VANCOUVER -- For at least a few hours, the Vancouver Whitecaps could put the Camilo Sanvezzo saga aside. As their best player continued to orchestrate his dramatic exit from the club, the Whitecaps added size and creativity at Thursdays Major League Soccer SuperDraft. Vancouver had two picks in the first seven, taking defender Christian Dean at No. 3 before adding midfielder Andre Lewis at No. 7. "Being selected is a dream come true," said Dean. "Especially a team on the West Coast, growing up in California ... (Vancouver is) close to home." Hearing a player actually wanting to be with the club should come as welcome news for fans of the Whitecaps, who are now resigned to the fact that Sanvezzo -- the flashy Brazilian striker who won the 2013 MLS Golden Boot -- will be sold to a Mexican team after forcing Vancouvers hand. And its not only Dean who is happy about his new team. "My mom is ecstatic," he added. "I think shes happier than I am." The 20-year-old from East Palo Alto was selected using the pick Vancouver acquired in the July 2012 trade that sent striker Eric Hassli to Toronto FC. Dean spent the last three seasons with the NCAAs California Golden Bears, starting all 55 games he played. "I bring energy. Big, athletic, on the larger side," said Dean, who stands six foot three and weighs 198 pounds. "Good feet -- especially at centre back, I kind of pride myself a little bit on that. Its something that I like to use to my advantage." The Philadelphia Union, who hosted the draft, traded up to take Connecticut goalkeeper Andre Blake with the first pick before D.C. United used the second selection to take defender Steve Birnbaum, who was Deans college teammate at Cal. "I dont know much about Philly," said Blake, who originally hails from Jamaica. "I heard something yesterday about how its the place for a cheesesteak or something. Thats as much as I know. But Im pretty sure Ill get adjusted and learn everything I need to know." Meanwhile, the Montreal Impact took Creighton defender Eric Miller with the fifth pick, FC Dallas took Calgary-born striker Tesho Akindele from the Colorado School of Mines at No. 6, and Toronto FC traded up to draft Xavier defender Nick Hagglund at No. 10. Left-footed with the ability to play either in the centre or left of defence, Dean said he will have to increase the physical side of his game against MLS competition. "I think I will have to adapt. College was a physical game, especially stepping up from the youth level to college, it got more physical," he said on a conference call. "I think playing against bigger and stronger people, Ill have to become a lot more physical and to do that Ill just have to make a little mental jump." Dean might just get that chance as Vancouvers backline has at least one hole heading into training camp next month with the retirement of Y.P. Lee. Vancouver captain Jay DeMerit doesnt have a contract for 2014, but new head coach Carl Robinson has said he wants to bring the veteran back into the fold. "I think Im ready to come in and play, wherever I would have ended up," said Dean, who suited up as a centre back in college this season after two years on the left. "Especially with Vancouver, coming in the defence will be something that will be a possibility for me." Robinson said the Whitecaps had Dean rated high on their draft board and were delighted to see him available when it was Vancouvers turn to pick at No. 3. "Christian is a fantastic athlete. I think it was clear for everyone to see at the combine, as well as throughout the college season, that he was a fantastic prospect," said Robinson. "Hes got a lot to learn, but hes got a good head on his shoulders." Dean has never been to Vancouver and said that he wasnt tipped off during pre-draft discussions with the club that the Whitecaps would be his destination. "I talked to the coaching staff while I was at the combine during one of the player meetings and hit it off," he said. "Other than that there was no real talk of Hey, well select you or stuff like that. "It was kind of a bit of a surprise, but in the end Im happy that I got picked by Vancouver." Lewis was also pleased to be joining the Whitecaps, but for different reasons. "Im a fan of Vancouver because of Darren Mattocks," the 19-year-old said of the Whitecaps striker and fellow Jamaican. "I love the support that the fans give to Vancouver. Im looking forward to starting my professional career with the Whitecaps and to just go there and work hard and do my best." Lewis said he and Mattocks live about 10 minutes apart but that pair didnt speak about the possibility of being teammates in MLS. The five-foot-nine, 145-pound midfielder, who will join the Whitecaps from Jamaican club Portmore United F.C. when pre-season training begins next week, represented his country at the under-17 and under-20 levels before earning his first senior call up in 2012. "On the pitch, I always want to be a top player," said Lewis. "Win or lose, I want to be on top of my game at all times." Robinson said that like Whitecaps striker Kekuta Manneh -- a player that Vancouver selected fourth overall at last years draft -- Lewis has "something special." "I think hes got a fantastic football brain," said Robinson. "Hes got a fantastic understanding of the game for someone so young and he was a prospect that we wanted to make sure we got on board." Notes: As a Generation Adidas player, Deans salary will not count against the MLS salary cap. ... Dean said he is friends with Whitecaps striker Omar Salgado from their time with the U.S. under-20 team. ... In the second round, Toronto selected Elon midfielder Daniel Lovitz at No. 24, Vancouver took Connecticut striker Mamadou Diouf at No. 30 and Montreal went with Cal Poly midfielder George Malki at No. 37. ... The third and fourth rounds of the draft take place on Tuesday. Quinton McCracken Jersey . If one fighter gases, he usually gets beat up pretty bad from that point on. Carlos Gonzalez Jersey . Brazilian striker Brandao opened the scoring with a header in the 55th minute before winger Franck Tabanou volleyed home from close range to double the lead in the 61st. https://www.cheaprockiesjerseys.us/1434t-darren-holmes-jersey-rockies.html .C. - The Carolina Hurricanes hope they now have the leadership tandem in place to turn the franchise around. Bryan Shaw Jersey . -- First baseman Carlos Pena and outfielder Brennan Boesch have signed minor league deals with the Los Angeles Angels. Custom Colorado Rockies Jerseys . Floundering in the English Premier League, United has delivered better performances in Europe this season and stunned Bayern by taking the lead against the run of play through Nemanja Vidics header in the 58th minute. Bayern had dominated possession but struggled to create a clear-cut chance before Schweinsteiger arrowed a half-volley high into the net in the 67th to give the German side a slight advantage ahead of the second leg in Munich next week. CHICAGO -- No 11-round shootout this time. Just a series of big stops for Kari Lehtonen. Lehtonen had a season-high 47 saves, Antoine Roussel converted a penalty shot in the third period and the Dallas Stars snapped the Chicago Blackhawks six-game winning streak with a 4-3 victory on Tuesday night "Its fun if it goes well, but if things dont go well it can get kind of ugly," Lehtonen said. "I had no problem getting all those shots today. I was feeling good." It sure looked that way. Valeri Nichushkin had a goal and an assist for the Stars, who had dropped four of five, including consecutive shootout losses at home in their previous two games. Alex Chiasson and Erik Cole also scored. Patrick Sharp scored his 200th goal with Chicago in the Blackhawks first home game since a 5-1 victory over San Jose on Nov. 17. Patrick Kane had two assists, giving him 21 points in his last 15 games. The defending Stanley Cup champions hit the road while the circus took over the United Center and responded with an impressive 6-1-0 trip, including an epic tiebreaker during a 2-1 win in Dallas on Friday night that matched the record for longest shootout for each franchise. "Its nice to be home from that long road trip, but sometimes theres a letdown, and you cant let that happen," defenceman Duncan Keith said. "We were guilty of that tonight." Second-period goals by Nick Leddy and Johnny Oduya helped the Blackhawks erase a 3-0 deficit, but they went 1 for 5 on the power play in their second regulation home loss of the season. The Stars appeared to be headed for disappointment before Roussel skated in on Corey Crawford and was awarded a penalty shot after Niklas Hjalmarsson hacked away at him with his stick. Roussel then beat Crawford with a backhander into the upper right corner at 3:01, and Lehtonen stepped up with a series of solid saves to help the Stars hold on for their seventh victory in their last eight road games. "I felt like we played defence the whole game," Roussel said. "We didnt have much energy. Our goaltender played unbelievable and kept us in thhe game.dddddddddddd" Dallas was once again without forward Tyler Seguin, who missed his second straight game with concussion-like symptoms. He leads the team with 12 goals. The Stars jumped on an ill-timed line change by the Blackhawks to grab a 1-0 lead at 13:47 of the first. Nichushkin got a pass from Cody Eakin and sent a low wrister past Crawford for his third goal of the season. Chiasson then tipped home a long slap shot by Alex Goligoski for a power-play score with 1:10 to go in the period, and Nichushkin found Cole in front of the goal to make it 3-0 early in the second. "Very generous on the first three goals against us," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "We had one of those starts where we were trying to get ourselves into the game mentally. I dont think we were sharp on the plays and the goals against." That sure changed in a hurry. Sharps long slap shot got by Lehtonen at 9:39 for his third goal in four games, prompting the Blackhawks to turn up the pressure. Leddy converted a one-timer and Oduyas slap shot from the boards went off Chiassons stick on the way to the net for his third goal. The goals by the defencemen just 65 seconds apart tied it at 3 with 2:46 left in the period and led to a standing ovation from the crowd. The Blackhawks continued to generate quality opportunities in the third, but Lehtonen was there each time. He had a solid stop on Brandon Saad before Roussels penalty shot, and then made a great save on Sharp to keep the Stars in front midway through the period. "In the third they were coming hard and we were playing smart," Lehtonen said. "There were a couple of breakdowns, but nothing crazy. It wasnt a pretty win, but well take it." NOTES: Crawford had 14 stops. .. Stars C Ryan Garbutt was helped from the ice after he took a slap shot to his right leg in the first period, but returned to the game. ... Blackhawks D Michal Rozsival played in his 800th NHL game. ... Blackhawks C Michal Handzus was scratched due to an illness. ... In addition to Seguin, the Stars also scratched D Jamie Oleksiak and C Travis Morin. ' ' '