Team report: Phoenix Coyotes

Surprise! No, I didn't make a mistake. This is, in fact, a team report for the Phoenix Coyotes' recent visit to Hockey Bay. Don't be fooled by these three New York Rangers pucks, though. They were all signed by members of the Coyotes organization: Don Maloney, Michal Rozsival and Ulf Samuelsson.

I must admit, however, that I was getting a bit concerned. You see, these were the first three pucks I got signed, out of seven for the day, and I started wondering whether I'd have any that showed the Coyotes logo. Well, I did get at least one Phoenix puck signed:

From left, Mikkel Boedker, Shane Doan and Tyson Nash.

Thankfully, there were no shortage of Coyotes cards, as well as a few other teams, that got signed:

Top row: Eric Belanger, Paul Bissonette, Ilya Bryzgalov and Oliver Ekman-Larsson; and
Bottom row: Martin Hanzal, Lauri Korpikoski, Jason LaBarbera and Derek Morris.

All told, we scored 68 autographs, including 33 cards, in one day from Phoenix. The trip also marked the 25th hounding adventure of the 2010-11 campaign.

It gets better, too. The New Jersey Devils were staying at the same hotel on the same day. Though we were unprepared, we managed to snag a few. Expect those reports next week.

Other highlights, and one downer, from the Coyotes:

~ talking Colin out of drawing a lizard for his team sheet;
~ bragging about getting 20 autographs from five players;
~ making the call to move to silver Sharpies;
~ adding a couple of cards to the Threads project; and
~ using a cheap skate card for David Schlemko.

The Hockey Life: Week 17

For Colin, one of the best parts of going to a Lightning game is hanging out down by the boards, before and during warmups. He'll go off by himself, survey his surroundings and escape into his own little world. If there's a new issue for the game program, like there was last Sunday, he'll bury his nose in it until the lights come up, the music starts to blare and the players hit the ice.

The real reason he heads down there, though, is to snag pucks. Rather than crowd into the Lightning's side, where fans stack up three to four deep, he prefers the visitors side. Not so much that he'll root for them, but there's often less competition for a player's gracious gesture. Some times it works, some times it doesn't.

There have been a few times, like last Sunday, when he shares the wealth. Though St. Louis' Vladimir Sobotka clearly intended to flip him a puck, his aim was a bit off and another little boy scooped it up. Though I thought he'd be disappointed, my little man surprised me.

After the little boy's mom walked over and tried to give him the puck, Colin told her that it was OK. Her son could keep it. He told her he'd gotten pucks before, and it was good to see another kid get his first puck during warmups.

Yeah, he's my kid, but I'm not sure too many others would've done the same thing. He may not always be the best behaved, and his hearing is a bit selective (ask The Missus, not me), but he's got a heart of gold.

Going solo

Of all the times I've waited outside the St. Pete Times Forum after a Lightning morning skate, I can't recall ever getting an autograph from Steve Downie. Mostly, it's because he's usually with Steven Stamkos, who seldom, if at all, stops at those times.

That changed Thursday, when Downie appeared at a St. Petersburg motorsports dealer for a 90-minute, meet-and-greet signing session. After walking away with seven autographs, including the four cards shown above, it'll be a long time before we'll need to have anything else signed.

I'd heard through the Hockey Bay hounding grapevine that he'd sign multiple autographs during these appearances. After getting ours and watching some folks make multiple trips through the line, there's no doubt in my mind.

Even better, as gritty as he plays on the ice, he was pretty friendly with fans. When Colin told him about how he got yelled at for skating too fast at a mall rink, Downie looked incredulous.

"What's up with that? You got yelled at for skating fast?" he asked Colin. "Dude, that's just wrong."

With just a few words, I'm thinking Downie gained two new fans.

Quote of the week

"It's easier on the body, but I don't get the same buzz."
Bill Clement, a former NHL player and announcer, on the difference between his two occupations.

Team report: St. Louis Blues

Given the fluid situation we faced last weekend, and I'm not just talking about rain, we weren't even certain we'd be able to hound the St. Louis Blues last weekend during their one and only trip to Hockey Bay during the 2010-11 hockey-hound campaign.

After spending Saturday in Orlando, using the last day of out three-day pass to Disney theme parks at Animal Kingdom, we thought we were heading south to Ellenton for Colin to kick off his rec league season Sunday afternoon. From there, we'd zip back around Tampa Bay to watch the Blues play the Lightning at the St. Pete Times Forum.

Well, that changed.

On Friday night, hours before we would take a late-night drive to Orlando, we learned that Colin's game was postponed. Something about a Super Bowl and parties, we were told. While that meant we'd be able to hound the Blues, it also meant I'd have to scramble to get ready. So there I was, sitting outside the hotel at nearly 1 a.m. Saturday, prepping an inch-high stack of cards I cobbled together.

Really, I shouldn't complain that we added only 33 autographs. Only days before, I didn't think we'd be getting any.

Signing pucks, shown at top, were:

Top row: Ben Bishop and Brad Boyes; and
Bottom row: Alex Pietrangelo and Scott Mellanby.

Signing cards, shown above, were:

Top row: Patrik Berglund, Matt D'Agostini and Cam Janssen; and
Bottom row: Roman Polak, Alexander Steen and Brad Winchester

Other highlights were:

~ Colin, who had a much better day at hounding than his old man, scoring 20 autographs on a hand-drawn team sheet; and
~ putting a less-than-thrilling jersey swatch card to good use.

They're really nice guys

By Colin
Hound Central 5.0 junior correspondent

I couldn't believe how nice the St. Louis Blues were as a team. I expected them to be a little grumpy, because they're a team that hasn't had the best season. That's why I was surprised that I got so many of them to sign my team sheet.

My Dad tells me I did pretty good, getting 20 autographs. He knows the players better than I do, but he said I got guys like Patrik Berglund, Brad Boyes, Eric Brewer, Barret Jackman, Erik Johnson, T.J. Oshie and Alexander Steen (he's on our fantasy hockey team). My Dad said I even got Scott Mellanby on it.

I wanted to get David Backes to sign it, but he walked out the hotel's back door or something. That was a little disappointing. He's an American-born player like me and I wanted to ask him a question about taking faceoffs.

What's up with this?

If there were really any rules within our Threads project, where we use jersey swatch cards as platforms for autographs, one would likely be that the swatch itself has to come from a jersey (or sweater, for the purist) worn in an official NHL game.

Well, that isn't the case here. The swatch on this card, which St. Louis' Brad Winchester signed for us last Sunday, came from a photo shoot.

If so, which photo shoot? The photo, taken during Winchester's days with Edmonton, shows him wearing a white jersey. As you can see, the swatch is dark blue.

In a way, I feel a little cheated. Not by Winchester, mind you, but by Upper Deck. Then again, I really shouldn't have been surprised, should I?

Thankfully, I got this card as part of an eBay lot, where the average cost was about $1.50 per card.

Team report: New Jersey Devils

My full intention was to hound the New Jersey Devils last Friday before the team's morning skate. That all changed, though, when I learned that the Devils would be skating at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon the day before.

The only concern, though, was whether I could get over to the rink in time after picking up Colin from school. Well, that wasn't a problem.

In another sign that the Hockey Gods do, indeed, smile upon us, we weren't at the rink for more than five minutes when players and coaches started leaving the ice. Less than 45 minutes later, we'd added another 33 autographs, including 21 cards, to the collection.

Among those signing pucks, shown above from left, were Ilya Kovalchuk, Matthew Corrente and Mattias Tedenby.

Just for good measure, we also had Adam Oates, now an assistant coach for the Devils, sign this pair of pucks, too.

Among those signing cards were:

Top row: Jason Arnott, Matthew Corrente, Patrik Elias and Adam Mair; and
Bottom row: Brian Rolston, Colin White, Travis Zajac and Dainius Zubrus.

Other highlights from our brief, but fruitful, opportunity of hounding:

~ getting Hall of Famer Larry Robinson on four cards;
~ adding a pair of autographs from Martin Brodeur;
~ scoring a hat trick from Jason Arnott; and
~ having Patrik Elias add to the Threads project.

Four for four

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times. The best time to get NHL players is at the beginning of their NHL careers. Most of them, I'd dare say, are among the most willing signers, not even batting an eyelash at signing at least four cards at a time.

Last week's hockey hounding adventure for the Montreal Canadiens proves my point. Montreal's Lars Eller (from top to bottom), Tom Pyatt, P.K. Subban and Yannick Weber added 16 of the 45 cards that I got signed before and after the team's morning skate.

Getting the younger players is a good way, too, to build diversity into your autographed card collection. Not only are there NHL cards, but the American Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Team Canada are all represented.

Adding up

Though hockey hounds often use nineboards when getting cards signed, we're happy, for a number of reasons, with offering only four cards at a time. It has nothing to do with not wanting to be greedy because, yes, we like getting as many autographs as we can.

Instead, I like using a compact card book, one that fits easily into a pocket. Even moreso, I don't want to take the time involved in not just putting together nineboards, but actually working that many cards for players.

Another reason, especially this season, is the cardbook is easier for Colin to handle. After last week's visit by the Atlanta Thrashers, he has a significant number of reasons why he's finding cardbooks useful.

All told, he scored 47 autographs from Thrashers players, including these five who signed all four cards he offered:

Forwards Nik Antropov and Evander Kane;

forward Bryan Little and goalie Chris Mason; and

defenseman Brent Sopel.

Editor's note: This is the 500th post of Hound Central 5.0. Special thanks to those who've helped out and to our faithful readers.

Gone camping

Florida hounds camp a bit different than typical folks. Instead of the deep woods, we venture into the concrete jungle. Instead of birdwatching, we keep an eye out for hockey players. Most importantly, instead of a musky old tent, we rough it at the Marriott Waterside in Tampa.

All in all, it was still a good time spent with my little girls and our pals, Ron and Colin.

I used last week's Tampa Bay Lightning Young Guns development camp to hone my skills for finding non-NHL photos for players to sign. In my opinion, I did pretty good.

That will be the theme for the upcoming season when I hound. I will make an effort in my 8x10s to only use college, juniors and international photos.

Andrew Agozzino: Camp invitee

Carter Ashton: 2009 first-round pick

Mark Barberio: 2008 sixth-round pick

Brock Beukeboom: 2010 third-round pick

Brett Connolly: 2010 first-round pick

Mitch Fadden: 2007 fourth-round pick on game-used jersey

Scott Jackson: 2005 second-round pick by the St. Louis Blues (Photo also signed by Fadden)

Radko Gudas: 2010 third-round pick

Joe Hartman: Camp invitee

Alex Hutchings: 2009 fourth-round pick

Brandon Hynes: Camp invitee

Adam Janosik: 2010 third-round pick

Jaroslav Janus: 2009 sixth-round pick

Jim Johnson: Norfolk Admirals coach

Zane Kalemba: Camp invitee

Alex Killorn: 2007 third-round pick

Tom Kurvers: assistant general manager, at the time of this camp

Jonathan Lessard: Camp invitee

Tim Marks: Camp invitee

Matt Marshall: 2007 fifth-round pick

Brendan O'Donnell: 2010 sixth-round pick

Richard Panik: 2009 second-round pick

Kevin Quick: 2006 third-round pick (Go Blue!!)

Geoffrey Schemitsch: 2010 fourth-round pick

Dustin Sylvester: Camp invitee

Dustin Tokarski: 2008 fifth-round pick on a game-used stick

Dana Tyrell: 2007 second-round pick

Pat Verbeek: Lightning head pro scout

Luke Witkowski: 2008 sixth-round pick

Ty Wishart: 2006 first-round pick by the San Jose Sharks

Michael Zador: 2009 fifth-round pick

Teigan Zahn: 2010 seventh-round pick in the greatest fight photo ever!

Guess who?

What Hall of Famer and big-footed cheater did Moody get to sign three cards in 10 days?

10 Questions: Todd Ewen

Todd Ewen played for the St Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Anaheim Mighty Ducks and the San Jose Sharks. He got his name on the Stanley Cup in 1993 while with the Canadiens.

These days, he's a marketing and sales executive at Remax Properties West.

In 10 Questions, Hound Central 5.0 asks NHL players -- past and present -- a few questions about their views on autographs. Former NHLer Ian Moran was the first to respond, giving us a few minutes of his time. Same with the likes of Brian Propp, Kevin Miller, David Harlock and Jeff Shevalier. We truly appreciate the opportunity provided by Ewen.

Hound Central 5.0: Did you collect cards/autographs as a kid? If so, who's your favorite autograph?
Todd Ewen: Todd McFarlane with Spawn comics ( Vancouver born)

Hound Central 5.0: Is signing autographs fun or a chore?
Todd Ewen: Always a pleasure!

Hound Central 5.0: What's the weirdest thing you've ever signed?
Todd Ewen: Never really had a weird situation in signing.

Hound Central 5.0: Best/worst cities for autograph hound/dealers?
Todd Ewen: L.A .. East Coast usually have the most dealers in the crowd, but it was growing when I retired.

Hound Central 5.0: Can you tell the difference between autograph dealers and collectors?
Todd Ewen: After over a decade in the NHL, you see the same faces, doesn’t take long to figure them out.

Hound Central 5.0: Does it really matter to you if someone is selling your autographs?
Todd Ewen: Yes and no. You want to give back to the game and make sure that you sign for the fans. Without them, there is no following.

Hound Central 5.0: Would/do you sign blank pieces of photo paper?
Todd Ewen: No!

Hound Central 5.0: Any items you won't sign?
Todd Ewen: No.

Hound Central 5.0: Most famous person to ask for your autograph? Most famous person you've asked for an autograph?
Todd Ewen: The most famous person I asked for an autograph was former President Gerald R. Ford in Anaheim.

Hound Central 5.0: Black or blue Sharpies?
Todd Ewen: Whatever is available, I will sign with a crayon if they want.

Hound Central 5.0 and its correspondents thank Ewen for his time in answering these questions. We appreciate his efforts, on and off the ice.