The Hockey Life: Week 2

When doing my research for any future hockey-hounding adventure, I always look for some sort of personal connection between us and NHL players.

Birth dates are one of the first connections I explore, looking for one that's shared between us and a player. Then, I'll look at hometowns, hoping to find a commonality, such as a city or state that we've lived in.

When getting ready for the New York Islanders recently, defenseman Mike Mottau's hometown of Quincy, Mass., caught my eye. We lived there for a few years during our most recent stint in New England.

Mottau's eyes lit up when I asked if he'd be willing to say hello to a fellow Quincy kid, a certain 9-year-old hockey pest in training who, despite being born at a hospital a couple towns south of Quincy, still spent the first two years of his life staring out a sliding glass door of our condo at the Quincy shipyard.

"Sure," Mottau said, "I'd be more than happy to do it."

As you can see, the Quincy boys posed for a photo. Mottau also signed this puck to commemorate the occasion. We'll ask Mottau to sign this picture for Colin when the Islanders return in March 2011.

Here you go, guys


Too many times, we've been on only the receiving end when it comes to hounding. It's something, I suppose, that comes with the territory. Leave it to Colin, though, to change it up.

While we waited for Tampa Bay's Ryan Malone and Mike Smith to arrive for a signing session Thursday at the Champs store in International Plaza in Tampa, Colin drew pictures to give the players.

For Smitty, it was a new design for his goalie equipment. For Bugsy, it was a picture of him scoring a goal. Both got quite a kick out of the drawings, thanking Colin for his efforts.

Intense rivalry

If you ever told me I'd be totally entertained at a high school hockey game, I'd likely tell you that you've flipped your wig. After attending the Palm Harbor University-East Lake game Friday night, I'd have to apologize and thank you for the tip.

Going in, I'd heard that these two teams aren't real fond of another. I was warned, too, that we might encounter some language unfit for grandparents and a certain 9-year-old. What we encountered, however, was a fast-paced, action-filled game that was truly entertaining.

Even better, there was no admission fee. Can't beat that deal, can you?

Line of the week

"Do you know who I am?"
Pittsburgh's Ben Lovejoy to a Hockey Bay Hound asking to get a photo with the young defenseman.

Team report: Nashville Predators

It's not very often that two NHL teams visit Hockey Bay at the same time, but that's exactly what happened last Sunday when the Nashville Predators and the Pittsburgh Penguins were in town. Even better, from a hound's point of view, was both teams stayed at the same hotel.

Sure, it meant for a busy day, as we ping-ponged between the two clubs, but our hard work was certainly rewarded, as we snagged 43 autographs, including nine pucks, from the Smashville boys. As for the Penguins, this post, over at Hockey Hounds Universe, will have to tide you over for a few days.

Among those signing pucks (shown above):

Top row: Patric Hornqvist and Pekka Rinne; and
Bottom row: Steve Sullivan and Joel Ward

Those signing cards were:

Top row: J.P. Dumont, Cody Franson and Hornqvist;
Middle row: Andrei Kostitsyn, Rinne and Sullivan; and
Bottom row: Alexander Sulzer, Jordin Tootoo and Colin Wilson

Given his rookie status, this cheap skate card came in quite handy for goalie Anders Lindback.

The other highlights of our busy day:

~ Captain Shea Weber on a 2010 Olympics gold medal champions puck;
~ Two Colins making acquaintances;
~ Adding Patric Hornqvist to the Threads collection; and
~ Colin getting a compliment on his team sheet.

Dang it!

Of the thousands of pucks we've gotten signed over the years, you'd think paint pen issues would be a thing of the past. Despite shaking and priming the DecoColor Liquid Gold paint pen, I was less than satisfied with how it worked when Nashville's Shea Weber signed this puck.

Granted, Weber's signature is legible, but it's not as thick as I'd hoped.

Colin, Colin. Colin, Colin.

Seeing that there's not too many NHL players with the first name of Colin, it's always cool when my Colin gets to meet one. In this case, it was Nashville's Colin Wilson.

"Hey, Colin, can you guess my first name," Colin asked?

"Ah, let me guess," Wilson responded. "Colin?"

"Yep," Colin said.

After the exchange, Wilson, the seventh-overall pick in the 2008 draft, was nice enough to sign these two pucks for us.

Only time tells

When I got this UD Rookie Materials jersey swatch card of Nashville's Patric Hornqvist, I wasn't all that thrilled. First, the jersey swatch came from a photo shoot, not an NHL game. Secondly, Hornqvist hadn't shown his goal-scoring prowess.

A lot has changed since then. I'm happy, too, to add this to the Threads collection. Still, though I still wish the jersey was worn during a game.

Team report: New York Islanders

On NHL teams, there are two types of players -- those who won't are reluctant to sign and those who willingly oblige requests. Thankfully, Doug Weight, the captain of the New York Islanders, is one of the latter, as these three pucks are proof-positive that he has no problem signing multiple items.

I'll be honest here, too, that was the primary reason for heading out to hound the Islanders last week. Though I'm trying to scale back on my hockey-hounding efforts this season (yeah, right), I couldn't pass up this opportunity to add to the collection.

Let me be clear, though, that these weren't the only items signed. All told, Colin and I racked up 36 autographs, including 13 pucks, from the Islanders. Others signing pucks were Trevor Gillies, Michael Grabner, Zenon Konopka and Mike Mottau.

Among those signing cards included, from left, Josh Bailey, Blake Comeau, Trent Hunter and Dwayne Roloson.

Other highlights:

~ John Tavares signing a Team Canada puck and Nino Niederreiter, taken fifth overall at the 2010 draft, signing three pucks;
~ Isles' color commentator Butch Goring on two pucks; and
~ Colin adding 15 Islanders to a team sheet.

Don't forget them

I'll admit that I haven't paid much attention to scoring autographs from team-related personnel, as in assistant coaches or broadcasters, over the past few hockey-hounding campaigns.

Going forward, though, I'll be placing a greater emphasis on these former NHL players as a way to turn decent days into good days. In this case, it was color commentator Butch Goring, who won four Stanley Cups in four years with the New York Islanders, who caught my attention.

Thanks, too, to Brett, a fellow Hockey Bay hound, for getting the old-school Los Angeles Kings puck signed for me. I was too pooped to chase Goring three blocks to get it signed. As a token of my appreciation, I gave Brett an unsigned puck to use for Goring when the Islanders return in March 2011.

Why stop now?

For the past two-plus seasons, Colin has employed his hand-drawn team sheets to load up on autographs from NHL players. This season is no different. Take this one for the New York Islanders, for instance.

In less than 45 minutes, Colin added 15 autographs from Islanders players, including captain Doug Weight, Rick DiPietro, Nino Niederreitter, Matt Moulson, James Wisniewski, Blake Comeau and Frans Nielsen.

Take a guess

I'll give you three guesses on which two big-name Pittsburgh Penguins players signed autographs for Colin on Sunday? The first two don't count, either. Find out at Hockey Hounds Universe.

Something's wrong here

Not that I'm one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but does anyone else notice what's wrong with this Vinny Lecavalier glow-in-the-dark T-shirt that the Tampa Bay Lightning gave out before Sunday's 4-3 disappointing loss to the Nashville Predators?

The Hockey Life

After the past couple of years of dysfunctional ownership, rumors of trading away Vinny Lecavalier and general discontent among a dwindling fan base, the Tampa Bay Lightning are bending over backwards to sell the sport of hockey to the next generation of fans.

Reaching out to the Hockey Bay youth hockey community, the team's charitable foundation is offering Lightning Made Hockey Clinics over the course of the 2010-11 season. Last Wednesday, Colin, shown front and center in the photo above, took part in the first clinic of the season, spending an hour on an NHL rink at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa.

Led by former Lightning star Brian Bradley, these clinics are much more than gentle twirls around the ice. It's fast, hard laps around a big rink. It's one-on-one drills that combine speed, skill and determination. It's passing to, and getting passes from, Lightning great Dave Andreychuk.

Bottom line, it's a big deal for these kids, who all received jerseys from the team, to take part in one of these clinics. If the Lightning are selling the game, it's safe to say we're buying.

A proud moment

I know it's rec hockey and Colin's my son, but you would've had a hard time finding prouder parents last night at the Clearwater Ice Arena than yours truly and The Missus.

In the second game of Colin's hockey doubleheader with the Pinellas Police Athletic League Stars, our pest-in-training scored on his first-ever penalty shot. Thankfully, The Missus had the camera taping the historic event in Colin's young hockey career.

Reaching out

One Hockey Bay Hound tweeted the New York Islanders' Matt Moulson just after arriving at the team's hotel Wednesday night, asking him if he would come down and sign some autographs.

Much to the hound's surprise, Moulson tweeted back, saying he'd be down in a few minutes. Sure enough, Moulson showed up. And, yes, he signed.

Line of the week

"You want me to sign on my face?"
Dallas Stars' Matt Niskanen, when presented with a MVP 2 on 2 Jerseys card featuring four NHL defensemen.

Team report: Dallas Stars

All summer long, hockey hounds wait for the first visiting NHL team of the season. In my case, down here in Hockey Bay, it was the Dallas Stars. Thankfully, the team didn't disappoint as I added 19 autographs, including 10 pucks, in a quick hockey-hounding trip.

Players signing pucks, shown above, included:

Top row: Trevor Daley, Loui Eriksson and Kari Lehtonen; and
Bottom row: Brenden Morrow, Steve Ott and Karlis Skrastins.

Players signing cards included, from left, Mark Fistric, Matt Niskanen, Mike Ribeiro and Jeff Woywitka.

Other highlights:

~ Morrow signing a 2010 Olympics gold medal champions puck;
~ Ribeiro and Niskanen adding to the Threads collection; and
~ Assistant coach Stu Barnes signing the first two autographs of the 2010-11 hockey-hounding campaign.

Fabric samples

One of the primary projects of our 2010-11 hockey-hounding campaign will be adding to the Threads collection. Given my luck at winning some decent-sized lots -- 22 and 14 cards in two deals -- on eBay over the summer, there will be ample opportunity to do so.

Dallas' Mike Ribeiro and Matt Niskanen added to the collection. Hat's off, too, to Ribeiro for adding his Montreal number -- 71. That MVP 2 on 2 Jerseys card that Niskanen signed, which features swatches from four NHL defensemen, is a work in progress. Besides Atlanta's Tobias Enstrom, I'll need Vancouver's Kevin Bieksa to complete it.

Breaking the ice

So, who signed the first autographs of our 2010-11 hockey-hounding campaign? Well, it was Stu Barnes, an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars.

I suppose one could argue that the campaign began back in August, even before training camps opened. I prefer, though, to kick off a campaign with the first visiting team of the season.

Color of choice

You can always pick out veteran hockey hounds by the color of Sharpie marker they use. Though black and silver Sharpies can serve useful purposes, it's the old reliable -- the blue Sharpie fine point marker -- that gets the lion's share of the work.

And, in this case, blue Sharpies gained the lion's share of the votes, as Hound Central 5.0 readers overwhelmingly picked that color as the one most often handed to hockey players to sign photos and cards.

Question: Favorite Sharpie color?

Blue: 15 votes out of 20 cast (75 percent)
Black: 3 votes (15 percent)
Silver: 2 votes (10 percent)

Bonus material

As part of 2010-11 ticket package for the Tampa Bay Lightning, our rep gave us tickets to last Saturday's preseason game between the Florida Panthers and the Bolts. For once, we got to sit in the lower bowl, about 12 rows behind the Panthers bench.

One of the funniest moments came in the second period when Tampa Bay's Steve Downie questioned the collective manhood of the Florida Panthers' bench as he skated past it at the end of a shift. Even funnier was the wave, so to speak, of Panthers' players turning their helmeted heads to hear him.

Here's who else we're seeing this season, in our seats well above where we sat for the Panthers:

Oct. 9: Atlanta Thrashers (Lighting's season opener)
Oct. 24: Nashville Predators
Nov. 22: Boston Bruins
Dec. 28: Boston Bruins
Feb. 6, 2011: St. Louis Blues
Feb. 17: Detroit Red Wings
Feb. 23: Phoenix Coyotes
March 9: Chicago Blackhawks

When worlds collide

Here we are, the 2010-11 NHL season hasn't even started, and I'm reporting, at least from a hockey hound's perspective, a troubling stat: I'm 0-for-2 in card books. Thinking I'd given myself a head start by getting card books ready for the Florida Panthers and Atlanta Thrashers, I won't be able to use either just now.

Last week, the Florida Panthers arrived only hours before a preseason game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, taking a bus to the St. Pete Times Forum after landing at Tampa International Airport. No overnight stay meant no hounding opportunities.

Instead, we looked ahead to this Saturday, when the Atlanta Thrashers travel to Hockey Bay for the Bolts' season opener. With any luck, we would've reached the team's hotel with enough time to break the ice. Well, that's not going to happen know.

Funny thing, though, I'm not complaining. Colin has a hockey doubleheader with his Pinellas P.A.L. Stars squad this Saturday. I'll miss the first game, as I have to work. I'll make it for his second game.

When it comes down to it, the decision is a no-brainer. Watching Colin put a summer's worth of skating to work during his hockey games tops everything else.

Besides, both Southeastern Division rivals will be back. I'll kick off my hockey-hounding season Oct. 18, when the Dallas Stars fly over the Gulf of Mexico.

Serving our purpose, too

Maybe it's because hockey-free summers can drag on, but an overwhelming majority (7-to-1 ratio) of Hound Central 5.0 readers believe that NHL training camps are opportunities to add to autograph collections. It's easy to understand, too.

For some of us, especially those whose 2009-10 hockey-hounding campaigns ended when the playoffs began, the nearly five-month-long wait is too long to twiddle our thumbs. We've had plenty of time to put away items. We've set up card books for the first five visiting teams. Our Sharpies offer thin, crisp lines.

Training camps fulfill the need. They're good for catching a team's prospects and new faces. It's a time to get our fill of the hometown team. It's our time, so to speak, to get back into hounding shape.

Question: Are training camps a good time to score autographs?

Yes: 14 out of 16 votes cast (87.5 percent)
No: 2 votes (12.5 percent)