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Mostly fun for Flyers, but a few jitters for other All-Stars

RALEIGH, N.C. - Hearts were thumping. Foreheads were beading up with sweat. Family ties were broken. Friendships and egos were put aside. And we found out familial ties are not always as strong as the bonds of teammates.

Flyers forward Claude Giroux was taken 25th overall in the NHL all-star draft. (Yong Kim/Staff file photo)
Flyers forward Claude Giroux was taken 25th overall in the NHL all-star draft. (Yong Kim/Staff file photo)Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. - Hearts were thumping. Foreheads were beading up with sweat.

Family ties were broken. Friendships and egos were put aside. And we found out familial ties are not always as strong as the bonds of teammates.

Last night, with the lights shining brightly at the inaugural NHL Fantasy Draft inside the Raleigh Convention Center, all eyes were on players - vulnerable, unguarded and unprotected by their usual helmets - as the egos of the world's best hockey players were put on display as sides were chosen for tomorrow's 58th annual NHL All-Star Game.

"It was interesting," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said, who will co-coach Team Lidstrom tomorrow. "It won't just be East vs. West. It was good entertainment; you're picking from some of the best players in the game."

The Flyers' Danny Briere, chosen in the sixth round, went relatively early, compared with teammate Claude Giroux, who sat until the 13th round.

But the draft started quietly - and hometown captain Eric Staal, handpicked by the league's hockey operations department to lead the aptly named Team Staal - played the role of gracious host.

Staal, passing on his brother Marc, picked his own goaltender, Cam Ward. And the friendly nature continued. Tampa Bay's Marty St. Louis, assistant captain of the opposing Team Lidstrom, picked the league's leading scorer, Steven Stamkos.

On behalf of Staal, Mike Green picked Capitals crony Alex Ovechkin and Team Lidstrom's Patrick Kane countered with Blackhawks buddy Duncan Keith.

The polite, jovial - and even political - back-and-forth nature, suddenly came to a halt in Round 3 when Team Staal chose Daniel Sedin from Vancouver, forcing Team Lidstrom to fire back by separating Daniel from his twin, Henrik Sedin.

Tomorrow will be the first time the Sedin twins will play on different hockey teams since they started skating as 6-year-olds in Sweden.

Briere, added to Team Lidstrom, was separated from housemate Giroux, who will skate with Staal's boys.

"It was pretty exciting," Giroux said. "I didn't know what to expect, really. But I think the fans liked it. There was a couple jokes here and there, some chirping back and forth between players. That's what made it fun."

The real drama, though, wasn't Sedin vs. Sedin, or Kane against Jonathan Toews, or even about Eric Staal picking his brother Marc. Fans were most interested in who would be the dreaded, unwanted last pick.

"It was pretty interesting there at the end," Boston goalie Tim Thomas said. "As it started whittling down for those last guys, you felt bad for them, seeing the looks on their faces."

Toronto's Phil Kessel was the NHL's version of Mr. Irrelevant last night, picked last. And you thought skating for the Maple Leafs, who haven't made the playoffs since 2004, was bad!

Kessel barely edged out other finalists David Backes, Loui Eriksson and Paul Stastny - who probably needed to change their undershirts after the draft.

"I was pretty nervous," Giroux said. "I didn't want to be the last pick."

"Even myself," Briere said, after being selected 12th overall, out of 36 players, "I was pretty nervous. You're sitting there and you're looking up and waiting for your name to be called. I did get nervous. Luckily, I got called early and it wasn't so bad.

"I thought it was pretty fun. But I'm going to say that, because I went out and got picked really early."

The trash talking already has started for tomorrow's game, adding a new dimension to the only NHL game of the season in which a body check won't be thrown. The draft, a made-for-TV success, was the most bruising that will be done.

Giroux said Briere's sons - Cameron, Carson and Caelan, who made the trip to the All-Star weekend - talked smack to "Uncle Claude" before he could barely exit the stage.

"It would have been nice to play on the same team," Giroux said. "But it will be fun. It's going to be pretty intense, I think. I just can't wait for the game. I told him to keep his head up, you never know what can happen. I'm sure there's going to be some crosschecking and slashing."

Even though Briere was picked a full seven rounds ahead of Giroux, there were no concerns for his fellow Flyer.

"I felt pretty bad for some of the guys," Briere said. "But not Claude, because he still got picked pretty early. For the last four or six guys, you could see that their faces were kind of wondering a little bit."

Here are our award winners:

* Biggest surprise: Despite saying before the draft that he was confident teammate Mike Green, and Team Staal assistant captain, would take him early, very few pundits had Alex Ovechkin going as early as the second round. Ovechkin, who has 19 goals in 50 games, is on pace for a career low.

* No surprise: Knowing that Vancouver twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin have played on the same team since they started skating in Sweden, there was no way either All-Star team would let them play together.

* Biggest steal: Patrick Kane finally nabbed teammate Jonathan Toews, possibly the top forward from last February's Vancouver Olympics, in the eighth round.

* Mr. Irrelevant: Maple Leaf Phil Kessel sweated - and laughed - more than anyone. Don't feel bad for him, though. He was awarded with a new Honda CRX hybrid and had $20,000 donated to a charity of his choice. "It wasn't bad at all," Kessel said. "It's an honor. I didn't really care, and I'm just trying to have fun with it. I'm just glad to be here. I'm going to have a good time and enjoy myself."

* Biggest winner: Team Staal left the most offensive talent on the board by selecting defensemen and goaltenders early, and also selected hometown Hurricanes Cam Ward and Jeff Skinner to get the entire RBC Center on its side.

Slap shots

As determined by a coin flip, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette will co-coach Team Lidstrom with Vancouver's Alain Vigneault . . . The combined salary between the All-Star teams this weekend is $212 million . . . Defenseman Matt Walker cleared waivers yesterday and was assigned to AHL Adirondack. *

For more news and analysis, read Frank Seravalli's blog, Frequent Flyers, at http://go.philly.com/frequentflyers. Follow him on Twitter at

http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.