NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft 2015 Results: Rosters, Captains and Twitter Reaction

The NHL takes center stage in the sports world this weekend with its All-Star festivities taking place in Columbus, Ohio. All of action culminates in the 2015 All-Star Game on Sunday, but the first order of business was for Jonathan Toews and Nick Foligno to pick the teams. 

Since 2011, the NHL has used this fantasy format to liven up the midseason event. There wasn't anything wrong with the conference vs. conference format, but it's so bland. Fans love anything that's fantasy related, so having an All-Star draft makes this event feel more like a fan-oriented thing. 

Team Toews and Team Foligno were officially selected on Friday, with the help of their assistant captains. Here are the results of the draft, as well as reaction from around the Internet. 

Team Toews	Position	Team Foligno
Corey Crawford (Chicago)	G	Carey Price (Montreal)
Roberto Luongo (Florida)	G	Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh)
Jaroslav Halak (New York Islanders)	G	Brian Elliott (St. Louis)
Shea Weber (Nashville)	D	Duncan Keith (Chicago)
Brent Seabrook (Chicago)	D	Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings)
Aaron Ekblad (Florida)	D	Dustin Byfuglien (Winnipeg)
Ryan Suter (Minnesota)	D	Brent Burns (San Jose)
Mark Giordano (Calgary)	D	Kevin Shattenkirk (St. Louis)
Justin Faulk (Carolina)	D	Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Arizona)
Jonathan Toews (Chicago; Captain)	F	Nick Foligno (Columbus; Captain)
Jakub Voracek (Philadelphia)	F	Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles)
Tyler Seguin (Dallas Stars; Acquired via trade)	F	Ryan Johansen (Columbus)
Rick Nash (New York Rangers)	F	Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay)
Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim)	F	Phil Kessel (Toronto; Acquired via trade)
John Tavares (New York Islanders)	F	Patrick Kane (Chicago)
Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis)	F	Claude Giroux (Philadelphia)
Patrice Bergeron (Boston)	F	Bobby Ryan (Ottawa)
Patrick Elias (New Jersey)	F	Radim Vrbata (Vancouver)
Tyler Johnson (Tampa Bay)	F	Zemgus Girgensons (Buffalo)
Mike Hoffman (Ottawa)	F	Alex Ovechkin (Washington)
Filip Forsberg (Nashville)	F	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edmonton)

Foligno, who has all the pressure on him to succeed because he plays for the hometown Blue Jackets, said prior to the draft that he wasn't sweating the results, via Arpon Basu of NHL.com:

"I’m happy that I can't really [mess] this draft up; I can't really draft a bad player," Foligno said. "I'll be nervous I'm sure, but I'm going to have a great time."

Foligno may have felt confident about his pick, but it was clear that he tried to pander to the Columbus crowd with his first pick. Ryan Johansen went No. 1 overall, which prompted this terrific response from ESPN's Pierre LeBrun:

Toews followed that pick up by taking Toronto star Phil Kessel. The captain was then asked about the selection and provided this response, via Ken Wiebe of The Winnipeg Sun:

The two teams seemed to mimic the other. For instance, the first six picks went forward, forward, defenseman, defenseman, forward, forward, in that order.

I know you don't want to miss out on a certain position, but that's like in football fantasy drafts when the run on kickers starts. Everyone suddenly feels the need to take one right away, even though you can always get a serviceable one in the final round. 

Team Toews got plenty of offense, though one of the best picks was Vladimir Tarasenko in the eighth round because of moves like this, via the NHL on Twitter:

In easily the funniest moment of the draft, the two captains initiated a trade with Phil Kessel being dealt to Team Foligno for Tyler Seguin. It was a recreation of the (in)famous deal between Boston and Toronto before the 2009 season, with Amalie Benjamin of The Boston Globe commenting on the meta nature of the deal:

One player who had to wait longer than normal before hearing his name called was Alex Ovechkin. The Washington Capitals star went in the final round, prompting the NHL to post on Twitter this possible reaction shot after the third round:

"

After 3 rounds, Alex Ovechkin still available in the 2015 #NHLAllStar Fantasy Draft. He's #NotImpressed pic.twitter.com/VwYgZSE9M1

— NHL (@NHL) January 24, 2015"

Ovechkin did say that he wanted to get the car that was being handed out to the final player taken in the draft, via NBC Sports:

Unfortunately, Ovechkin didn't get his wish. He did make it to the final three but wound up coming off the board just ahead of Filip Forsberg and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Making matters worse for Ovechkin, Forsberg and Nugent-Hopkins were both awarded a car. 

Both teams may be formidable, but Team Toews certainly has more firepower even though they did ignore the defensemen for much of the draft until they were forced to make the picks prior to the 15th round. 

Team Foligno countered that by taking the best goaltender in the league so far in Carey Price, as well as Marc-Andre Fleury, who leads the league with six shutouts in the first half. Goalies are often the difference, so look for the home team to come out on top when the puck is dropped on Sunday.