Moody's Olympics Gold: Team Finland

Team Finland has never won gold but finished second for silver at the last Olympiad held in Torino, Italy. Of the 23-man roster, I've managed to get 18 players from the NHL-rich squad.

I am not completely sure why, but I have been watching this group a bit more than I thought I would. Maybe because many of the players have been fan-friendly over the past few years. That always stands out for me.

Cards signed by some of Team Finland's players:

Top row: Calgary's Niklas Hagman, New York's Olli Jokinen, Annaheim's Saku Koivu and Avangard's Lasse Kukkonen; and
Bottom row: Phoenix's Sami Lepisto, Bufalo's Toni Lydman, Dallas' Jere Lehtinen and Minnesota's Niklas Backstrom.

More cards signed by Team Finland's players:

Top row: Tampa's Antero Nittymaki, Anaheim's Teemu Selanne, Vancouver's Sami Salo and Philadelphia's Kimmo Timonen; and
Bottom row: Carolina's Joni Pitkanen and Tuomo Ruutu, Ottawa's Jarkko Ruutu and Detroit's Valtteri Filppula.

The New York Rangers' Olli Jokinen with Mikayla taken on a trip to Tampa.

Minnesota's Mikko Koivu

Dynamo's Ville Peltonen.

Most of these items have been signed over the past two seasons, either in Hockey Bay or South Florida.

We still have photos of players like Lydman, Timonen, Nittymaki, and Pitkanen that were taken with Mikayla that we hope to finish (Finnish) off this season. She is also hoping to take care of a game stick from Nitty in the near future.

Picture-perfect day

When you're 8 years old, it's a huge deal when your dad lets you skip a half-day of school so you can watch your favorite NHL team practice. At least, that's what Colin told me. Because I figured it could be a day to remember, I took this picture of Colin watching Wednesday's practice.

Later that night, I had an idea. Rather than just add it to a photo album, why not let Colin use it as a second team sheet? We would certainly have the opportunity when we said good-bye to the Bruins on Thursday, as the team boarded the bus before its game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It turned to be a good idea, if I do say so myself, as 24 members of the Bruins roster and coaching staff added to the memories of the moment. Most every player, save for the late-running Tim Thomas (Colin gave him a hand-drawn "Good luck at the Olympics" card instead), honored Colin's requests. Among them: Patrice Bergeron (of course), Zdeno Chara, David Krejci, Derek Morris, Tuukka Rask, Mark Recchi and Marc Savard.

All told, we added 68 autographs over the two days. More important, though, will be the memories.

With the Vancouver Olympics kicking off tonight, our hounding adventures also took on an international flavor when, from left, Tuukka Rask, Marco Sturm and Tim Thomas signed their respective national pucks.


Colin was also lucky enough Wednesday to snag a broken stick from Andrew Ference, who later signed it for him.

Among those signing cards Wednesday were:

Top row: Zdeno Chara, Matt Hunwick and David Krejci; and
Bottom row: Mark Recchi, Miroslav Satan and Blake Wheeler


Other highlights from two days of hounding Colin's favorite team:

~ Getting his best NHL buddy Patrice Bergeron to sign their annual photo;
~ Trying something different for Colin's first team sheet of the trip for his beloved Bruins;
~ Snagging Hall of Fame goalie and Bruins legend Gerry Cheevers on a couple of jerseys; and
~ Adding a 2010 Winter Classic puck from Marco Sturm.

My bad

Thanks to Moody, Hound Central 5.0's senior correspondent, for noticing that Russia wasn't included in the HC5.0 poll asking which nation would win the hockey gold medal at the Olympics in Vancouver.

That oversight, certainly not an intended slight to a talented squad based on residual feelings from the Cold War, has been rectified.

We need more like Teemu

Anaheim's Teemu Selanne is living proof that living NHL legends can be friendly toward fans and hounds. At a time when he's coming back from a broken jaw and trying to get ready to represent Finland at the upcoming Olympics, it would have been very easy to understand if he passed on requests to sign autographs Thursday afternoon.

Selanne, one of the nicest players in the NHL, had none of that, taking the time to sign for everyone, including this 2008-09 Victory jumbo card, as he walked back to the team's hotel following the Ducks' practice at the St. Pete Times Forum.

Cardboard's lighter

In what's becoming something of a trend this season, my hounding bag for the Minnesota Wild wasn't as heavy as normal. It's not that I didn't have items for the Wild. No, that wasn't the case. It's just that I didn't have a whole lot of pucks for them.

In fact, the only two I had were for goalie Niklas Backstrom, who signed the Finland souvenir puck, and right winger and 2008-09 NHL hits leader Cal Clutterbuck, who signed the Minnesota Wild puck.

After last season's trip, when we added 20 pucks in a day from the Wild, I really didn't need to load up again. That's why, more than anything else, 50 autographed cards thoroughly dominated the 58-signature haul through two days of hounding:

Top row: Derek Boogaard, Andrew Brunette, Cal Clutterbuck and the increasingly tough and equally unpleasant Mikko Koivu; and
Bottom row: Antti Miettinen, Benoit Pouliot, Nick Schultz and Marek Zidlicky.

Also signing cards were, from left, assistant coach Dave Barr, Kyle Brodziak, Martin Havlat and Greg Zanon.

Other highlights from the Wild's visit:

~ At least four cards each from five players: Niklas Backstrom, Andrew Brunette, Brent Burns, Josh Harding and Kim Johnsson;
~ A pretty neat assortment of 8x10s from Cal Clutterbuck, Josh Harding, Martin Havlat and Owen Nolan;
~ Specialty set cards from Cal Clutterbuck, Benoit Pouliot, James Sheppard and Marek Zidlicky; and
~ a cheap-skate card from shot-blocking specialist (a nicer way of saying "defensive defenseman," don't you think?) Greg Zanon.

Well, do we?

Maybe it's nothing more than wishful thinking, but a goalie battle may be brewing down here in Hockey Bay.

The way I see it is Tampa Bay goalies Mike Smith, coming back from a concussion, and Antero Niittymaki, fresh from hip surgery, have something to prove.

That goes beyond the Lightning and the team's fans. More important, I'd dare say, is they have to prove to themselves that they're the No. 1 guy. That alone makes it interesting.

At the least, the Bolts have solidified their goaltending, health permitting.

Niittymaki, who signed this Finland puck this morning, looked pretty good during an informal skate in Brandon. It's too bad Smith isn't around. It'll be fun to watch them go head-to-head.