Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk was the first player chosen Thursday night in the

in Ottawa, selected by Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara.

It was somewhat surprising that Chara chose Datsyuk over teammates Tim Thomas, whom he took with his second pick, and Tyler Seguin.

"I know how hard it is to play against him,'' Chara said during his interview with TSN. "He plays the game the right way. Magic on the ice. I admire the way he plays.''

Datsyuk has 43 points (12 goals, 31 assists) in his past 33 games. He is tied with Chicago's Marian Hossa for third in the NHL in scoring with 53 points, five points behind Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin and two back of Philadelphia's Claude Giroux.

Here is the

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