Captain Eric Staal of Team Staal won the ceremonial "puck flip," to earn the right to choose first. He picked his teammate over loud cheers in front of the hometown crowd.
Ward has 22-15-5 record this season with a 2.70 goals-against average and .920 save percentage.
Tampa Bay Lightning star Steven Stamkos was picked second overall by captain Nik Lidstrom.
TSN.CA STAFF notes:
It had been almost nine years years since Cam Ward had heard his name called at an NHL Draft, but he got to hear it all over again on Friday when he was the No. 1 pick overall by team captain Eric Staal at the NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft in Carolina.
Staal won the coin toss and made the first selection from the podium on behalf of Team Staal, opting to take his 26-year-old teammate from the Hurricanes.
Nick Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings serves as the other team's captain, and opted for Steven Stamkos as his first selection (second overall).
Staal then picked Russian sniper Alex Ovechkin third overall.
Duncan Keith of the Blackhawks went fourth overall, with Team Lidstrom assistant captain and Blackhawks teammate Patrick Kane making the announcement from the podium. Blackhawks teammate Jonathan Toews joked that he was "halfway up the stairs" when Kane began the introduction of his pick with the phrase "my boy".
Daniel Sedin went fifth overall, and his brother Henrik went sixth, meaning they will be playing against each other for the first time.
Zdeno Chara went seventh, with Staal saying he didn't want to have to try to get through him at the All-Star game.
Shea Weber went eighth overall, claimed by Team Lidstrom.
The Blue Jackets' Rick Nash was selected ninth overall by Team Staal.
For the tenth pick, Team Lidstrom opted for goaltending and selected Tim Thomas, who is an impressive 24-5-6 with a 1.81 GAA this season.
Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers went 11th overall as he was picked by Team Staal.
The No. 12 selection was Danny Briere, who has 26 goals and 19 assists this season for the Flyers.
With the 13th pick overall, Staal finally picked his brother Marc, just a few minutes after some gentle ribbing from his sibling during a brief interview.
The 14th pick was Dustin Byfuglien, who has 16 goals and 25 assists this season with the Atlanta Thrashers.
Patrick Sharp of the Blackhawks, who has 26 goals and 20 assists this season, was picked 15th overall, going to Team Staal. Staal and Sharp are both from Thunder Bay, Ontario. Sharp patted Jonathan Toews on the way up to the podium; Toews had not been picked yet.
Toews did go next, though, being picked 16th overall by Team Lidstrom. Patrick Kane made the announcement with a devilish grin. Toews went much lower this time around than in 2006, when he was picked third overall in the real NHL Entry Draft. Toews was the 2010 Conn Smythe Trophy winner after the Hawks' Stanley Cup run.
Dan Boyle of the Sharks went 17th overall, going to Team Staal.
The 18th pick was Marc-Andre Fleury, who was the second goaltender named to Team Lidstrom. Fleury is 23-11-2 with a 2.19 GAA this season for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Pick No. 19 was goalie Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens, who went to Team Staal.
Jonas Hiller was picked 20th, the first Swiss goaltender and only the second Swiss player ever (Mark Streit was the first) to make the All-Star Game.
The 21st overall selection was Jeff Skinner of the Hurricanes, who received huge applause from the crowd. Skinner has 18 goals and 22 assists this year and, at age 18, is the youngest All-Star ever in any of the major sports.
Brad Richards of the Dallas Stars went 22nd overall. Richards has 20 goals and 37 assists this season and will play for Team Lidstrom.
Kris Letang of the Penguins went 23rd. Letang has seven goals and 34 assists so far this campaign. It is Letang's first All-Star game.
The 24th pick was blueliner Keith Yandle of the Coyotes. Yandle has eight goals and 36 assists this season.
The 25th selection was Claude Giroux of the Flyers. Giroux has 19 goals and 28 assists this season and will represent Team Staal. Flyers teammates Giroux and Briere had a beat on who would go first and Briere won.
The 26th pick was Minnesota Wild defenceman Brent Burns, who has 14 goals this season, second only to Byfuglien for defencemen.
20-year-old Erik Karlsson was the 27th selection. The Sens' blueliner has eight goals and 20 assists this season.
The 28th pick was Marty Havlat, who has quietly been having a very strong season, putting up 44 points so far.
The 29th selection was Corey Perry of the Ducks.
Anze Kopitar went 30th overall. He has 16 goals and 33 assists this season for the L.A. Kings, leading them in scoring.
Logan Couture and Taylor Hall were then designated to choose which teams they wanted themselves and their six respective players to play for on behalf of the rookie squads. Hall chose Team Lidstrom for his teammates, meaning Couture's squad was put on Staal's team.
The 31st overall pick was Patrik Elias of the New Jersey Devils, who went to Team Staal. His last All-Star Game was in 2002.
No. 32 was Matt Duchene, who went to Team Lidstrom. Duchene has 20 goals and 25 assists this year for the Colorado Avalanche.
As it narrowed down to the final four players remaining, the tension started to build. Who would be last?
For No. 33, Team Staal picked David Backes, an enforcer who also has 37 points this year.
The 34th overall pick was Loui Eriksson of the Stars. The forward has 17 goals and 32 assists this season, and only four penalty minutes.
Paul Stastny of the Avalanche was chosen 35th overall. Stastny has 17 goals and 26 assists this year.
That meant the last overall pick was Phil Kessel of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Kessel has 19 goals and 15 assists this season.
As James Duthie pointed out, there are over 600 players in the NHL and only 36 were drafted in the All-Star Fantasy Draft.
Staal was being advised over the course of the night by assistants Mike Green of the Washington Capitals, and the Canucks' Ryan Kesler. Joel Quenneville of the Blackhawks is head coach of Team Staal, and will be joined behind the bench by his Chicago assistant Mike Haviland.
Lidstrom was being advised by assistant captains Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Kane. Peter Laviolette of the Philadelphia Flyers and Alain Vigneault of the Vancouver Canucks will share coaching duties of Team Lidstrom.
Each squad drafted 18 players at the Raleigh Convention Centre.
Saturday’s SuperSkills event was entertaining to say the least. Team Staal won overall, with the final score of 33-22.
The second period brought Jonas Hiller of the Ducks on the ice as goalkeeper for Team Lidstrom and Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens for Team Staal. Sharp scored a goal in the first few minutes of the second period. Team Staal’s Kris Letang (of the Pittsburgh Penguins) scored in the seventh minute, making the game 6-4. 
