Team report: Ottawa Senators

Not that I'm a big Ottawa fan, but I was glad to see the Senators visit Hockey Bay a week ago. Seeing that I'd had a fairly unremarkable run with the Washington Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks, it was time to work a team known for taking a friendlier stance toward hounds.

Again, my work schedule limited my hounding to before the morning skate, but I put it to good use, or at least the best I could, despite not having any pucks on hand. Unfortunately, for me, I missed on Jason Spezza, as did everyone else that morning, as he headed straight from the hotel to the team bus.

I did manage, however, to add 18 autographs, including 17 cards, for my efforts.

Signing cards, shown above, were:

Top row: Craig Anderson, Erik Karlsson and Filip Kuba; and
Bottom row: Chris Neil, Ryan Shannon and Jesse Winchester.

Other highlights:

~ Taking a career approach with Sergei Gonchar;
~ Colin scoring 16 autographs on another neat team sheet; and
~ Providing, yet again, another reason to use cheap skate cards.

Just me and Mama

By Colin
Hound Central 5.0 junior correspondent

Most times when we go hounding, it's me and my Dad. Sometimes, Mama helps. Once a season, maybe its just me and her. That's what happened when Ottawa played the Lightning.

My Dad had to work that night, but me and Mama had tickets to the game. So I figured I could do another team sheet. So we drove over to Tampa early and worked on this.

Some of the bigger names to sign were my buddies Jason Spezza and Nick Foligno. Ryan Shannon spoke to me and some other kids when he signed. That was pretty cool. I even got a Hall of Famer, Denis Potvin, to sign it. My Dad told me that Chris Phillips, Erik Karlsson, Chris Neil and Brian Lee also signed it.

In total, 16 Senators players signed my team sheet.

Ottawa comes back next week, during my spring break from school. So I may do another team sheet. Maybe I'll do something else for them. We'll see.

Pop quiz

Alright, let's see a show of hands. How many of you have either 1.) heard of Ottawa's Erik Condra before February; or 2.) had something, other than a blank puck or hijacked photo, for him to sign?

Be honest, now. Not too many of you, right?

Same here. That's why the night before the Senators came to Hockey Bay recently, I was up late creating this cheap skate card. In time, I imagine he'll have cards within Upper Deck or Panini brands. Until then, this works.

The Hockey Life: Week 21

As much as we try to live a well-rounded life, we also spend a considerable amount of time, energy and money devoted to hockey. I'm not complaining, mind you, it's our choice. And, to be honest, I wouldn't change much. There are stretches, though, where we go a bit overboard.

How much? Well, here's a glimpse at our most recent run of ice time. Over the past 10 days:

~ A two-hour skating session on March 2;
~ a Pinellas P.A.L. practice on March 4;
~ two P.A.L. games (the Stars won 5-0, but then lost 3-2) on March 5;
~ another two hours of public skating last Sunday;
~ Tampa Bay Jr. Lightning tryouts on Tuesday;
~ watched the Tampa Bay Lightning beat them, 4-3, in a shootout on Wednesday;
~ another P.A.L. practice on Thursday, and;
~ watched the Ottawa Senators beat the Lightning, 2-1, on Friday.

And that doesn't including hounding trips for the Washington Capitals (Monday morning), Blackhawks (all day Wednesday) and Senators (Friday morning) or the time spent working on Hound Central 5.0 and Hockey Hounds Universe.

Again, I'm not complaining. I am looking forward, though, to the end of the NHL season, even if it extends, by some stroke of luck here in Hockey Bay, all the way to June.

Until then, though, it's time to suck it up and enjoy our favorite sport.

In extremely poor taste

I was a bit surprised by a recent commercial on NHL Network featuring Boston's Zdeno Chara, who's caught some well-deserved flak for his nasty hit on Montreal's Max Pacioretty last week.

The spot shows the Bruins' freak of nature standing still, looking ominously into the camera. In the background, a speaker says "That was a head-crunching hit."

Given the seriousness of Pacioretty's injuries, as well as the freshness of the gruesome image, one would think that the NHL Network, operated by the league itself, would show better judgment.

Quote of the week

"There goes his profit margin for the week."
One Hockey Bay hound, who shall remain nameless, about another Hockey Bay hound/dealer, who also shall remain nameless, after Chicago's Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews wouldn't sign his 16x20 team photo.

Just me and Mama

By Colin
Hound Central 5.0 junior correspondent

Text goes here.

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.

Cleaning up

With the Ottawa Senators being the second-to-last NHL team to visit Hockey Bay during the 2009-10 campaign, it was time to pull out all the stops, so to speak, as Colin and I used a multitude of items -- pucks, cards, photos, a team sheet and even a McFarlane base.

Our efforts, which took us to two hotels (bad intel and laziness on my part) and an upscale mall (our first mall-based hounding in Florida), were rewarded, as we added another 46 autographs, including nine pucks, over two days of hounding the Senators.

Cards, too, made up a sizable component of the haul. Of the 17 we snagged:

Top row: Matt Cullen, Pascal Leclaire and Milan Michalek; and
Bottom row: Chris Neil, Chris Phillips and Jarkko Ruutu.

Among the other items we gathered over the two days of hounding:

Pucks signed by, from left, Brian Elliott, Erik Karlsson and Jason Spezza;

Proof that cards showing players in black jerseys can be used for hounding, as these examples from Mike Fisher, from left, Nick Foligno and Jesse Winchester can attest; and

For good measure, Jason Spezza also signed this McFarlane base.

Other highlights from two days of hounding:

~ Captain Daniel Alfredsson, two days after reaching the 1,000-game mark of his career, signing a pair of Senators pucks;
~ Colin getting in some mall hounding as he worked his team sheet;
~ Jason Spezza and Nick Foligno making a kid's day; and
~ Putting some discounted American Hockey League pucks to good use.

Moot point

I'd likely be convicted of some high hockey-hounding treason if our autographed puck collection didn't contain Ottawa Senators pucks signed by team captain Daniel Alfredsson. Let's just say that after last Thursday, when Alfredsson signed this pair of pucks, it's no longer a concern.

For the record, Alfredsson, who played the 1,001st game of his career against the Tampa Bay Lightning, has signed these three pucks in the past: 2004 NHL All-Star Game, Sweden souvenir and 2004 World Cup of Hockey.

Banking on bargains

It wasn't all that long ago that the American Hockey League had one heck of a sale at its online store. Among the many discounted items were AHL team pucks. Even better, if you spent $75, the shipping was free.

Ever the bargain hunter, I snapped up more than two dozen pucks, easily reaching the $75 threshhold to add to the dwindling puck supply. I put these four to good use last week when the Ottawa Senators visited Hockey Bay:

Top row: Brian Elliott and Chris Kelly; and
Bottom row: Ryan Shannon, who signed a pair of pucks.

Two-day project

It may have taken him a couple of days, but Colin got himself a keeper last week with his Ottawa Senators team sheet. The real story, though, was how and where he got most of the 16 signatures.

After missing the Senators before a practice, we managed to catch up with a few, including Jason Spezza and Nick Foligno, before the team headed to the International Plaza mall for some shopping and post-practice stretching of legs. Funny thing, though, was that's where we were headed.

We planned to make the trip to snag autographs from Tampa Bay's Vinny Lecavalier, who was signing at a Champs store at the upscale mall. It was sheer luck, and a small amount of wishful thinking, that Ottawa players were also there.

After walking the mall and recognizing several Senators players, we got into the Lecavalier line outside the store. As Ottawa players walked past or nearby, I'd point them out to Colin and he'd ask them to sign his team sheet. Thankfully, not a single one, including captain Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Fisher and Brian Elliott, shot him down.

Thanks for the idea

For the past few hockey-hounding campaigns, people have suggested that I take more pictures of Colin with the various NHL players he gets to meet over the course of the season. We tried that during the Ottawa Senators' visit to Hockey Bay last week.

I thought Ottawa's Jason Spezza, one of the more approachable stars in the NHL, would be happy to help in our test run. As you can see, he was more than happy to make his new buddy's day.

So, too, was Nick Foligno. I wish, though, I'd asked him to personalize it to Colin.

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.

Moody's Olympics Gold: Team Czech Republic

Team Czech Last won gold in 1998 and finished third (bronze medal) at the last Olympiad held in Torino, Italy. In Vancouver, the Czechs were eliminated from medal contention.

Cards signed by some of Team Czech's players:

Top row: Boston's David Krejci, Montreal's Tomas Plekanec, Minnesota's Marek Zidlicky and Lokomotiv's Josef Vasicek; and
Bottom row: Nashville's Martin Erat, New Jersey's Patrik Elias, Avangard's Jaromir Jagr and Phoenix's Zbynek Michalek.

Minnesota's Martin Havlat

Atlanta's Ondrej Pavelec

Washington's Tomas Fleischmann on a Hershey Bears wallpaper.

Atlanta's Pavel Kubina

Above Photo: Tomas Kaberle with Mikayla during a Toronto Maple Leafs visit to Tampa.

Right Photo: Tomas Vokoun with Mikayla during a Florida Panthers visit

Ottawa's Filip Kuba signed last year when the Senators came to town.

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

Moody's Olympics Gold: Team Russia

Team Russia Last won gold in 1992, but finished fourth at the last Olympiad held in Torino, Italy. Of the 23-man roster, I've managed to get 13 players from the partially NHL-filled squad.

Cards signed by some of Team Russia's players:

Top row: Montreal's Andrei Markov and San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov; and
Bottom row: Pittsburgh's Sergei Gonchar, Washington's Alex Semin, and Ottawa's Anton Volchenkov

More cards signed by Team Russia's players:

Top row: Russian Federation President Vladimir Tretiak, Columbus' Fedor Tyutin, Phoenix's Ilya Bryzgalov and Salavat's Victor Kozlov; and
Bottom row: Washington's Semyon Varlamov, Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, Edmonton's Denis Grebeshkov and Salavat's Dmitri Kalinin.

Atlanta's Max Afinogenov.

New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk

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

Moody's Olympics Gold: Team Sweden

Team Sweden won its last gold medal in 2006 at the last Olympiad held in Torino, Italy. Of the 23-man roster, I've managed to get 16 players from the NHL-rich squad.

Cards signed by some of Team Sweden's players:

Top row: Atlanta's Tobias Enstrom, New York's Henrik Lundquist, Columbus' Fred Modin, Tampa's Mattias Ohlund; and
Bottom row: Vancouver's Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Bufalo's Henrik Tallinder and Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg.

More cards signed by Team Sweden players:

Top row: Detroit's Johan Franzen, Dallas' Loui Eriksson; and
Bottom row: Nashville's Patric Hornqvist, Detroit's Niklas Kronwall, and Washington's Nicklas Backstrom.

San Jose's Doug Murray

Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson stadium poster

Toronto's Jonas Gustavsson.

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

Old reliables

These days, my hockey-hounding efforts are more focused on quality than quantity, trying to add jewels, so to speak, to the collection. That doesn't mean, though, that I'll limit my opportunities whenever they present themselves.

Take last Thursday, for instance, when the Ottawa Senators traveled to Hockey Bay to play the Bolts. After an order for pucks didn't arrive in time, limiting my efforts to those I had in stock, I knew that cards, more than pucks, could rule the day. As you can see, I wasn't that far off-base in my assessment.

Among those signing the 37 cards that morning:

Top row: Daniel Alfredsson, Brian Elliott, Mike Fisher and Milan Michalek; and
Bottom row: Chris Neil, Chris Phillips, Peter Regin and Jarkko Ruutu.

The other highlights, including four sweet pucks, from a hot and humid half-day of hockey hounding:

~ Snagging Alex Kovalev on a pair of top-shelf pucks;
~ Having Daniel Alfredsson sign a Sweden puck;
~ Getting Jason Spezza to sign a puck from one of his junior teams;
~ Nick Foligno, Filip Kuba, Alexandre Picard and Ryan Shannon each signing four cards;
~ Putting specialty sets to good use, including a card for Jonathan Cheechoo; and
~ Adding the second cheap skate card of the season from Matt Carkner.

Top Shelf: Alex Kovalev

There are points during a hockey-hounding campaign when the Hockey Gods align and present a perfect opportunity to score some quality autographs. The first of the 2009-10 season came last Thursday, when Ottawa's Alex Kovalev signed this pair of pucks.

With a little luck, perhaps I'll match last season's Top Shelf signings, which represent the best autographs collected during a campaign.

Feeling blue

Yes, I know that a puck signed in blue paint this season is supposed to represent one that Colin added to his Colin's Pucks project. But I'm finding that, in some cases, the color really stands out on a puck.

This Sweden souvenir puck, signed last week by Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson, proves my point. Pretty sweet, don't you think?

Two to go

While hounding the Senators last week, a couple of Hockey Bay Hounds asked who I wanted to get on the Brampton Battalion puck.

Ottawa's Jason Spezza, I told them.

I also told them that, if the Battalion puck was signed, it would leave only Mississauga Ice Dogs and Canada souvenir pucks to round out our Spezza collection.

Grand Rapids Griffins, they asked? Got it. Binghamton Senators? Got that one, too, before I started blogging. Spezza even signed a Belleville Bulls puck for the 500th of the collection.

Four four-bangers

The most cards I'll offer to a player is four, simply because my card book limits it to that number and I don't feel like erasing any more cards than I have to. Sometimes, players sign all four. Usually, they sign two. In some cases, though, a player will sign only one.

Last week, with Ottawa in town, four Senators players signed all four cards I presented. That doesn't happen too often, I'll tell you, but when it does, it quickly builds a stack. Ottawa's Nick Foligno, top, and Filip Kuba signed the cards shown above.

Look at all of the specialty cards, from Rookie Class to AHL All Stars to AHL Top Prospects, within these four-bangers from Alexandre Picard, top, and Ryan Shannon.

While everyone else signed all four at one time, it took me twice to get Shannon to complete his four-banger.