Your Turn II

Given that the Tampa Bay Lightning isn't always at home, there are gaps within the schedule where fresh content, culled from our own hockey-hounding adventures, is, in a word, impossible. But that's where you come in.

After years of sharing these stories with you, I've asked my fellow hounds to pass along their tales of hounding -- good or bad. So, here we are again, turning over the platform afforded by Hound Central 5.0 to hockey hounds to share stories of their autograph adventures.

If you'd like to take part in future installments, and I humbly repeat my request to lend your voice to this effort, please send your stories to Hound Central 5.0.

In this second offering, Hound Central 5.0 offers stories from a trio of hockey hounds:

Cory D.

Cory, out of Kansas, shares his appreciation for minor league players:

"I live in Topeka, Kansas, which isn't exactly a hockey hotbed, but we've been lucky to have four different teams in the past 10 years, so I've gotten to see a lot of players at two different levels go through this town.

"I remember when we first got a team in 1998, the CHL Topeka Scarecrows, this team was pretty darn good and one of my favorite things to do was get to the games early with my family (I was 10 years old at the time) and look for pucks. I found quite a few and started building a collection of autographs. It was always so awesome to see the guys take the time to sign autographs. I especially remember when they came to my elementary school and signed for everybody and played scooter hockey for the kids.

"Another one of my favorite stories comes from the 2000-2001, my family had went to a Scarecrows practice over Christmas break and when one of the goalies (Scott Hay, current goaltending coach for the Bakersfield Condors) was coming off the ice, he handed me his stick and told me to keep it. It just made my day because he was one of my favorite players."

J.R.

J.R., who filed this report from San Jose, shares his recent successes of attending a Sharks practice. Sounds like it was well worth the time:

"After reading the reports on this site since the beginning of the season, I finally decided to attend my first Sharks practice. I just moved to San Jose from New York about three months ago and have been considering going to a practice since I’ve been here. Despite having the best intentions, I truly believe this site kicked my enthusiasm into high gear.

"Since I’m new to the area, I carefully mapped my route to the practice facility and made it there unscathed. Of course, however, I did manage to go to the wrong rink once I got inside. Once I realized my error, I did find the correct rink thanks to a member of the Sharks Ice staff.

"Practice was already under way when I made it to the south rink and I must say I was rather disappointed to find only eight Sharks on the ice (Devon Setoguchi, <strong>Torrey Mitchell, Brad Staubitz, Jody Shelley, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Jay Leach, Kent Huskins and Thomas Greiss). Perhaps because of the small on-ice turnout, practice only lasted approximately 30 minutes.

"Shelley was the first Shark to leave the ice and after he signed for a couple of fans, he was kind enough to sign a puck for me. I mentioned that I enjoyed the fight he had last night with Cam Janssen of the St. Louis Blues, not so much for the action, but the duration, and he chuckled.

"Setoguchi was the next player to depart and he went immediately into the locker room, despite being asked for autographs from two or three fans. I brought one of his hockey cards with me in case signed, but wasn’t disappointed that he kept walking.

"I managed to snag autographs from Staubitz and Huskins as they left the ice surface. Both players signed for anyone who asked (and there weren’t many autograph hounds in the small crowd) and appeared to be quite fan-friendly.

"I promised myself that if I received one or two autographs in my first venture to practice, I would be thrilled. Well, I exceeded my hopes, acquiring three signed pucks for my collection.

"However, much to my surprise, the collecting was not over. As it turned out, the Shark Olympians, and there are eight of them, were at the facility to conduct interviews with the local NBC affiliate. I was fortunate to also get autographs from Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau and Evgeni Nabokov when each concluded their interviews, well after the practice had concluded. Marleau also took the time to pose for photographs with a couple of young female fans.

"Douglas Murray also signed for two fans after he spoke with the reporter, but since I only brought six pucks with me, I was not able to get his autograph. Oh well, maybe next time.

"All told, I walked away with six autographed pucks. A very successful day, in both quantity and quality, in my book. I am very much looking forward to attending my next practice.

"Good luck to all the hounds out there."

Scott B.

Scott, who hounds in South Florida, has provided numerous reports from his NHL hounding adventures at less-than-friendly hotels. Here are a few more:

New York Rangers: "The Rangers usually stay at a certain beach hotel, but this time they stayed elsewhere on the beach. They are usually not a good signing team, but this year they were better. If we don't have a card for a player, we use the 2005-06 Parkhurst team logo cards. We were able to get Artem Anisimov (1 Parkhurst card), Donald Brashear (1 of 1), Chris Drury (2 jersey cards), Marian Gaborik (2 of 4), Chris Higgins (6 of 6), Michal Rozsival (1 of 3), Henrik Lundqvist (1 of 3) and John Tortorella (1 Parkhurst card)."

Philadelphia Flyers: "The Flyers had almost a week here in South Florida before their game, so they stayed at a hotel on the beach in Fort Lauderdale. They have always been a good-signing team and this time was no exception. We got Aaron Asham (2 Parkhurst cards), Danny Briere (2 of 3), Dan Carcillo (1 of 1), Riley Cote (2 of 2), Simon Gagne (2 of 3), Claude Giroux (1 of 1), Scott Hartnell (1 of 3), Ian Laperriere (3 of 3), Darroll Powe (2 of 2), Mike Richards (1 of 1), James van Riemsdyk (2 Parkhurst cards), Braydon Coburn (1 of 1), Kimmo Timonen (1 of 1) and Brian Boucher (3 of 3). We also got a Chris Pronger "Waving the Flag" card signed that I have been trying to get him to sign for a few years."

Washington Capitals: "By far, the worst signing team in the NHL. Since Alexander Ovechkin's rookie year when he signed, he and most of the Caps completely ignore the fans. The hotel where the Caps stay is a lot tougher on us, making us stand across the street from the team bus. One of the managers there actually was telling players not to come and sign for us. Luckily, Brendan Morrison was there this year. He is from the old school of treating the fans with class. He signed all four of his cards. And he told Eric Fehr (1 of 1) and Alexander Semin (2 of 3) to walk over and sign for us."