PHILADELPHIA -- Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon kept everyone guessing right up to his announcement to open Fridays NHL draft. LeBron James Jersey . "We proudly select, with the first pick overall of the 2014 NHL draft from the Ontario Hockey League," Tallon told a feisty full house at Wells Fargo Arena. And then he paused for dramatic effect. "Aaron Ekblad," Tallon finally pronounced. "I did not know. I was freaking out there for a second when he stopped," said Ekblad, a normally unflappable 18-year-old defenceman from Belle River, Ont., seen as perhaps the most NHL-ready player in the draft pool. "It was breath-taking to say the least." Said a straight-faced Tallon: "I thought we were in show-business. This is entertainment isnt it?" "I made Ekblad sweat a little," he added. With Kingston Frontenacs forward Sam Bennett ranked No. 1 ahead of Ekblad among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting, there was Ontario competition for the top pick. Bennett eventually went fourth to the Calgary Flames. Kootenay Ice centre Sam Reinhart went second to the Buffalo Sabres and Prince Albert Raiders forward Leon Draisaitl was selected third by the Edmonton Oilers. Draisaitl becomes the highest-drafted German-born player in NHL history. Previously that honour was held by Marcel Goc, taken 20th overall by San Jose in 2001. Tallon had two "really substantial" offers for his pick, but elected to stick with the big Barrie Colts blue-liner. "We decided at noon we were going to go this way," he said. Ekblad, who spent three seasons with the Colts, is seen as a potential franchise defenceman who is ahead of many of his fellow juniors in terms of size, strength and maturity. The teenager with Hollywood good looks feels he can help the Panthers in the fall. "Ive said that from the very beginning that I believe in myself and Im confident," he said. "I think if you dont believe in yourself and youre not confident, youre putting yourself behind the eight-ball right off the bat. I believe that if I work hard this summer, I can really step into the NHL next year. Obviously Im going to need a lot of help and its going to be a learning curve, but again Im confident in myself." The six-foot-three 216-pound Ekblad, granted exceptional player status by Hockey Canada to enter the OHL at just 15, had 23 goals, 30 assists and 91 penalty minutes in 58 games last season. Ekblad says he plays "strong responsible defence" while trying to contribute on offence. He is the 13th defenceman to go first overall in the draft and the first since 2006 when St. Louis took Erik Johnson. The Panthers (29-45-8) won the draft lottery ahead of Buffalo (21-51-10) to kick off the draft for the first time since 1994 when they selected defenceman Ed Jovanovski, now 38 and on his second stint in south Florida. Florida also won the draft lottery in 2002 and 2003, but traded away the pick both years. There was a run on blue-liners in the 90s with Roman Hamrlik (1992, Tampa Bay), Jovanovski (1994, Florida), Bryan Berard (1995, Ottawa) and Chris Phillips (1996, Ottawa) all going first overall. The Panthers will be hoping to repeat the success of Colorado last year with the first pick. Centre Nathan MacKinnon jumped directly to the NHL from the Halifax Mooseheads, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as top rookie along the way. After Bennett, Oshawa Generals winger Michael Dal Colle went to the New York Islanders and Calgary Hitmen winger Jake Virtanen became a Vancouver Canuck. Red Deer defenceman Haydn Fleury was chosen seventh overall by the Carolina Hurricanes, ahead of Modo forward William Nylander (Toronto), Halifax winger Nikolaj Ehlers (Winnipeg) and Peterborough winger Nick Ritchie (Anaheim in a pick obtained earlier from Ottawa). Ehlers becomes the second-highest drafted Danish-born player in NHL history after Mikkel Boedker, picked eighth overall by Phoenix in 2008. The Canucks selected Sault Ste. Marie centre Jared McCann with the 24th overall pick and the Montreal Canadiens took Russian winger Nikita Scherbak of the Saskatoon Blades with the 26th selection. Ottawa did not have a first-round pick, having traded it to Anaheim in the Bobby Ryan deal. After Fridays first round, there will be six more rounds Saturday. Apart from Tallons cheeky delay at the mic, there were few other surprises. The top names all went high. Ekblad was ranked second among draft prospects by the International Scouting Services, which had Reinhart No. 1. Reinhart, an 18-year-old from North Vancouver, is seen as an elite playmaker with good skating and puck skills. The six-foot-one 185-pounder, named WHL player of the year in 2013-14, has true hockey bloodlines. Brother Max was selected by the Calgary Flames in the third round (63rd overall) in the 2010 draft, while brother Griffin was chosen fourth overall by the Islanders in 2012. Father Paul, a 12th-round draft pick of the Atlanta Flames in 1979, played 11 NHL seasons with the Flames and Canucks. The crowd at Wells Fargo Center started a "Lets Go Flyers" chant before the opening roll call of teams. Every other team was greeted with the word "Sucks" as their name was announced -- with the exception of Pittsburgh and Boston, who drew deafening boos. Comcast president Dave Scott, head of the company that owns the Flyers, congratulated the Los Angeles Kings on winning the Stanley Cup -- and defeating the rival Rangers in the final. The feisty crowd loved the kicker. Commissioner Gary Bettman was booed long and loud when he took the stage. "I love your passion," said the unflappable commissioner. The crowd kept booing and Bettman kept up the one-liners as the evening wore on. The Canucks stole much of the pre-draft thunder earlier Friday, sending centre Ryan Kesler to Anaheim and defenceman Jason Garrison to Tampa Bay while acquiring forward Derek Dorsett from the Rangers. For Ekblad, it was "by far the longest day of my entire life." But it ended well. He is the sixth OHL player drafted No. 1 overall in the last eight years, following in the footsteps of Patrick Kane, Steve Stamkos, John Tavares, Taylor Hall and Nail Yakupov. NOTES: The 30 players selected in the first round were born in 10 different countries: Canada (14), United States (five), Czech Republic (two), Finland (two), Russia (two), Denmark (one), England (one), Germany (one), Sweden (one) and Switzerland (one) ... Eight of the first 10 overall picks, including all of the first seven, came from the Ontario Hockey League or Western Hockey League. Ehlers (ninth overall) was the only one from the QMJHL. Cedi Osman Jersey . - Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte sees the commitment to the handoff and cant help but come away impressed. George Hill Jersey . -- Lara Gut of Switzerland regained the overall World Cup lead with Sundays super-G win in Lake Louise, Alta. http://www.cavaliersbasketballpro.info/terrell-brandon-cavaliers-jersey/ . Halladays resume as a Blue Jay is among the elite in the franchises 36-year history. Over 12 seasons in Toronto, he was named an All-Star six times. He had arguably the finest campaign of his career in 2003 when he posted a 22-7 record, a 3.BOSTON - Toronto Maple Leafs coach Randy Caryle tried showing his team what it needed to correct during its recent slump.It seemed to work.Nazem Kadri and Mike Santorelli each scored in the shootout, lifting the Maple Leafs to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night.Phil Kessel had a goal and his 200th assist with Toronto. Leo Komarov and James van Riemsdyk also scored for the Maple Leafs, who won for just the second time in their last seven games.It was one of those games where I felt our hockey club played more to the lines of where it would be required on a consistent basis, he said. We needed it. Thats for sure. The one thing we tried to preach to our group was there has to be a Stop Sign to what we were doing. We were playing too loose. We cant continue to play no-touch hockey and thats what we felt we were playing.Carl Soderberg had a goal and an assist. David Krejci and Torey Krug also scored for Boston, which is 3-1-1 in its last five.Santorelli beat Tuukka Rask in the opening round of the shootout, but Krug tied it on Bostons second chance.Kadri beat Rask with a backhander and goalie Jonathan Bernier dove at Bostons final shooter, Krejci, poking the puck away.I just got a stick on it, but he missed on it, Bernier said.Boston had three excellent chances in overtime, but couldnt get it past Bernier, who missed both of the previous games with the flu.I tried to drink as much water as possible, he said. In the third period they kept the puck in our zone and I was feeling a little dizzy there.The Bruins trailed 3-1 before scoring twice 2:03 apart in the final five minutes of second period.But that wasnt enough for them to be satisfied.Anytime you dont get the result, you do feel like that, centre Patrice Bergeron said. If you look back at it, we didnt get the start we wanted and it could have been the game right there if you have a better start.Krejcis goal sliced it to 3-2 with 4:322 left when he fired a shot that hit defenceman Cody Fransons stick and hopped over goaltender Berniers shoulder into the net. Collin Sexton Jersey. Krugs shot from the left point hit two Toronto players near the crease before it trickled across the goal line.We didnt have a good start, Bruins coach Claude Julien said We need to play more of a 60-minute type of game.The Bruins tied the game 1-1 just 17 seconds into the second on Soderbergs power-play goal, but the Maple Leafs moved back in front 31 seconds later on van Riemsdyks goal. Kessel centred a pass from the right circle that van Riemsdyk redirected between Rasks pads, giving the winger his 200th assist.Toronto then moved ahead 3-1 on Kessels power-play score at 9:45 when he fired a wrist shot from the right circle that caromed in off the inside of the far post.Kessel had a penalty shot late in the first after he was hooked by Zdeno Chara. Rask poked the puck away as he was shifting to a backhand shot. Rask also robbed Kessel with a left-pad stop on a clean break-in midway into the second.Toronto jumped ahead 1-0 midway into the opening period when Komarov, out since Nov. 29 with a concussion, scored on a wrist shot from the slot.NOTES: Bruins LW Milan Lucic and Bergeron were both back after missing the last game with undisclosed injuries. ... Toronto RW Joffrey Lupul left with an undisclosed injury. Caryle said hell be heading back to Toronto for an MRI on his lower body. ... With no morning skate due to an NBA game between the Celtics-Sacramento during the afternoon, Bruins players were on exercise bikes outside the locker room about nine hours before faceoff. ... It was the fifth of seven games on the road for Toronto due the World Juniors being held in the Air Canada Centre. ... Boston F Loui Eriksson played his 600th career game. ... The Maple Leafs next play at Minnesota on Friday. ... Boston is off until Saturday when it hosts Ottawa. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '