Back in the saddle

After a couple of weeks away from hockey-hounding because of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, the Philadelphia Flyers kicked off the final push of the 2009-10 campaign here in Hockey Bay. Going into Tuesday's session, I wasn't sure what to expect.

Would the Flyers be in a good mood, buoyed by gold-medal-winning performances from teammates Mike Richards and Chris Pronger? Or, would they be grumpy, having to deal with dealers and hounds for the first time since their midseason respite?

After adding two dozen autographs to the collection, including 22 cards, it's safe to say the Flyers were in a reasonable mood, with nearly all (save for Kimmo Timonen) signing before the morning skate. On the way back, though, very few honored repeat requests.

As always, though, very few complaints. Among those signing cards (shown above) were:

Top row: Daniel Briere, Daniel Carcillo and Matt Carle; and
Bottom row: Jeff Carter, Braydon Coburn and Riley Cote.

Also signing cards were:

Top row: Simon Gagne, Scott Hartnell and Ian Laperriere; and
Bottom row: Ryan Parent, Chris Pronger and Mike Richards.

Other highlights from the first day back from the two-week 2010 Olympics break:

~ Getting Claude Giroux to sign this Gatineau Olympiques puck, from his days in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League;
~ Adding a Calgary Flames puck from Hall of Famer Joe Mullen, a Flyers assistant coach; and
~ Learning that I wasn't the first person to confuse Darroll Powe for Giroux.