Datsyuk picked first in All-Star draft
Hockey Betting Lines
01/26/2012 - Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk was the first overall pick Thursday in the NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft.
A flipped puck was used to determine who got the first pick and Team Chara won the toss.
Captain Zdeno Chara of Boston -- assisted by Joffrey Lupul of Toronto -- took the three-time Selke Winner Datsyuk.
"I'm very appreciative to be taken first," said Datsyuk. "It was kind of a surprise, actually."
Team Alfredsson, headed by Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson along with goaltender Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers, chose Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson with their first selection.
"I'm really happy that I could join my fellow Swedes on this team," said Karlsson.
The second round saw Team Chara take Boston goaltender Tim Thomas, the reigning Conn Smythe and Vezina winner, while Team Alfredsson took Ottawa forward Jason Spezza.
Forward Evgeni Malkin of Pittsburgh, the current points leader, was taken by Chara in the third round while Alfredsson countered with Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick, who leads the NHL with six shutouts.
Forward Marian Hossa of Chicago and defenseman Kimmo Timmonen of Philadelphia rounded out the top five picks by Chara and forward Claude Giroux from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang were the fourth and fifth picks for Alfredsson's team.
Team Chara's next five picks were forward Corey Perry of Anaheim, goaltender Carey Price from Montreal, Toronto forward Phil Kessel, defenseman Ryan Suter from Nashville and goaltender Jimmy Howard from Detroit.
The next five picks for Team Alfredsson were forward Steven Stamkos of Tampa Bay, St. Louis goaltender Brian Elliott, defenseman Shea Weber from Nashville, Vancouver forward Daniel Sedin and New York Rangers forward Dan Girardi.
For the Nos. 11-15 picks, Chara took Florida defenseman Brian Campbell, Chicago forward Patrick Kane, Toronto defender Dion Phaneuf, Calgary forward Jarome Iginla, who scored his 500th goal earlier in the month, and defenseman Dennis Wideman from Washington.
Alfredsson took Phoenix defenseman Keith Yandle, Ottawa forward Milan Michalek, Vancouver forward Henrik Sedin, Pittsburgh forward James Neal and Vancouver defenseman Alexander Edler for his 11-15 picks.
Forwards Marian Gaborik of the Rangers, Jordan Eberle from Edmonton and Tyler Seguin from Boston went to Chara with the next three picks while forwards John Tavares of the Islanders, Scott Hartnell from Philly and Jason Pominville from Buffalo went to Alfredsson.
The last two selections saw Dallas forward Jamie Benn -- who had an appendectomy on January 15 but will appear in his first All-Star game -- go to Team Chara while forward Logan Couture from San Jose was picked by Alfredsson with the last pick of the draft.
"Being the young guy and with these great players, I knew it was a possibility," said Couture.
Also named on Thursday were the rookie teams.
The representatives for Team Chara's freshman class are forwards Gabriel Landeskog of Colorado, Ryan Johansen of Columbus, Cody Hodgson of Vancouver, Colin Greening of Ottawa and Luke Adam from Buffalo, defenseman Raphael Diaz of Montreal.
Team Alfredsson's rookies are forwards Sean Couturier and Matt Read of Philadelphia, Carl Hagelin of the Rangers, Nick Johnson of Minnesota and Craig Smith of Nashville and defenseman Justin Faulk from Carolina.
Auburn, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A'dia Mathies scored 20 points while Samarie Walker pulled down 15 rebounds as No. 6 Kentucky took down Auburn, 66-48. Maegan Conwright added 10 points for Kentucky (19-2, 8-0 SEC), which forced 30 Auburn t
<< Florida earns comeback win at Ole Miss
Oxford, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Patric Young scored 15 points and added four
rebounds to lead the way for No. 14 Florida as it came from behind to hand Ole
Miss its first home loss of the season, 64-60, at Tad Smith Coliseum.
Kenny Boynto
<< VT upsets No. 8 Maryland
College Park, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Monet Tellier scored a game-high 31
points, as Virginia Tech upset No. 8 Maryland, 75-69, on Thursday.
The Hokies (7-14, 3-5 ACC) had lost five straight games but got 15 points from
Aerial Wilson a
<< Hurricanes shut down Wake Forest
Coral Gables, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Riquna Williams and Stefanie Yderstrom
each scored 14 points as the 10th-ranked Miami-Florida Hurricanes extended
their winning streak to seven games with a 64-39 victory over Wake Forest.
Shenise
<< Zeller, UNC hammer NC State
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyler Zeller's double-double of 21 points
and 15 rebounds powered seventh-ranked North Carolina to a 74-55 victory over
the North Carolina State Wolfpack.
Harrison Barnes had 15 points and Reggie Bullo
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The BC Lions have signed veteran wide receiver Arland Bruce to a contract extension. Last August, the Lions acquired Bruce from Hamilton in exchange for a third- round selection in the 2012 CFL
Baylor stays perfect in rout of Oklahoma >>
Norman, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brittney Griner scored 18 points, had seven
blocks and pulled down six rebounds as the top-ranked Baylor Bears remained
perfect with an 89-58 win over Oklahoma.
Odyssey Smith had 14 points, five rebou
Scott helps Virginia take down Boston College >>
Charlottesville, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Before arriving in Charlottesville,
Tony Bennett completely transformed the culture and expectations of the
Washington State basketball program. He's now doing the same in his third
season
Badgers down struggling Hoosiers >>
Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wisconsin still has Indiana's number.
The 25th-ranked Badgers showed why they're considered the nation's best
defense by shutting down the No. 16 Hoosiers en route to a 57-50 victory,
their ninth st
Hill leads No. 9 Ohio State over Indiana >>
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tayler Hill scored all 18 of her points in
the second half as No. 9 Ohio State downed Indiana, 73-55.
Samantha Prahalis also had 18 points for Ohio State (20-1, 7-1 Big Ten), which
has won five straight ga
Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.