All fun at the fantasy draft

For only the second time in the NHL's storied All-Star Game, a draft was held to determine the teams that will compete in Saturday's Skills Competition and Sunday's game.

Team Alfredsson -- captained by hometown hero Daniel and supported by New York Rangers netminder and John McEnroe's jam session buddy Henrik Lundqvist -- swapped picks, schoolyard style, with Team Chara -- captained by 6'9" Zdeno and assisted by Toronto Maple Leafs winger Joffrey Lupul.

Here are 30 scattered observations from a star-studded evening at Ottawa's Hilton Lac Leamy. That’s one nugget of info for every team in the league.

1. Best pre-draft player tweet: "Getting a little nervous for the draft...not sure what my speech is gonna be for 1st overall. #pleasedontgolast #havingablast #1overall" by Hartsy19 (a.k.a. Scott Hartnell)

2. During their pre-draft media conference, Team Alfredsson admitted to having a game plan going in. "We're on the same page. We had a discussion and went over all the names," Lundqvist said, hinting that they would be leaning towards Swedes and Sens.

"Getting the crowd on our side wouldn't hurt," Alfredsson smiled.

3. Team Chara, on the other hand, said he had absolutely no plan going in. In fact, Chara seemed to be taking a very Zen approach to the event: "Really there's no true first pick and true last pick," he said. And there's no free car.

4. Quote of the night. Scott Hartnell on Joffrey Lupul and the lack of restrooms available to the players: "Let me just say that we shared the same bathroom. You gotta get out there quick. Everyone likes to play swords, I guess.... I don't know if I can say that or not."

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5. Despite being billed as the Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft™ (or MCNHLASPFD for simplicity's sake), there weren’t any Molson products in the media room. (Insert sad face emoticon.)

6. Best question of the pre-draft conference: "Zdeno, you said you want to avoid choosing all right-wingers. Does this mean that you won't be picking Tim Thomas?" Chara smiled broadly but didn't comment.

7. Without skates, the top of Lupul's head barely reaches the bottom of Chara's shoulder. With skates, same result.

8. Ottawa fans chanting "Leafs suck!" before the draft even started causing Jason Spezza to giggle like a schoolboy.

9. Pavel Datsyuk was Chara's surprise first pick overall when there were still several prominent Boston Bruins available. "Magic on the ice," Chara beamed. (Kidding. Chara doesn't beam.)

10. Erik Karlsson, Alfredsson's first pick, babysits Alfie's children. "Spezza's pissed," Karlsson said. Earmuffs, Alfie's kids.

11. President Obama will release a message on Facebook later this evening explaining why he was suspiciously absent from the Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft.

12. Kris Letang, Alfredsson's fifth pick, was the first late-addition all-star to be selected.

13. Today is the 51st birthday of greatest all-star of all, Wayne Gretzky -- a man never drafted into the NHL and who, in his prime, was not allowed to be picked at all in many fantasy hockey pools because his inflated stats would give the poolie with first pick an unfair advantage.

14. Chara called the Anaheim Ducks the Anaheim "Mighty" Ducks. It's a live event. Anything can happen.

15. Ex-Senator Brian Elliott joins Team Alfredsson, which had already gobbled up all the current Sens.

16. Lupul waited till Round 8 to pick his linemate, Phil Kessel, who had this bit of wisdom for the 2012 last pick: "I don't know. Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal."

17. Lundqvist says he has never been picked last for a hockey game. "Maybe in cooking class, that's about it," he admits. A response that raises more questions than it answers.

18. The Nashville Predators defensive duo, Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, have been split apart.

19. Are there bragging rights for being chosen 19th over 23rd?

20. The crowd in Ottawa, intoxicated on Leafs hate, catcalled "O-ver rate-d" when Dion Phaneuf's name was called. The selection of Phaneuf confirms a solid Sens-Leafs divide between the red and blue squads.

21. Predictably, Alfredsson stocked his team with Swedes (six of 'em through 15 rounds), Sens, and Canucks; fans of Bruins, Leafs, and Slovaks will undoubtedly be cheering for Team Chara. "Bet there won't be any Canucks on Z's team!" Milan Lucic tweeted when Chara was crowned captain. Lucic was right.

22. John Tavares, picked first overall in 2009, gets knocked down all the way to 32nd overall on Thursday.

23. The fan poll on sportsnet.ca had Jason Pominville and Jamie Benn being selected last. Pretty close.

24. Spezza on Henrik Sedin: "I wonder if he and his brother will have any chemistry when they play together… doubtful."

25. Zdeno Chara and Tyler Seguin hugged it out after Big Z took the 19-year-old in the second-last round.

26. Even the bus driver on the way over figured Pominville would be chosen last. He wasn't. Alfie took him in the 18th round.

27. Second-last pick Jamie Benn's first game back from his appendectomy will be the All-Star game.

28. The San Jose Sharks' Logan Couture was selected last, meaning he was not selected at all. He won a Honda. Yes, a Honda.

29. At the NHL All-Star Fan Fair today, no one was spotted wearing a COUTURE or BENN jersey.

30. Couture played four seasons with the OHL's Ottawa 67's, scoring a whopping 287 points in 232 games. The last pick might feel more at home on Sunday than you think.