PHILADELPHIA -- Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon kept everyone guessing right up to his announcement to open Fridays NHL draft. Tyrann Mathieu Youth 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. Darwin Thompson Womens Jersey . George Hill had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who stayed atop the overall NBA standings despite losing twice on their West Coast trip. Los Angeles kept it close into the second half before the Pacers finished an easy win over the injury-riddled Lakers, who have lost five straight. Marcus Allen Chiefs Jersey . Canada will host Japan in a World Group first-round match in 2015. It will be a rematch of their first-round clash last year when Japan defeated Canada 4-1 to reach the World Group quarter-finals for the first time in its history. http://www.prochiefsauthentic.com/Youth-Anthony-Sherman-Elite-Jersey/ . - Kyle Wood and Barclay Goodrow scored second period power-play goals to provide all of the scoring for the North Bay Battalion in a 2-0 victory over the Erie Otters in Ontario Hockey League action on Thursday.FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Falcons running back Steven Jackson, who has missed the last four games with a hamstring injury, is expected to practice on Wednesday. The news raised hopes around the practice facility that he will play this week at Arizona. But coach Smith cautiously hedged, saying Monday the Falcons "anticipate" Jackson will return to the teams first practice of the week. The running back has been held out since pulling the hamstring on Sept. 15 against the Rams. Smith said Jackson will be watched closely, especially on Wednesday. "This is all based on what the doctor will say in terms of how much he will participate in practice as we go through the week," Smith said. "When we left out of here on Friday, everything was very good in terms of his testing and the opportunity to return to play. "We are anticipating well get him in and well see how he handles it. Youve got to go in and take it one day at a time when youre coming back from an injury. Obviously youre not going to go out there and have him participate fully in a practice the first day hes back." Smith said adjustments and corrections made during the bye week played a big role in Atlantas 31-23 win over Tampa Bay on Sunday. Smith said he and his staff spent the bye week "looking at everything we do" before the Falcons ended their three-game losing streak. "A number of things we did during the bye week I think paid dividends," he said. Some of the biggest changes were on defence, including a deeper rotation on the defensive front with rookie defensive ends Stansly Maponga and Malliciah Goodman added to the mix. Maponga was limited in training camp while recovering from ankle surgery. The Falcons used the bye week to add depth to the defensive line rotation. "I thought it worked very well for us," Smith said. "We had much better pressure. We were able to sack the quarterback three times. We had opportunities for a couple other plays, but I thought it was nice to see some of the younger guys stepping up." Also, rookie cornerbacks Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford had new rolees with Trufant playing the nickel back and Alford moving outside in passing situations. Larry Johnson Womens Jersey. Smith said the Falcons also wanted to play more of an attacking style on defence. The more aggressive style showed when safeties William Moore and Thomas DeCoud each blitzed on Tampa Bays second play of the game. Moore sacked quarterback Mike Glennon, forcing a fumble, and DeCoud returned the recovery 30 yards for a touchdown. Defensive co-ordinator Mike Nolan moved to the field from the press box level for the game so he could have better communication with the players, including the two-safety blitz which produced the defensive touchdown. "It was a great play call by coach Nolan," Moore said. "He called it and we executed it perfectly and got a big turnover." The offence also made some changes. Darius Johnson was promoted from the practice squad to add depth at receiver following Julio Jones season-ending foot injury and Roddy Whites hamstring and ankle injuries. White was inactive for the first time in his nine-year career. Johnson had two catches and Drew Davis had a 24-yard catch, his first of the season. Harry Douglas led Atlanta with seven catches for 149 yards and a touchdown. Smith wouldnt update Whites status on Monday. Jacksons return could provide another boost for the Falcons (2-4), who managed only 18 yards rushing against the Buccaneers. Jackson, 30, signed a three-year, $12 million deal with Atlanta after posting eight straight seasons with more than 1,000 yards rushing at St. Louis. Jacquizz Rodgers and Jason Snelling have shared the carries the last four games. Rodgers caught two touchdown passes from Matt Ryan but neither had success running the ball against the Buccaneers. The Falcons biggest gain on the ground was only seven yards. The good news was Ryan was not sacked while completing 20 of 26 passes for 273 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. "I thought our pass protection probably was as good as it has been all season long," Smith said. "Obviously we have to do better running the football." ' ' '