Team report: Florida Panthers II

Even if it was the last regular-season home game and the team visiting Hockey Bay was the Florida Panthers, I was a bit surprised for the sparse showing before morning skate. All told, there were four of us. Yes, only four of us.

Maybe I've gotten used to bigger crowds, or perhaps people had run out of items to get signed, but it was a little disappointing that an NHL team, even one that's had so little success over the years, would draw so few hounds.

A hounding opportunity, to me, is just that -- an opportunity to add to collections. Oh, well, I didn't let anything stop me from adding a baker's dozen of autographs to the collection, including the 2,300th puck of the collection.

Signing the pucks were:

Top row: Sergei Samsonov (for No. 2,300) and Mike Santorelli; and
Bottom row: Tomas Vokoun and Stephen Weiss.

Signing cards were, from left, Steve Bernier, David Booth and Darcy Hordichuk.

Other highlights:

~ Putting a trio of specialty pucks to good use; and
~ having goalie Scott Clemmensen sign my only remaining Lowell Devils puck.

Keep this to yourself

I'll let you in on a little secret. Using specialty pucks is one of the quickest ways to get NHL players to stop and sign. After seeing the same old team pucks, city after city and season after season, players gravitate toward something new to sign.

Signing these three, during the Florida Panthers' visit to Hockey Bay last week, were, from left, Niclas Bergfors, Dmitry Kulikov and Stephen Weiss.

Team report: Carolina Hurricanes III

Even without a calendar, it's easy to tell when the end of an NHL regular season approaches: division foes come calling to Hockey Bay in an increasing frequency. Though it's a time to add to the collection, you can find yourself running out of items.

That's the reason why I loaded up on cards, rather than this single puck signed by Jeff Skinner, during the Carolina Hurricanes' third and final visit to Hockey Bay recently. All told, 18 of the 20 autographs I scored that day came on cardboard.

For the second straight trip, too, I missed on Hurricanes captain Eric Staal. This time, it was because he said he'd sign after the morning skate. Too bad, I suppose, that I had to be at work by then. The 2011 All-Star Game and Team Canada pucks will have to wait. Maybe he'll be back for the playoffs.

Signing cards, shown above, were:

Top row: Bryan Allen, Drayson Bowman and Erik Cole;
Middle row: Patrick Dwyer, Tim Gleason and Jussi Jokinen; and
Bottom row: Justin Peters, Tuomo Ruuttu and Cory Stillman.

Other highlights from a morning of hounding:

~ Having Cam Ward find enough room on a mini jersey; and
~ Jiri Tlusty signing four cards -- finally.

Returning the favor

A few weeks ago, Moody asked Colin help him get Hall of Fame goalie Tony Esposito on more than one item, a sweet black-and-white 16x20 photo from his younger days. Seeing that we had only one item for Tony O, it was a pretty easy call.

Last week, Moody returned the favor, getting New York's Michael Grabner, as pleasant a surprise as there has been this season, to sign these four cards when the New York Islanders came calling to Hockey Bay.

Thirty-four days later

Last month, just before Thanksgiving, Colin and I took a quick road trip to Florida's east coast for a Boston-Florida game. A boys night out, if you will.

While at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, we picked up a free game program. Tucked inside was this card. Not exactly top-shelf stuff, but certainly something worth getting signed as a souvenir.

It didn't take long for Florida's Stephen Weiss, another of Colin's NHL "buddies," to sign his side (left) of the picture.

Boston's David Krejci, in town to play the Tampa Bay Lightning, completed the road trip souvenir earlier this week.

Two cards, three autos

Most times, we're just happy to add a single card to the work-in-progress Threads project. But when the Carolina Hurricanes came to town earlier this week, we were fortunate enough to add a couple to the collection.

Not only did Erik Cole sign his card, but recently acquired defenseman Ian White completed this double-swatch card previously signed by former Toronto Maple Leafs teammate, Bryan McCabe, now the captain of the Florida Panthers.

Team report: Florida Panthers

When you hound a team like the Florida Panthers, one of the Tampa Bay Lightning's division rivals, it's easy to run out of different items to get signed. That when cards, a hockey-hounding staple, come in handy.

When that happens, like this past Saturday when the Panthers traveled to Hockey Bay, it's not unusual to have some players sign all four cards we offered. It also adds up to a successful adventure, when we snagged more than 40 autographs in less than a hour.

Panthers players signing four cards each were:

Wingers Steve Bernier (top row) and Michael Frolik;

winger Rostislav Olesz (top row) and center Steven Reinprecht; and

winger Michael Repik.

Of course, not every player, for a variety of reasons, signed four cards:

Top row: David Booth, Scott Clemmensen and Keaton Ellerby; and
Bottom row: Shawn Matthias, Tomas Vokoun and Stephen Weiss.

Other highlights from Saturday's quick trip:

~ Vokoun adding to the Threads collection; and
~ Booth and Weiss signing a couple of road trip souvenirs.

Thanks, eBay!

Earlier this year, when I actually had some spare cash on hand, I snagged a couple of jersey swatch lots off of eBay. While a few of the cards were viewed as collectibles, most were simply adding to the stock of items we'll use in our future hockey hounding adventures.

This card of Florida goalie Tomas Vokoun, who's one of the best signing players in the NHL, was part of one of those hauls.

On Saturday, the card, which features a nice, bright yellow swatch with some stitch marks as well as Vokoun's distinctive signature, became the latest addition to our Threads collection.

The Hockey Life: Week 6

In a sense, Boston's Tyler Seguin was correct. I was sending Colin over to get autographs. Where the Boston rookie was wrong, though, was who the autographs were for. They weren't for me, they were for someone else -- a youth hockey team up in Wisconsin that's holding a fundraiser to help offset player registration costs.

Still, that didn't keep Seguin from upsetting Colin, not by declining his request to add to the Bruins logo banner, but in how he did it, insulting his father (that's me, you know) by saying that he was the "kid whose father sends him over to get autographs for him."

In a sense, he accused me of "pimping out" Colin just to get signatures. Sorry, rookie, but that's hardly the case. I help Colin get his own autographs, telling him who players are and finding their cards within the card book. I'm a big boy, and I get my own autographs when I'm out hounding by myself. If Colin's with me, it's his hounding adventure, not mine.

From my point of view, there's little wrong with a father bringing out his son(s) for autographs. For the most part, it's a bonding moment. Every other NHL team or player we've hounded hasn't had a problem with our approach. If they have, they've kept their yaps shut or simply said "no."

Needless to say, Seguin set off a bit of a firestorm, as Hockey Bay hounds jumped all over him, pointing out his less-than-stellar start of the season left little room for his attitude. Incensed, I questioned the young man's intelligence, suggesting that if he could read (I believe he can), he might want to check out this blog.

I'll even admit to asking the Hockey Gods to teach the young man a few lessons, too, in the form of an extended slump and, adding in a dose of much-needed humility, a couple of long, haul-your-own-gear-bag bus rides down in Providence.

Seguin's young and, apparently, has plenty to learn about being a professional. Let's hope he puts this unfortunate incident to good use. We'll find out in December, when the Bruins come back to Hockey Bay. Depending on Seguin's attitude, maybe I'll have another chat with the Hockey Gods.

Boys' night out

Last week, as a reward for all of his hard work at school, Colin and I headed south, even heading across the famous Alligator Alley, to watch his beloved Bruins play the Florida Panthers.

It wasn't all about the Bruins, even though we stayed at the team's hotel, wishing the players well after checking out. It wasn't about the hounding, either, as we completed our goal days before in Hockey Bay.

No, it was about hanging out and watching hockey. Visiting someplace new with a sense of adventure. Bottom line, it was another instance of father-son bonding.

Of course, we had a great time. Colin had a rinkside view of warmups. He got lots of compliments and smiles on his game-night get-up. He even got to meet the diminutive Mini, one of the two Panther's mascots. Even better, in Colin's eyes, the Bruins won, earning a 1-1 split in their two-game road trip to the Sunshine State.

I think we'll do it again.

On the big ice

Though Colin has skated a couple of times on the ice at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, he'd never played a game on the Tampa Bay Lightning's home rink. That changed Friday when his Pinellas P.A.L. Stars took on the Tampa Bay Titans.

Colin, who was named as an alternate captain of his squirts-peewee squad, even had the honor of taking the opening faceoff for the Stars. And, yes, some of the kids he played against were bantams and midgets.

From what I hear, he did his best at being a pest, getting under the skin of a couple of bantam players for his dogged defense. He even drew a penalty. Even though the Stars lost, he said he had a blast.

Quote of the week

"Is that Mini?"
Colin, his tongue planted firmly-in-cheek, as he pointed out Florida's Bryan Allen, who stands 6-foot-4, yesterday morning outside the Panthers' team hotel.

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.

Stockpiling material

One of the more enjoyable projects during the 2009-10 hockey hounding campaign was adding to the Threads collection of signed jersey swatch cards. Though we'll be scaling back during the 2010-11 season, in terms of items and trips, continuing this project will represent a major part of our efforts.

Thanks to eBay, I've been cherry-picking some jersey swatch cards over the past few weeks, adding to the inventory. As you can see, some fairly big names, including Buffalo's Ryan Miller, Hall of Famer Joey Mullen, Ottawa's Jason Spezza and Florida's (for how long?) Tomas Vokoun were part of the haul.

A couple of cards from the 2009-10 MVP Two on Two quad memorabilia series have also made the 2010-11 campaign lineup:

The top card of the two shown, featuring younger NHL defensemen, won't get completed this season as Vancouver and reputed toughie Kevin Bieksa won't travel to Hockey Bay this season.

The bottom card, showing members of Nashville's 2009-10 roster, will get worked in October, when the Predators play the Tampa Bay Lightning, but will have to wait until Jason Arnott and his New Jersey teammates hit Hockey Bay in January to be completed.

Pass the taters, please

Headed into the final weekend of the 2009-10 NHL season and hockey-hounding campaign, there were only two items I really wanted to get signed: Colin's replica third jersey of Florida's Stephen Weiss and a photo of Colin and his favorite Panthers player.

Everything else, I knew, would be pure gravy.

After a long campaign, which saw us snag nearly 1,700 autographs, it was more about putting the finishing touches on another body of work than simply padding the season's stats. All told, we added 41 autographs from the Panthers.

Signing pucks, shown above, were:

Top row: Keaton Ellerby, who inked Panthers and Rochester Americans offerings; and
Bottom row: Shawn Matthias, left, and Bryan McCabe.

We also got a handful of cards. Among those signing were:

Top row: Bryan Allen and Radek Dvorak; and
Bottom row: Ellerby and Nick Tarnasky.

Ellerby, the Panthers' top pick (10th overall) in 2007, also added to the cheap skate collection.

The other highlights from our last road team hounding session of the 2009-10 campaign:

~ Colin's 25th team sheet, which contained 23 autographs; and
~ 8x10s from four Panthers players: Keith Ballard, Scott Clemmensen, Dmitry Kulikov and Steve Reinprecht.

No worries

Brett, one of Hound Central's longtime readers, sent Colin a couple Dustin Tokarski cards recently. Tucked into the envelope was a very nice note. At note's end, Brett complimented Colin on his team sheets, saying they are "awesome" and imploring him to continuing using them.

Well, Brett, there's little to worry about. After Colin racked up another 23 signatures from the Florida Panthers earlier this month, including autographs from Bryan Allen, Keith Ballard, Nathan Horton and Dmitry Kulikov, it's safe to say Colin's team sheets will be a featured item during the 2010-11 hockey-hounding campaign.

All told, Colin gathered nearly 450 autographs (444, to be exact) on 25 sheets during the 2009-10 campaign. Not bad for a kid, huh?

Why not ... again?

Sometimes when I've visited NHL practices over the past couple of seasons, I'd pick up a puck or two that make it over the glass. Most of the time, I give them to the kids who are running around. Sometimes, if there are no kids, these items go into the "What if" pocket in my hounding bag.

You know ... What if Stevie Y unexpectedly comes to town to scout for the Canadian national team? What if anyone worthwhile, who isn't associated with the two competing teams, walks by and I don't have anything else to get signed? That when these pucks come in handy.

During the last week of the 2009-10 season, I went with the "Why not?" approach and added two of these pucks to the signature side of my collection.

This puck was signed by Randy Sexton, one of the founders of the Ottawa Senators. He's now the guy responsible for making a hockey team in South Florida. I can only hope the best for him.

This puck was signed by (at the time) Atlanta Thrashers G.M. Don Waddell. After all, he did play in one NHL game with the Los Angeles Kings. His name's on the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings.

More importantly, he is a fellow Michigander ... Michiganite ... Michiganian ... . Whatever, he's from Michigan.

Thanks, Easter Bunny

So, what did Colin do with the Stephen Weiss jersey that the Easter Bunny left for him earlier this month. Really, now, do you have to ask? Of course, he had his favorite Florida Panthers player sign it for him.

Since then, Colin's worn it to practice, drawing admiration and questions from his teammates. Hopefully, the signature will withstand washings.

Weiss, one of the nicest players in the league, also signed an 8x10 of he and Colin, taken during an earlier visit to Hockey Bay.

Waste not, want not

Though it may appear that Hound Central 5.0 might be shifting its platform of choice from pucks to 8x10 photographs, that isn't the case. Pucks always have been, and always will be, the object of choice for our hockey-hounding efforts.

Having said that, though, I know a good deal when I see one, especially when the cost is nothing. Yes, that's right, free. Zip. Nada. On the house, one might say.

It seems that Moody's photo supplier was trying out some color configurations on a printer and rather than throwing the test photos away he gave them to Hound Central 5.0's senior correspondent. Moody, in turn, passed them along to us.

To me, it's a classic case of never looking a gift horse in the mouth. Free, as Moody likes to say, is the best price. And these members of the Florida Panthers organization were more than willing to sign them for us during the last weekend of the NHL season:

Defenseman Keith Ballard, who has played for Team USA at the 2004, 2007 and 2008 World Championships;

Goalie Scott Clemmensen, who represented the United States at the 2009 World Championships;

Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, the Panthers No. 1 pick (14th overall) at the 2009 NHL Draft; and

Center Steven Reinprecht, playing for HC Mulhouse in in the National 1 French league during the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

Sunday morning homily XXVII

With the Tampa Bay Lightning missing the NHL playoffs for the third straight season, this week brings about the closure of another hockey-hounding campaign down here in Hockey Bay. I'm not the least bit disappointed. It might mean the Dolts snag another top draft pick.

My stance goes beyond draft picks, too. Since late August, when players took part in informal skates, it's been a long stretch of prepping, homework, hounding and blogging. Now, toss in family, Colin's hockey and two jobs. I hope you can see why I'm ready for a break.

It's time to chill out. Kick back. Read the Sunday paper. Put away some pucks. And, yes, figure out what will happen to Hound Central 5.0. As for the future? Well, that's too far ahead. I've been kicking around some ideas with Moody, so we'll see what happens.

More than anything else, I want to take a step away from hard-core hounding. It's not like I'll quit cold turkey, so to speak. Certain teams, especially those from the Western Conference, will draw my appearance. For nothing else, I need the NHL to reload with new players. There are very few in the league who haven't signed something -- be it a puck, card, jersey or photo -- for us since 1997.

These days, I'm getting autographs for the sake of providing "fresh" content to HC5.0. To me, that's awfully darn close to hounding being a job. When a hobby begins to feel like that, it's time to walk away. That's why I'm glad this season is nearing an end.

Colin's hockey is also a major factor. As he progresses, it'll take a greater investment of time and money. Like most everyone else, we've felt the economic pinch. If I have $100 to spend, and that doesn't happen all that often, it's going to his hockey, not hounding.

Really, though, I shouldn't complain. It's been a good season, as we've racked up more than 1,500 autographs. We'll easily top 200 pucks for the campaign, which included a special milestone. Got to spend lots of quality time, too, with Colin. And that, my friends, is what it's all about.

As for baseball

Along the same vein, Baseball Mondays won't be reactivated over the summer. Doing so, I'm afraid, will dilute last year's Summer of Baseball campaign, where we took in more than 300 innings and loaded up on Florida State League team balls.

Now, that doesn't mean we won't take in a few games over the summer. Don't worry, we will -- Rays and FSL. The goal this summer is about 100 innings, and perhaps only a couple of team balls.

5 Big Sigs

Busy week here in Hockey Bay, as three teams help close another painful chapter in Tampa Bay Lightning history.

~ Carolina's Eric Staal on a Canada souvenir puck;
~ Carolina's Manny Legace on Carolina, Detroit and St. Louis pucks;
~ Ottawa's Jason Spezza on a Canada souvenir puck and a MacFarlane base;
~ Ottawa's Alex Kovalev on a McFarlane base (for Al); and
~ Florida's Stephen Weiss on an 8x10 with Colin.

Crossed off the list

Now that the 2009-10 hockey-hounding campaign is drawing to a close, I've ramped up my cherry-picking efforts for a few select items. This 2009-10 MVP Two on Two quad memorabilia card is one of them.

On Tuesday, Carolina's Rod Brind'Amour and Jussi Jokinen sealed the deal, so to speak, when they signed the card, joining Florida's Cory Stillman and Nathan Horton, who kicked off the card in mid-January.

Like I wrote back then, this card is the centerpiece of theThreads project, meaning its completion sat high atop the must-get-done list over the campaign's final weeks.

Not too bad, I'd say, for a card pulled from a retail blaster box.

To the defense

In nothing more than sheer coincidence, it's a bit amusing, if you ask me, that three of the five Phoenix Coyotes who signed multiple pucks earlier this week were defensemen. Perhaps it's because they're more grounded and less prone to shameful acts of self-importance.

Following that line of thinking, let's just say that most NHL defensemen are the consummate team players. Most aren't afraid to get their noses dirty, stick up for their teammates and, as you can see, sign more than one puck at a time.

For that, I'm grateful to these three players, from top: Adrian Aucoin, Ed Jovanovski and Zybnek Michalek.