The old switcheroo

Colin was right, I had no idea that the New Jersey Devils would be at the same hotel as the Phoenix Coyotes during their visits to Hockey Bay. I didn't let that keep me, though, from having future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur add to our autographed puck collection.

Thankfully, I had an abundance of pucks available for the Coyotes that day. One of them was this Team Canada puck, set aside for Phoenix's Ed Jovanovski, just in case he traveled with the team. Well, he didn't. I'll have to thank him the next time I see him.

Now, if I could just get Brodeur to offer up a better signature every so often, without having to ask for a personalization, this keeper from a keeper would look that much sweeter.

Quick thinking

By Colin
Hound Central 5.0 junior correspondent

While we were hounding the Phoenix Coyotes a couple weeks ago, the New Jersey Devils came into the same hotel. My Dad didn't know they'd be there, so we didn't have much for them to get signed.

So, I whipped up a team sheet for them to sign, including Martin Brodeur and Ilya Kovalchuk.

Even better, I got a compliment from Kovie:

"Did you draw that?" Kovie asked me.

"Yep," I said.

"Good job, little buddy," Kovie said.

In total, I got 12 autographs. My Dad tells me that others signers included Johan Hedberg, Henrik Tallinder, Travis Zajac, Jacob Josefson and Mattias Tedenby.

Double gold

What's better than getting New Jersey's Martin Brodeur on one piece of sports memorabilia celebrating Canada's gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

How about two items?

Thanks to a father-son tag-team effort, that's exactly what we did when Brodeur, a future Hall of Famer, signed the McFarlane figurine as well as this puck.

For the record, Colin got the McFarlane, planting himself in front of Brodeur at the end of a practice at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon last Thursday. Fifteen seconds later, if that, Brodeur signed the puck for me.

Though the signatures are the standard roadies offered up by Brodeur, they're certainly nothing to sneeze at. I can help but notice, upon closer review, that each is a bit different.

Interesting, don't you think?

Your Turn III

Thank goodness for faithful readers. If it wasn't for these fine folks, this collection of hounding reports wouldn't be possible.

Let's see what they've been up to:

Michael

Hounding out of Hartford, Conn., and Springfield, Mass., Michael takes advantage of his proximity to American Hockey League cities. This is his first report:

"Doing mostly the AHL, you don't get the big names but players who are on the rise over time like Thomas Hickey, Nikita Filatov, Tuukka Rask and Marc-Andre Fleury. Even the year of the NHL lockout, we were able to get Eric Staal and Patrice Bergeron on multiple items.

"Then, there are those players looking to just get another chance, like Adam Hall, Ryan Craig and Mark Parrish among others (you will notice I mentioned a lot of Tampa players).

"And if you pay attention to the transaction page from the AHL you get players sent down for conditioning. The Islanders' Rick Dipietro and Marty Biron were down this year.

"Even with all that, the ones to watch out for are the scouts. In the past few years, I've gotten Brad Park, Bill Barber, Larry Robinson and Kevin Lowe, among others.

The main difference in hounding the NHL vs. the AHL is the attitude by both the hounds and the players. When it comes to the hounds, there is less pressure to get things signed. So, no one is pushing or shoving to get something signed.

"The players themselves seem more willing to sign. I have noticed that when some players get to the NHL, their habits will change and many no longer sign multiples or sign at all.

"I can remember sitting in a hotel in Springfield with another hound watching TV. The Bruins were on. John Slaney, then with the Philadelphia Phantoms, came out of the elevator, signed and then sat down to watch the game with us.

"We were later joined by other members of the team who all signed and made comments about the game. Then there is the times you get to players or former players sitting in the stands and you get to hear a lot of great stories.

"And for all you puck collectors, one to get if you don't have it would be Marty McSorley. Well worth the wait. And ask him about his movie role in Con Air; he was the pilot."

Keith

Keith and his wife don't mind making the drive from Memphis to Nashville to watch the Predators. They leave work early on game days so they catch the earliest of the players.

Phoenix Coyotes: "I bailed out of work around noon and we got out of Memphis around 12:30 and in downtown Nashville by 3:30. As we pulled up to the team's hotel, we realized that the team bus was just pulling up in front of the main entrance. This is always a good sign, in that it ensures that we haven't missed any early players.

"Since it was cold, we ducked into the hotel to grab some hot coffee from the Starbucks in the lobby. As we were walking out to take our regular spots outside the hotel, we spotted former Pred and current Yote, Vern Fiddler, checking out. He followed us out and was more than happy to sign a couple of pucks and chat a bit while he flashed his newly reconfigured smile. He recently lost four teeth in a harsh meeting with a slapshot.

"Shortly thereafter, the players came out in groups. We missed out on Jovu as he had hotel staff wave down a taxi immediately after loading his bags into the bus. Most of the team, though, was fair game and was happy to sign after ditching their luggage. Most opted to walk the three blocks to the arena.

"We scored multiples from Peter Mueller (who insisted on priming each paint pen before signing ... great guy), Ilya Bryzgalov, Shane Doan, Taylor Pyatt and Keith Yandle. Others signing were Robert Lang, Adrian Aucoin, and Radim Vrbata. The only player who boarded the bus and didn't return to sign at all was goalie Jason Labarbera.

"And although he was called up from the AHL a couple of days prior and listed as as a healthy scratch that night at the game, we never saw Mikkel Boedker walk over. He since has been sent back down.

"All in all, a great trip worthy of the six-hour round trip. It's a shame the Preds lost, though."

J.R.

J.R., checking in again from San Jose, shares this head-scratcher:

"Joe Thornton stopped to sign after practice. The first person he tried to sign for was a female who had a black Thornton T-shirt. Her silver Sharpie wasn't working, so I gave her mine to use. She also had him sign her Sharks team sheet (the generic ones sold in the team store, not drawn like the ones your son creates).

"He then walked right past me and signed about another 8-10 autographs before heading into the locker room.

"Here's my deal. I won't yell, beg or draw any unnecessary attention to myself to get a player to sign. Thornton obviously saw me, but decided to move on. That's fine. I can try again some other time."

BEV

BEV, hounding in Toronto, shares another story of enjoying inside-the-hotel access:

New Jersey Devils: "I had an opportunity to hound the New Jersey Devils prior to game time Feb. 2. when they were in Toronto. Obviously, my main goal was to get an auto from Martin Brodeur. I was also looking for a sig from Devils coach Jacques Lemaire. I also kept an eye open for assistant coach Scott Stevens and special assignment coach Larry Robinson.

"I only collect Hall of Famers, so the rest of the team did not interest me. The team was staying at a high-end Hyatt hotel downtown. I was also staying at the hotel, so I freely made my way back and forth between the lobby and the 15 hounds on the sidewalk.

"The game bus parked on the street in front of the north tower of the hotel around 3:30 p.m. Security staff put up waist-high fences across the sidewalk that the hounds had to stay behind. Unfortunately, this interfered with pedestrians using the sidewalk, who had to walk around the hounds and fences.

"The players got to the bus by walking through a special door that lead through the kitchen of the hotel restaurant. Security was very tight. There were several plainclothes security guards with earpieces in the lobby and on the sidewalk. Lobby access to the players near the special kitchen exit was minimal due to the number of security staff.

"Around 3:45 p.m., I noticed Lemaire outside on the sidewalk having a cigar. After he was done his stogie, I asked him for an autograph in French and he gladly signed a Montreal Canadiens logo card for me. Several hounds by the bus saw me and brought over sticks, pucks, etc., to get signed. He signed everything.

"Around 4:00 p.m., I returned to the lobby and noticed several players walking through the lobby to the south tower of the hotel. For some reason, player after player went to the south tower of the hotel before they went to the team bus parked by the north tower. I never did figure it out. Maybe they were dropping off room keys or something.

"Anyway all the security folks were in the north tower or by the bus. I sat in a chair by the south tower elevators, pretending to read my Brodeur autobiography (with a blue sharpie hidden underneath). Sure enough, Marty comes walking through the lobby toward the south tower.

"I show him his book and ask for an autograph in French. He immediately recognizes the book and walks over to me to sign it. I tell him I am looking forward to reading it. He thanks me for buying it. Perfect.

"I was two-for-two and decided to head out to the street to see how the other hounds were doing. By now, it is about 4:30 and all the players are heading out to the bus. Let me say that most of the team was very good at signing. Almost every player signed for every hound who asked. Only Rob Niedermayer and Jamie Langenbrunner needed to be coaxed by the hounds but they did sign.

"Also note that some of the players did not use the special kitchen exit and exited through the front doors of the lobby. They walked right out to the sidewalk/street, tried to blend in with pedestrians and board the bus without the hounds noticing. Of course the hounds noticed this and got the sigs they wanted.

"When it was time for Brodeur to board the bus, the hounds went into a screaming frenzy. He came out of the special kitchen exit and to the right-hand fence. Immediately in front of me, he signed a team photo for a guy, a puck for a guy and boarded the bus. That was two sigs for the 15 hounds. I thought about getting something else signed, but I was happy with the book. I never did see Stevens and Robinson.

"It was a great outing for me adding two more Hall of Famers to my collection."

Your Turn I

As promised, here is the first installment of Your Turn, Hound Central 5.0's platform for other hockey hounds -- young and old -- to share stories of their autograph adventures.

If you'd like to take part in future installments, and I hope you consider doing this, please send your stories to Hound Central 5.0.

In this offering, Hound Central 5.0 is pleased to introduce stories from these four hockey hounds:

Jordan

At 14 years old, Jordan is the youngest contributor, and does so with his parents' permission.

"After going to the American Hockey League's Manitoba Moose's first-ever skills competition, I had a feeling in my head of rookie hounding that simply I had to get the job done.

"How, though? Well, in advance, I asked my dad to take me there. He had no problem with it. It may have been busy, but my patience was rewarded by getting (center) Marty Murray, a former Carolina Hurricanes and Calgary Flames player on my second-ever signed hockey puck.

"I also got guys like (defenseman) Mike Funk and (goalie) Daren Machesney to sign what I presented to them. I had a good time and I will go hockey hounding in the near future.

"Thanks for reading!"

BEV

Bev shares his story of enjoying inside-the-hotel access during the recent Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2009's induction ceremonies:

"I was at the Westin Harbour Castle hotel in Toronto during the Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Celebration. On the eve of the induction ceremony (November 9), there was only about seven people in the lobby getting autographs (compared to a mob of about 30 local hounds/dealers out on the street).

"The hotel was packed with people. This year, hotel security staff did let registered guests get autographs from players in the lobby, but they were still discouraging it. Registered guests were allowed to call a player over to sign something, but security did not want anyone running up to players or forming crowds around them.

"In the past, if the security staff saw you getting autographs in the lobby, they would give you a warning and threaten to throw you out of the hotel ... even if you were a registered guest.

"People I saw signing included Lanny McDonald, Dale Hawerchuk, Borje Salming, Bryan Trottier, Steve Shutt, Billy Smith, Peter Stastny, Michel Goulet, Johnny Bower, Larry Murphy, Ted Lindsay, Chris Chelios and Rod Gilbert. Bobby Hull was an outstanding signer.

"There were many other Hall of Famers signing, but I did not know their names. I heard that Viacheslav Fetisov turned down many autograph requests, but did not witness it. Steve Yzerman, Luc Robitaille and Brian Leetch signed a few on their way to their limos.

"Brett Hull signed a few and used some very vulgar language indicating that he just wanted to be left alone. He then went to a secluded corner of the lobby bar, so he could visit with friends without being disturbed before he caught his limo ride.

"Yes, I did cherry-pick some selected autographs for my personal collection. Each year, this night is a great opportunity to load up on Hall of Famers if you are a registered hotel guest and if security leaves you alone. Some years, you can easily get 15 to 30 Hall of Fame signatures. On a year when security is grumpy, you may only get one or two."

Scott B.

Scott, out of South Florida, sent in many reports from his adventures hounding NHL teams at hotels. Here are a handful of his reports, with others to follow in future installments:

New Jersey Devils: "The Devils' PR guy is the worst in the league by far. Over the past few years, we have only been able to get Colin White and Martin Brodeur before he has the hotel throw us off of the property. This year was just a little better. We were able to get Zach Parise (2 of 4 cards), Brian Rolston (3 of 3), Bryce Salvador (1 of 1) and Rob Niedermayer (3 of 12). Then the PR guy had us all thrown off the property. After getting kicked out, some of the other (hounds) waited in their cars and were able to run up to the bus to get Brodeur. New Jersey is the only team that stays at this hotel that gives us a problem, thanks to the PR guy."

Los Angeles Kings: "We have not seen the Kings for several years, so we didn't know what to expect. But they were the best signing team by far this season. We got Dustin Brown (4 of 4), Alexander Frolov (2 of 6), Raitis Ivanans (1 Parkhurst card), Teddy Purcell (1 of 1), Brad Richardson (3 of 3), Wayne Simmonds (1 of 1), Jarret Stoll (3 of 3), Justin Williams (2 of 2), Drew Doughty (2 of 2), Jack Johnson (4 of 4), Randy Jones (1 of 1) and Jonathan Quick (1 Parkhurst card). A big key was that we were allowed to call over players, something that has been hit-or-miss at this particular hotel."

Pittsburgh Penguins: "The Penguins are not a good signing team. Usually they stay at a hotel on the beach, but this time they stayed at the same hotel used by the Los Angeles Kings. But the Penguins players walk around like gods because they won the Stanley Cup. And most of them even look bothered if you ask them for an autograph. Our friends told us that the only ones to sign were Pascal Dupuis, Ben Lovejoy and Nathan Guenin.I also heard that the hotel's manager didn't allow hounds to call over players."

Keith

Keith and his wife, who live in Memphis, Tenn., are devout Nashville Predators fans with a partial season ticket package. Their hounding adventures are just that; Both leave work early (usually around noon or so) to make it to the east side of the Sommet Center by 3 p.m. on game days to catch the earliest of the players.

"I have several stories tied to our hounding, but my most rewarding experiences are when I was just going for very few players or even just a single. The most recent was when the Edmonton Oilers came into Nashville earlier this season.

I've been a huge fan of Nikolai Khabibulin since the mid 1990s and I probably consider him my favorite player of all time. In college, I would play the arcade game 'NHL Open Ice' in the campus' arcade to make the Phoenix Coyotes a playoff team and to hear the announcer mispronounce his name ("Save from COBBY-BOO-LINN").

Anyway, I had never been able to catch him on previous visits, despite him playing in division rival Chicago for several years. My work schedule, his injuries, traffic, etc., had pretty much convinced me that I wouldn't ever pull it off.

"This season, I bought my ticket package in July, picking out the lone Oilers-Predators game in the first half of the season for the sole purpose of getting Habby's sig before the game.

"We showed up in plenty of time and spotted the team's bus parked at the Hilton Hotel, just across the side street from the arena, meaning that the majority of the players would simply walk across and enter through the player's entrance. Only one other hound was present and she easily added to her collection, scoring Shawn Horcoff, Sam Gagner, Jeff Deslauriers and others.

We chatted with her about really only targeting Habby, and she assured us that he was really friendly and would sign as long as he was walking over, rather than riding the bus. Strangely enough, some actually do ride the bus over rather than walk the 200 feet.

"After about 45 minutes, it seemed the entire team had walked over and the progression of players ended with no Habby. Determined (and with nothing better to do), we waited. Finally admitting defeat, we were retreating from our spot when I saw the familiar face exit the door of the hotel.

"I hate to admit that I can turn into 'fan boy' when encountering the players I watched as a kid, but I do. I simply stayed put and tried to play it cool, simply addressing him as 'Habby,' and asking him to sign an old Coyotes puck for me.

"My wife extended a McFarlane base to him and he signed after confirming with her that the same paint pen would suffice. He shook my hand and took his time signing and chatted a bit.

"The entire trip resulted in just a couple of autos from a single player, but it's been by far my most memorable hounding experience thus far."

Top Shelf: Martin Brodeur

Sure, his autograph has deteriorated into a nearly undecipherable scribble, but any time you can add two autographed pucks from New Jersey's Martin Brodeur in a single afternoon, it's easy to assign Top Shelf status to the efforts.

Brodeur signed the Canada puck before heading out to the Devils' practice last Friday at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon. He signed the Devils puck, picked up at the rink's pro shop, following the hour-long session.

Sunday morning homily V

Measuring the success of any hounding adventure depends upon each individual. For some hounds, the day isn't complete until they've run out of items to get signed. Others, however, weigh the day's efforts based on the quality, rather than sheer quantity, of the items they were fortunate enough to get signed.

In both cases, though, it all comes down to personal preference.

For someone like myself, who's been doing this for some time, I don't need to add a ton of autographs every trip to feel like I've had a good day. Sure, I question my time and effort if I get, say, five or six autographs during an entire day of hounding (like most times when the Pittsburgh Penguins come to town).

But, like I've said countless times before, one autograph, even if it is from a scrub like, say, Kris Letang, is better than none.

Lately, though, I've become more of a cherry-picker, especially when it comes to pucks. You'll see it this week in posts about hounding Ottawa and New Jersey. I got only seven pucks signed, but they're seven good ones. As I near the end of my hockey-hounding run, I'm trying to add nothing but exclamation points, so to speak, rather than amass staggering numbers.

At the opposite end of the hockey-hounding spectrum, however, are those relatively new to the game. For them, it's more about adding big numbers -- be it in cards, photos or pucks -- than anything else. From where I sit, and I'm not asking you to embrace my opinion, there's nothing wrong with that. I don't think they're being greedy, they're trying to get up to speed.

If a player is willing to sign eight or nine cards, that's up to them. Though most don't, some do. And more power to the hound -- newbie to veteran -- who benefits from the player's generosity.

My only concern, albeit a minor one, is that these hounds sometimes forget that others also want to get autographs. Not too many players, I've noticed, are thrilled to continue signing, even if it's only a couple of items, after pounding out a nine board or four pucks for a person.

Bottom line: Who am I, or who are you, to dictate how many autographs another person gets in a day. It's our hobby. We should have fun doing it. That's why we go out there, right?

He's a real Einstein

I couldn't help but laugh to myself last week when, with the Devils in town, one of a dealer's young minions prided himself on recognizing goalie Martin Brodeur. Now, recognizing teammates Matt Halischuk or Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond? That, my friend, would've been impressive.

"I knew that was Brodeur," he told his mates, a proud smile widening across his face.

Wow! Nice job, young man. Recognizing a sure-fire Hall of Famer like Brodeur. It's not like he hasn't been in the news over, say, the past couple of seasons. Making a spot-on call like that shows you definitely have a future in the business.

Here's some advice, too. I'd start asking the boss for more than $10 for a team-signed 16x20 photo. Your knowledge and effort is certainly worth $25-$30 a pop, don't you think?

5 Big Sigs

With the Lightning hitting the road for four games this week, the next hounding adventures take place Nov. 12 for Minnesota and Nov. 14 for the Los Angeles Kings.

That doesn't mean, though, there won't be some autograph reports. Thanks to Hound Central 5.0's correspondents Moody and Al, you can expect to read about these signings:

~ Catching up with reports from the Senators and Devils;
~ Updated hounding report from incredibleIce in South Florida;
~ Hall of Fame goalie Johnny Bower;
~ Post-game inside the St. Pete Times Forum; and
~ Top Ontario Hockey League prospects.

Let the games begin

It's always nice going out for first hounding adventure of the season. Sure, we made a few trips for the Lightning, during rookie and training camps. But we all know the real hockey-hounding season really begins when the first visiting team comes to town.

Not only is it a chance to snag autographs from players other than the hometown's team, but it's a time to renew acquaintances with friends you haven't seen in some time. To me, that's the best part of hounding -- building friendships with like-minded individuals committed to the hobby.

Well, that and getting 33 autographs:

Signing pucks were, from left, Rob Niedermayer (strict one-per, for some reason), Bruce Salvador (who also signed a St. Louis Blues puck) and Dainius Zubrus.

Those signing cards were, from left, Tommy Albelin, David Clarkson (who, despite a "tough guy" reputation, really should think twice before tangling with Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman), Paul Martin and Travis Zajac.

Other reports from the Devils:

~ A change in plans regarding Colin's team sheets;
~ a learning experience, thanks to coach Jacques Lemaire;
~ U.S.A. souvenir pucks signed by Lou Lamoriello and Jamie Langenbrunner;
~ a couple of pucks from Brian Rolston; and
~ neat cards from Yann Danis and Travis Zajac.

Sadly, we missed out on Martin Brodeur and Zach Parise, the Devils' top two players. Brodeur signed only a handful of autographs, mostly for dealers. Parise, we heard, signed at and after the morning skate. Oh, well, they'll be back.

Long may they wave

Hound Central 5.0 readers better get used to seeing these nation souvenir pucks, like these U.S.A. offerings signed Thursday by New Jersey's general manager Lou Lamoriello, left, and captain Jamie Langenbrunner. Our puck supplier, Anderson Enterprises KPT, began offering them this season, opening an avenue to increase the international component of our collection.

We had another U.S.A. puck for Zach Parise, who we couldn't get to sign before Thursday's game. We also had a Canada souvenir puck for Martin Brodeur, but we missed out on him, too, at morning skate as well as the gametime bus.

On a side note, these pucks, despite being signed in blue, aren't part of the Colin's Pucks project. The blue paint looks better than the silver.