FLYERS DEFENSEMAN Kimmo Timonen will be trying to prevent two of his teammates from scoring during Sunday's NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa.
In last night's All-Star Player Fantasy Draft, Timonen was selected fifth overall by Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara, captain for one of the two teams.
Flyers forward Claude Giroux was the fourth selection of opposing captain Daniel Alfredsson, of Ottawa, and Scott Hartnell was Alfredsson's 17th pick.
While Giroux and Timonen were named to the All-Star Game jointly by fan balloting and by NHL Hockey Operations, Hartnell was notified Tuesday that he was being invited to replace injured Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews.
Hartnell is having a career year, with 25 goals. His career high is 30, during the 2008-09 season with the Flyers.
Flyers rookies Matt Read and Sean Couturier were selected by Team Alfredsson for tomorrow night's All-Star SuperSkills Competition.
Chara, a former Senators star and now the Bruins' captain, earned the right to pick first after winning the "puck flip." Leaving two teammates on the board, Chara went with Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk.
"I love the way he plays the game," Chara said.
The hulking defenseman also acknowledged he would have considered picking another Red Wings player, Nicklas Lidstrom, had the seven-time Norris Trophy winner been an All-Star. Lidstrom asked the NHL in advance not to select him.
After picking Bruins goalie Tim Thomas with his second pick, Chara went with Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin, the NHL scoring leader.
Alfredsson opened by selecting two Senators teammates, defenseman Erik Karlsson and forward Jason Spezza. He eventually completed the Senators sweep by taking forward Milan Michalek with the 24th pick.
Selecting Karlsson was no surprise after Alfredsson acknowledged last week that his children wanted him to pick the defenseman. Karlsson is a fellow Swede, and lived with Alfredsson during his rookie season 2 years ago, where the joke was that he babysat Alfredsson's children.
The distinction of Mr. Irrelevant fell to San Jose Sharks forward Logan Couture, who was the last of the 38 players selected. For being the last man standing, Couture won a car and will have $20,000 donated to a charity of his choice. It was a homecoming for Couture, who played junior hockey in Ottawa.
This is the second consecutive year the NHL has had team captains draft players.
This year's crop of stars is a watered-down group that is missing two of the league's highest-profile players. Sidney Crosby is missing his second straight All-Star Game due to a concussion. Alex Ovechkin pulled out this week after the NHL suspended him three games for an illegal hit.
