Captains, as Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson, the leading vote-getter amongst all players represents the host city and his Senators. The opposing captain is a man familiar to Senators fans and is the captain of the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins, Zdeno Chara.
Now both captains already have selected assistant captains as well. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers joins Team Alfredsson, and Joffrey Lupul, a player who many dismissed because of a long-term back injury but is having a breakout season, is part of Team Chara.
The first selection of the draft went to Zdeno Chara and Team Chara and it was a bit of a surprise as Pavel Datsyuk went first overall.
The first selection for Daniel Alfredsson and Team Alfredsson was, not surprisingly, Alfie’s teammate and countryman Erik Karlsson. When asked if Jason Spezza might be angry about not going first, Karlsson responded with ‘Look at Spezza…he’s pissed.’
Second Round: Team Chara goes with teammate Tim Thomas. Team Alfie, looking to make amends with Spezza, takes Jason Spezza with their second pick.
Third Round: Can’t go wrong with talent. Team Chara takes another high-flier in Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin. Meanwhile, Team Alfie goes with a stopper in Jonathan Quick from L.A.
Fourth Round: Feel bad for Jonathan Quick as Team Chara goes with Marian Hossa who leads the ‘Hawks with 53 points. His shirt/tie combo also matches the Blue ‘Team Chara’ jerseys. Team Alfredsson stays within the conference and takes Claude Giroux, second in league scoring.
Fifth Round: How about this for a pairing? Team Chara takes Kimmo Timonen with the ninth pick in the draft. Team Alfie says ‘we’re going to be flying’ with Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang. Who has the better All Star hair? Letang or Scott Hartnell?
Sixth Round: Team Chara goes with the hardware, as they take the reigning Hart Trophy winner Corey Perry. Team Alfie counters with the man who is likely to take the Richard Trophy from Perry this year, Steven Stamkos.
Seventh Round: Another goalie is off the board as Team Chara takes rival (well…Boston’s rival anyhow) Carey Price. Brian Elliott, a former Sen, gets an ovation from the crowd as Team Alfie picks him up.
Eighth Round: After careful deliberation….a lot of careful deliberation, Team Chara makes a pick that they say people can ‘really boo’ as Lupul picks teammate Phil Kessel. Team Alfie is hoping that Shea Weber can shut down Kessel.
Ninth Round: Make it back-to-back Preds as Ryan Suter finds himself being named to Team Chara. And, because Chara probably wants no party to in any of the wonder twins, Team Alfie takes Daniel Sedin.
Tenth Round: No chance of the other Sedin going here as Team Chara has to take a goalie in round ten. That’s Detroit’s Jimmy Howard. The Sedin Twins don’t go in back-to-back picks for Team Alfie, as Lundqvist takes his teammate Dan Girardi.
Eleventh Round: Team Chara starts the eleventh round off with the resurgent offensive defenseman Brian Campbell, enjoying a great season with the Panthers. Team Alfie follows suit on the blueline, and takes Phoenix Coyote Keith Yandle.
Twelfth Round: Patrick Kane, an assistant captain last year, finds himself on Team Chara this season. Team Alfie continues to make the home fans happy, adding to their goal-scoring ways with Milan Michalek, the last hometown boy available.
Thirteenth Round: Joffrey Lupul has plenty of pull on Team Chara it seems. Lupul gets all three Leafs on Team Chara with the selection of Dion Phaneuf. ‘They’ve got to play together…there’s no other way.’ That quote from Alfie means…well…you guessed it, they’re going with Henrik Sedin.
Fourteenth Round: Adding another Captain to their stable, Team Chara tabs Jarome Iginla as it’s latest selection. While someone yelled out ‘Sidney Crosby’, Team Aflie liked the idea somewhat, staying with the Penguins and taking James Neal.
Fifteenth Round: With the deadline for defensemen upon them, Team Chara rounds out the blueline with Washington’s Dennis Wideman. Team Alfie sticks with the Canucks, as Alex Edler becomes the 30th overall selection.
In-between rounds 15 and 16, two teams of six rookies flipped for a choice of teams and Sean Couturier won the toss. Courturier decided that his team would join Team Alfie. His squad included Justin Faulk (CAR), Carl Hagelin (NYR), Nick Johnson (MIN), Matt Read (PHI), and Craig Smith (NSH). That left Gabriel Landeskog’s (COL) team to go with Team Chara, which included Luke Adam (BUF), Raphael Diaz (MTL), Colin Greening (OTT), Cody Hogdson (VAN), and Ryan Johansen (CLB).
Sixteenth Round: Team Chara goes with New York’s Marian Gaborik, five goals away from another 30-goal season. Team Alfie was hoping that Gaborik would still be left, but with him off the board (although he started to walk towards their side anyways) they go to the other New York team, taking John Tavares.
Seventeenth Round: With second-year wonder Tyler Seguin still on the board, Team Chara goes in a different direction with sophomore Jordan Eberle. And the rumours that Scott Hartnell would go last in the draft are put to rest as Team Alfie takes the Flyer with 25 goals.
Eighteenth Round: And the aforementioned Tyler Seguin is off the board as Team Chara takes the sophomore he’s most familiar with. While they’re hugging it out, Team Alfie goes with Jason Pominville from Buffalo.
Nineteenth Round: With their last pick, Team Chara goes with Jamie Benn, fresh off of his appendectomy, meaning that Logan Couture is the final selection of the All-Star Fantasy Draft.
Here’s how the teams break down:
Team Chara
Goalies: Tim Thomas-BOS, Carey Price-MTL, Jimmy Howard-DET
Defense: Zdeno Chara-BOS, Kimmo Timonen-PHI, Ryan Suter-NSH, Brian Campbell-FLA, Dion Phaneuf-TOR, Dennis Wideman-WSH
Forwards: Joffrey Lupul-TOR, Pavel Datsyuk-DET, Evgeni Malkin-PIT, Marian Hossa-CHI, Corey Perry-ANA, Phil Kessel-TOR, Patrick Kane-CHI, Jarome Iginla-CGY, Marian Gaborik-NYR, Jordan Eberle-EDM, Tyler Seguin-BOS, Jamie Benn-DAL
Rookies: Luke Adam-BUF, Raphael Diaz-MTL, Colin Greening-OTT, Cody Hodgson-VAN, Ryan Johansen-CBJ, Gabriel Landeskog-COL
Team Alfie
Goalies: Henrik Lundqvist-NYR, Jonathan Quick-LA, Brian Elliott-STL
Defense: Erik Karlsson-OTT, Kris Letang-PIT, Shea Weber-NSH, Dan Girardi-NYR, Keith Yandle-PHX, Alex Edler-VAN
Forwards: Daniel Alfredsson-OTT, Jason Spezza-OTT, Claude Giroux-PHI, Steven Stamkos-TB, Daniel Sedin-VAN, Milan Michalek-OTT, Henrik Sedin-VAN, James Neal-PIT, John Tavares-NYI, Scott Hartnell-PHI, Jason Pominville-BUF, Logan Couture-SJ
Rookies: Matt Read-PHI, Justin Faulk-CAR, Carl Hagelin-NYR, Nick Johnson-MIN, Matt Read-PHI, Craig Smith-NSH