Crowning achievement

When it came to the Los Angeles Kings, I truly didn't know what to expect. You see, here in Hockey Bay, we don't get to see the Kings all that often. After last Saturday's visit, though, I hope they come back time and time again.

Want to know why? Let me tell you. We had our best day of the young 2009-10 hockey-hounding campaign, adding another 79 autographs, including eight pucks, from the Kings.

As part of his puck project, Colin got the pucks shown above from:

Top row: Drew Doughty, Alexander Frolov and GM Ron Hextall; and
Bottom row: Jack Johnson, Wayne Simmonds and Ryan Smyth.

It just wasn't the numbers, either, that made it a memorable day. It was the diversity, too, as we got such items as an AHL Manchester Monarchs practice-used jersey and mini stick were among the haul.

Among those signing the 34 cards we added were:

Top row: Davis Drewiske and Michal Handzus; and
Bottom row: Raitis Ivanans and Anze Kopitar.

Don't be fooled, though, that the cards shown here were the only ones we scored that day.

No, that certainly wasn't the case on this wonderful day down here in Hockey Bay as we also added:

~ a 2007 Rookie Class jumbo card from Anze Kopitar;
~ two additions to the Threads project by Dustin Brown and Alexander Frolov; and
~ four cards each from six Kings players;

Also signing cards were, from left, Matt Greene, Randy Jones and Rob Scuderi.

The remaining highlights from a full day of hounding:

~ Ryan "Captain Canada" Smyth on the Team Canada jersey;
~ Drew Doughty on the 2008 NHL Entry Draft program;
~ a grand total of 18 players, including two goalies, on three team sheets
~ Dustin Brown and Jack Johnson on USA hockey pucks;
~ Dustin Brown, again, on the USA Hockey jersey;
~ a trio of 8x10s from Dustin Brown, Alexander Frolov and Jack Johnson;
~ Alexander Frolov and Peter Harrold on speciality set cards; and
~ cheap-skate cards from three Kings, including goalie Jonathan Quick.