NHL Capsules: Alfredsson honors homefronts in All-Star draft

GATINEAU, Quebec (AP) — Daniel Alfredsson's kids should be happy. And so should be much of Ottawa and Sweden with the team the Senators captain put together in making his selections in the NHL All-Star draft on Thursday night.

Alfredsson completed a double sweep, picking all available Senators and Swedish-born players in building a roster that will take on Zdeno Chara's team in the skills competition on Saturday and All-Star game on Sunday.

"I'm happy with our team and pretty confident we're going to have the crowd behind us," said Alfredsson, who noted that even his kids had influenced his selections, particularly his first pick of Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson. "I know they'll be happy now."

Chara loved playing in Ottawa, but has grown accustomed to playing the role of villain in Canada's capital since signing with Boston in 2006.

That certainly showed when the Bruins captain's picks were booed by a partisan Senators crowd following the selections of Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul, who play for Ottawa's cross-provincial rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"It's going to be great for the fans," said Chara, who wasn't going to interfere with Alfredsson's drafting strategy. "I think it's fair enough to have the team of guys together, especially for Ottawa fans. ... They can have their home team players on the same team."

Chara won the "puck flip" and opened by taking Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk.

"He's an unbelievable player. I really admire the way he plays the game and the way he acts on and off the ice," Chara said. "That was my individual goal to get him first, and I was happy that I could do it."

He then turned his attention to the Bruins, showing support in selecting Tim Thomas with his second pick. The goalie created a stir this week by not going to the White House with his teammates, who were honored for winning the Stanley Cup.

"I think it's important to pick any player, but to pick Timmy, I think it's obvious that he is a great player," Chara said. "He's a tremendous goaltender, and he deserved to be picked second."

Chara avoided any mention of the controversy that led Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to suggest that the snub showed disrespect toward the presidency. Thomas provided a terse "No comment."

The American-born Thomas declined to elaborate on the explanation he provided on his Facebook page for skipping the visit, when he wrote: "This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country."

On Thursday, Thomas said: "Everything I said in my statement was what I believed to be the absolute truth. I don't think I need to revisit something that I stated so clearly."

The made-for-TV draft was held at a hotel adjoined to a casino in Quebec, just across the Ottawa River from Canada's capital. It marked the second straight year the NHL has had team captains draft players in a bid to generate an additional day's interest in its midseason classic.

The suspense lasted until the end when 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.

The final pick came down to either Couture or Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn. Chara went with Benn after crediting the player for competing in the All-Star game after having an appendectomy.

Couture took a light-hearted approach, noting that Sharks teammate Joe Thornton had already sent him several humorous texts.

"Jumbo's all over me. He was the first guy to text me and got trainers texting me. He says he needs a new car," Couture said.

Alfredsson scooped up the Senators, including forwards Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek. He also concentrated on getting players with Ottawa connections, including Flyers forward Claude Giroux, who grew up in nearby Orleans, Ontario, and Blues goalie Brian Elliott, who previously played for the Senators.

Spezza was pleased with Alfredsson's picks.

"It worked out how we wanted it to. We wanted to play together in front of our home crowd," said Spezza, who didn't mind being selected behind Karlsson. "No, definitely not. Erik's part of Alfie's family, so you've got to pick family first."

Karlsson spent his rookie season living with Alfredsson.

Alfredsson completed the Swedish sweep by taking all four countrymen — including Vancouver's twins, Daniel and Henrik Sedin.

Then again, there were questions whether Chara would pick a Canucks player after the Bruins beat Vancouver in a heated seven-game Stanley Cup finals series last spring.

Chara opened with offense in taking Datsyuk and used his third pick on Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin, the NHL scoring leader. He also took Bruins teammate Tyler Seguin and a few of his former teammates, including Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa and Kessel.

By selecting Kessel 15th, Chara ensured the Maple Leafs forward wouldn't be the final player selected for a second straight year.

Sharks C Couture takes being picked last in stride

GATINEAU, Quebec (AP) — A few text messages from San Jose Sharks teammate Joe Thornton helped Logan Couture avoid feeling unwanted when he was the last man standing in the NHL All-Star draft.

"Oh yeah, Jumbo is all over me. He loves it," Couture said with a smile, while noting he also got a few texts from the Sharks training staff on Thursday night. "They're pretty happy for me."

Even Couture's family and friends got in the act, wondering what he was going to do with his consolation prize — a new car.

"I had fun with it. You can't take it personally," said the third-year player, who is competing in his first All-Star game. It happens to be in Ottawa where Couture played junior hockey.

"You can't take that personally," said Couture, who will also have $20,000 donated to a charity of his choice. "Being a young guy here for the first time, playing on the west coast, it was something I knew was a possibility. I just wanted to have a good time with it, and I did."

Couture became the draft's Mr. Irrelevant when he was the 38th and final player taken in the draft that set the teams for this weekend's All-Star festivities. That left him relegated to Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson's team after opposing All-Star captain, Boston's Zdeno Chara, took Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn with his final pick.

Chara went with Benn, crediting him for playing in Sunday's All-Star game despite missing the past five games following an appendectomy.

Benn would have been fine if he was picked last.

"I don't think it matters. Just getting the chance to be in an All-Star game is a pretty good honor," Benn said. "And for Zdeno to throw a shout-out there was really nice of him."

Others credited Couture for how he handled being left until the end.

"I thought he did great," Ottawa forward Jason Spezza said. "Being a younger guy probably hurt him, even when it comes to something like that. But anybody that's here is happy to be here. And he handled it with class. Top notch all the way."

Couture is the only Sharks player competing this weekend, and 36 points (21 goals, 15 assists) put him in a tie for 52nd in the NHL. He is coming off his first full NHL season in which he made the league's All-Rookie team after posting 32 goals and 24 assists.

Couture said he didn't recall ever being picked last for anything. Having it happen for the first time among a group of All-Stars is something he can easily accept.

"If it was a different setting, playing games back when I was younger, I would've taken it a little more personally," Couture said. "But right now, I just had a good time with it."

-- John Wawrow

Other Hockey News

Atlanta may not be able to hold onto an NHL team, and ponds in the South are for fishing and swimming. But the league's Southern strategy is paying dividends where children now dream of playing in the NHL and winning Olympic gold medals.

Pat Kelleher said USA Hockey's membership has grown significantly in each of the Southern states where the NHL put teams.

"We've truly become a national sport," said Kelleher, USA Hockey's assistant executive director of membership development. "When the NHL expanded, I think that was part of their goal to have a national footprint and not just be in the Northeast or the upper Midwest but to cover the entire country. We benefited from that at USA Hockey because we have participants."

The numbers are growing all around the South — including in Georgia, where Atlanta lost the Thrashers to Winnipeg last summer.

Between 1998-99 and 2010-11, Colorado-based USA Hockey went from 911 members in Georgia to 2,287, an increase of 151 percent.

North Carolina boomed to 170.5 percent with a high of 5,812 players last year. Florida, which had about four ice rinks in the 1990s, now has 25 with players jumping from 5,606 to 11,571 (106.4 percent).

Texas had 11,661 players this past year or 96.6 percent more, while Tennessee had 2,573 this past season for 118.8 percent jump.

USA Hockey's national membership is up 18.8 percent in that span, and Kelleher said recently that USA Hockey has copied some of the outreach programs used in the South to target people in traditional hockey markets, helping the sport overall.

"More people have an opportunity to get on the ice, fall in love with the game and become fans," Kelleher said. "You're not quite at the generational level just yet down in Nashville, but there'll be a generation of kids who grew up playing hockey in Nashville thanks to the Predators.

"And they'll get their kids in it."

That's why the Predators work so hard with youth programs, which fill up in minutes. Sean Henry, Nashville's president and chief operating officer, said baseball has the right model with a grandparent putting a ball, bat or glove in a child's hand almost at birth.

"If you put a stick in a kid's hand, he's going to become a fan. His parents will follow," Henry said. "As he grows up, he will become a single-game buyer, mini-plan buyer, half-season, full-season-ticket holder, a suite holder or buy naming rights to a building someday. You just follow that 6-year-old right on through his life if you will. It's a very simple process."

Results are being seen both on the ice and at the box office.

The Nashville Junior Preds Mite Major team won the Silver Sticks hockey tournament in Ontario, Canada, earlier this month outscoring the competition 63-7. The Predators honored that team Monday night in a season where they are on franchise-record pace averaging 16,581 fans per game with 15 sellouts.

A Predators' game hooked Dana Johnson's son, Cody. She and her husband take turns driving 50 miles one-way from their home in Centerville, Tenn., so her 12-year-old son can play hockey in Franklin. He's now in his fourth season, and she credits the Predators' introductory four-week program offering free equipment with introducing them to the sport.

"He would've never gotten that opportunity because I would've never paid that kind of money up front to take a chance on a sport he may or may not like," Johnson said.

Hockey is an expensive sport with players needing lots of gear, from skates, sticks, hockey shorts, leggings, elbow and shoulder pads to neck protectors and helmets. Even buying used gear where available can add up to $350, plus buying a bag to haul it all. Johnson prefers new equipment and estimates spending $800 using careful budgeting to help a son who chose hockey over baseball, football and basketball.

"This is his true love," she said.

Steve Sullivan, now with the Pittsburgh Penguins, watched youth hockey grow from February 2004 when he joined the Predators. He held a weeklong hockey camp at A-Game the past two summers with strong demand despite a $325 fee per player. Sullivan expects youth hockey to keep growing — if the local NHL keeps winning.

"No one wants to go see losers," Sullivan said. "I think the sport, especially in that area, is very depending on the organization. If there was no professional hockey team in Nashville, the interest level of the kids in youth hockey would drop dramatically. I definitely think they're tied together."

The Predators are doing their part, having reached the playoffs six of the past seven years and the Western Conference semifinals last season. At the All Star break, they are fifth in the West.

Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup in 2004 and lost in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals in 2011. Carolina won the Cup in 2006 and Dallas in 1999, while Florida reached the finals in 1996.

Nashville's influence can be seen in at the A-Game Sportsplex hockey rinks any day of the week. But Tim McAllister, A-Game's director of ice and hockey operations, still finds people surprised to learn 16 Tennessee high schools play hockey. There are more than 300 children playing in A-Game's house and travel programs, skating in games as far away as Chicago and Detroit.

"We're seeing a lot of new kids coming into the program. A lot of new faces," McAllister said. "And we do our best to make sure we see the faces from last year, that they're coming back and playing again."

Bettman reveals third group interested in Coyotes

OTTAWA (AP) — NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says there are three groups showing "serious" interest in buying the Phoenix Coyotes with the intention of keeping the team in Glendale, Ariz.