No easy feat

Even before the 2010-11 NHL season began, we scored the four biggest autographs of the current hockey-hounding campaign when Steve Yzerman, the Tampa Bay Lightning's geenral manager, headed out for coffee one afternoon during the club's rookie camp.

Not only did we snag some top-shelf pieces from the Hall of Famer, but all of the stumbling and scrambling we endured also provided a good story. Those four pucks, in turn, made a quick dent in a project that, as the season has progressed, has proven more difficult that I'd imagined.

After thinking that The Yzerman Project, as it was named, would be easy to complete, we've had few opportunities to add to it. Since that day, I've carried at least one puck for the 12-puck project anytime I went hounding in Tampa.

When the Detroit Red Wings came to town recently, though, I knew an opportunity just might exist. My instincts paid off when, on the night before the game, Yzerman met Red Wings GM Ken Holland for dinner in downtown St. Petersburg.

Thankfully, a tip put me in the right place at the right time. This puck, which commemorates the Red Wings' 2002 Presidents' Trophy, leaves us with seven more to go.