The Hockey Life: Week 11

After hounding NHL players in person for nearly 15 years, it's easy to become jaded or lazy. Thankfully, I've had decent luck, building a substantial collection of autographed pucks, cards and assorted memorabilia that I hope someday will be passed on to future generations of my family.

Part of the process has been introducing Colin to the hobby. From his hand-drawn team sheets to cards and the occasional puck, he's quickly come up to speed. I'm proud to admit, too, that he outhounds his old man on a fairly consistent basis. After all, it's his collection, not mine.

More than any autograph, even one from Wayne Gretzky, spending quality time with Colin and gaining stories that will last a lifetime are my rewards. If nothing else, hockey and hounding bind this father and son.

Another reward is introducing others to the hobby, particularly in-person hounding where meeting and interacting NHL players is just as much fun, maybe even moreso, as getting their autographs.

For the past week, we've helped introduce two of Colin's youth hockey teammates to the world of in-person hockey hounding. They've learned how to find teams at hotels, the best times to see the players and that nonglossy cards are easier to use than glossy cards. More importantly, they've learned that 45 minutes of patience often yields five minutes of hockey-hounding bliss.

Their reward? In three trips for the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, one-half of the NHL's Original Six, the boys added a significant number of autographs to their growing collections. Along the way, they scored autographs from some of the NHL's biggest names -- Boston's Tim Thomas and Marc Savard. Montreal's Mike Cammalleri and Carey Price. New York's Marian Gaborik and Henrik Lundqvist.

We could be better hosts

It's not that I'm against tourists here in Florida. They're the economic lifeblood for many businesses and residents. It's even better, too, when they're hockey fans, helping to fill up the St. Pete Times Forum.

Over the past few seasons, we've had the pleasure of meeting Canadian families down here in Hockey Bay. Like us, they were hanging out near their favorite team's hotel in bids to score autographs from their hockey heroes. Because they're on holiday, they're getting some souvenirs.

Depending upon their attitudes, which quite often are far more gracious than any visitors from U.S. locales, we've been more than happy to help out by identifying players, tell them the best times to see their team as well as offer insight on other attractions.

Every so often, though, we detect an air of hockey superiority. After all, hockey is, indeed, Canada's sport. The game, too, has been played north of the border far longer than down here in Hockey Bay. Still, some fans' expectations that Canada-based teams will win long before the puck is dropped is a bit humorous.

It's poetic justice, I suppose, that the Lightning find a way to humble these fans, as well as their hometown teams, just like the Bolts did last Thursday against the Canadiens.

Awfully quiet

Speaking of the Lightning's 4-1 victory over the Canadiens last week, what did you think of Steven Stamkos' spin-o-rama penalty shot goal? Pretty sweet, wasn't it?

What I couldn't help thinking, though, and I'm not alone in this opinion, was how the goal, as well as Lightning's response, could be viewed as hypocritical. It wasn't all that long ago that the Lightning and a portion of its fan base were criticizing Edmonton rookie Linus Omark's spin-o-rama during a shootout.

In Omark's case, his nifty move was far enough away from the net that it shouldn't have bothered Tampa Bay's Dan Ellis. It did, though, and the Oilers won that game. Stamkos' move, however, came on Montreal goalie Carey Price's doorstop. Rather than being panned as a "hot dog" move, heaps of praise, and deservedly so, were showered upon Stamkos.

Like I said back then, there's nothing wrong with injecting some entertainment and derring-do in the game. In fact, it's too bad we don't see more action like that. Sitting deep in your seat, rather than on its edge, gets boring.

Going forward, though, let's hope the Lightning players and fans keep their mouths shut should it happen again to them.

No laughing matter

Two times last week, an anonmymous reader felt the need to comment, in harassing and potentially threatening manners, on Colin's hockey abilities. Sorry, young man, but I take things like that seriously. That's one of reasons why I use a website stat-tracking program. This isn't the first time it's proved useful, but I'm hoping it's the last.

As a result, I've filed complaints with the Ontario Provincial Police, the home base for Rogers Cable, the Internet service provider linked to the easily tracked user (99.251.197.122), as well as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Fredericton, New Brunswick, the origin of the IP address.

Furthermore, young man, if you feel the need to disparage a 9-year-old to make yourself feel better, it's my advice, coming only as a father, that you seek professional help. If it's true that you're a AAA midget player who's ranked for the Ontario Hockey League draft, as you claim to be, let's hope the teams, for their own sake, place as much value on character as they do skill.

And, if you don't like what I'm writing, don't bother stopping by. We'll do just fine without you.