Good for laughs

Now that Moody has told his story of getting autographs from Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman, it's time to spill the beans on what happened just before the new Tampa Bay Lightning general manager made him feel like a 14-year-old girl at a Jonas Brothers concert.

Because it was hot that day during the Lightning's Young Guns player development camp, we braved the outside elements tucked inside the air-conditioned comfort of Moody's truck. It was, after all, summertime in Florida.

As we sat inside, soaking up the AC and trying to stave off an afternoon nap, we spied someone walking down a sidewalk. At first, the person's identity was obscured by bushes and we dismissed it was Yzerman because the person appeared to be wearing a touristlike fanny pack.

Boy, were we ever wrong. Not only was this person not wearing a fanny pack (it was a cell phone holster), but it was, indeed, the Red Wings' legendary captain. The alarms, so to speak, were sounded.

In what can be accurately described only as a jailbreak or a scene from the Three Stooges, the three of us (Moody, Colin and I) sprung to action. Colin nearly climbed over Moody trying to get out. In return, Moody nearly sent Colin back into his seat. Me? I was fumbling through my bag to grab the pucks shown above as well as two paint pens.

Moody was the first to leave the truck, scrambling up a small incline to the sidewalk and begin the chase. Colin, only seconds behind in his departure, ran along the incline, issuing his request.

"Yzerman," he shouted, "can you sign for my friend and Dad?" (It's nice to know where I rank, isn't it?) No "Mr. Yzerman" or "Steve." Just "Yzerman."

Thankfully, Stevie Y stopped.

After gathering the four pucks and pens, I nearly fell out of Moody's truck, getting a foot tangled up in my hounding bag, to join the chase. Despite my girth and age, I made up lost ground as quickly as I could, most likely causing seismic activity from my heavy feet.

As you can see, our reward was well worth the comedic effort. In less than five minutes of actual hounding, coming within a nearly three-hour-long wait, we knocked out one-third of our primary hounding project this season, The Yzerman Project.

For the record, Colin scored the Red Wings and Lightning pucks. Given Yzerman's and Team Canada's success at the 2010 Olympics, I had Yzerman sign the top pucks in gold.