Team report: Pittsburgh Penguins II

All things considered, we should have stayed home last Thursday and not embarked on a hounding adventure for the Pittsburgh Penguins. It rained most of the day. The moisture affected my silver Sharpies. And I wasn't patient enough to wait another 15 minutes for Sidney Crosby.

But with circus known as the Penguins in town and Colin off on his spring break, I ignored that nagging, little voice in my head and made the trip. What's the worse that could happen, right?

Well, we had the nastiest storms of the year, with tornadoes reported throughout the Hockey Bay area. And, then, while truly enjoying our time at the Glazer Children's Museum, Moody called to tell me that Crosby, returning from his first morning skate in months, signed not one, but two items before dealers bumrushed him.

Am I complaining? Just a little bit, I suppose. The weather could have been nicer. And Colin could've gotten his 2010 Canada Olympic hockey gold medalist McFarlane base signed by Crosby. Then again, I did get to spend the day with my son, doing something we love.

The hounding, really, wasn't all that bad, as we added 19 autographs, including 15 cards. Later that night, we watched the Tampa Bay Lightning clinch its first playoff appearance in four seasons.

All in all, it was a pretty good day.

Signing pucks, shown above from left, were Tyler Kennedy and James Neal.

Signing cards were, from left, Pascal Dupuis, Eric Godard, Brent Johnson and Mike Rupp.

Other highlights from a rain day:

~ Commemorating Maxime Talbot's Stanley Cup-winning goal;

~ having Tyler Kennedy pull double duty for us; and

~ putting specialty set cards to good use.

Beyond the norm

Who among us doesn't have boxes upon boxes of hockey cards that you're unlikely to ever get signed? I do. It comes with the territory, I reckon, of being a collector.

One type of card I'll make an extra effort to get signed comes from a specialty set. These can be rookie stars, American Hockey League team or prospect sets or even one from the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

This variety of specialty cards proved handy when the Pittsburgh Penguins came calling upon Hockey Bay last week. Signing them were, from left, Mike Comrie, James Neal and Maxime Talbot.

The Hockey Life

After the past couple of years of dysfunctional ownership, rumors of trading away Vinny Lecavalier and general discontent among a dwindling fan base, the Tampa Bay Lightning are bending over backwards to sell the sport of hockey to the next generation of fans.

Reaching out to the Hockey Bay youth hockey community, the team's charitable foundation is offering Lightning Made Hockey Clinics over the course of the 2010-11 season. Last Wednesday, Colin, shown front and center in the photo above, took part in the first clinic of the season, spending an hour on an NHL rink at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa.

Led by former Lightning star Brian Bradley, these clinics are much more than gentle twirls around the ice. It's fast, hard laps around a big rink. It's one-on-one drills that combine speed, skill and determination. It's passing to, and getting passes from, Lightning great Dave Andreychuk.

Bottom line, it's a big deal for these kids, who all received jerseys from the team, to take part in one of these clinics. If the Lightning are selling the game, it's safe to say we're buying.

A proud moment

I know it's rec hockey and Colin's my son, but you would've had a hard time finding prouder parents last night at the Clearwater Ice Arena than yours truly and The Missus.

In the second game of Colin's hockey doubleheader with the Pinellas Police Athletic League Stars, our pest-in-training scored on his first-ever penalty shot. Thankfully, The Missus had the camera taping the historic event in Colin's young hockey career.

Reaching out

One Hockey Bay Hound tweeted the New York Islanders' Matt Moulson just after arriving at the team's hotel Wednesday night, asking him if he would come down and sign some autographs.

Much to the hound's surprise, Moulson tweeted back, saying he'd be down in a few minutes. Sure enough, Moulson showed up. And, yes, he signed.

Line of the week

"You want me to sign on my face?"
Dallas Stars' Matt Niskanen, when presented with a MVP 2 on 2 Jerseys card featuring four NHL defensemen.

Team report: Dallas Stars

All summer long, hockey hounds wait for the first visiting NHL team of the season. In my case, down here in Hockey Bay, it was the Dallas Stars. Thankfully, the team didn't disappoint as I added 19 autographs, including 10 pucks, in a quick hockey-hounding trip.

Players signing pucks, shown above, included:

Top row: Trevor Daley, Loui Eriksson and Kari Lehtonen; and
Bottom row: Brenden Morrow, Steve Ott and Karlis Skrastins.

Players signing cards included, from left, Mark Fistric, Matt Niskanen, Mike Ribeiro and Jeff Woywitka.

Other highlights:

~ Morrow signing a 2010 Olympics gold medal champions puck;
~ Ribeiro and Niskanen adding to the Threads collection; and
~ Assistant coach Stu Barnes signing the first two autographs of the 2010-11 hockey-hounding campaign.

Fabric samples

One of the primary projects of our 2010-11 hockey-hounding campaign will be adding to the Threads collection. Given my luck at winning some decent-sized lots -- 22 and 14 cards in two deals -- on eBay over the summer, there will be ample opportunity to do so.

Dallas' Mike Ribeiro and Matt Niskanen added to the collection. Hat's off, too, to Ribeiro for adding his Montreal number -- 71. That MVP 2 on 2 Jerseys card that Niskanen signed, which features swatches from four NHL defensemen, is a work in progress. Besides Atlanta's Tobias Enstrom, I'll need Vancouver's Kevin Bieksa to complete it.

Breaking the ice

So, who signed the first autographs of our 2010-11 hockey-hounding campaign? Well, it was Stu Barnes, an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars.

I suppose one could argue that the campaign began back in August, even before training camps opened. I prefer, though, to kick off a campaign with the first visiting team of the season.

Warmup act

In a way, NHL training camps are a hound's training camp. It's our time to get back into the game, check the schedule and think about another hockey-hounding campaign.

What's even better, though, is taking advantage of opportunities, especially knocking out a quick project. When Tampa Bay's Vinny Lecavalier signed this 8x10 last Sunday at the Lightning's training camp, it made fairly short work of a really sweet piece.

Dallas' Brad Richards, a former Bolt, and Tampa Bay's Marty St. Louis signed it only weeks ago. It helped catching Richards, who won the Conn Smythe during the Lightning's Stanley Cup season, as he was skating with some of his old teammates in late August.

Always a reason

Any hockey-hounding opportunity, from Canadians juniors right on up to NHL teams, always has a gem or two just waiting for any enterprising hound.

Just ask Mike, Hound Central 5.0's resident Ontario Hockey League expert, who snagged this 8x10 and puck from Windsor's Jack Campbell at a recent Windsor Spitfires practice.

Campbell, the 11th-overall pick by Dallas in the 2010 NHL Draft, backstopped Team USA to a gold medal at the 2010 World Junior Championships.

Well, well, well

It was more than a hunch that our last day of Colin's summer vacation yesterday might include getting some autographs from NHL players. What I didn't know, though, was that it would involve Dallas' Brad Richards and Tampa Bay's Marty St. Louis.

But that's exactly what happened, as we took in the final minutes of an informal workout by a handful of NHL players at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon. Richards, a former Bolts player, and St. Louis were among those skating. Other confirmed sightings were Tampa Bay defensemen Brett Clark and Mattias Ohlund.

Colin hustled to have Richards and St. Louis sign the pucks shown above. St. Louis, who was in a downright jovial mood, signed the new 2004 Stanley Cup champions puck in the top left corner. Richards signed the others.

I didn't get shut out, either, as Richards and St. Louis signed this photo, showing Tampa Bay's old Big Three celebrating Canada's championship in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Now, all we need is for Vinny Lecavalier to complete this photo.

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.

Guess who?

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

10 Questions: Brian Propp

Brian Propp started his National Hockey League career with the Philladelphia Flyers and spent time with the Boston Bruins and Minnesota North Stars as well. He was a member of Team Canada during several tournaments, including the 1992 World Ice Hockey Championship. Propp played in five NHL All-Star Games and is a member of the Flyers Hall of Fame.

If you ever get a chance, take the time to learn how the famous "Guffaw" started.

More recently, he is a vice president for the Judge Group, a staffing, training, vendor management and business technology solutions company.

Moody, Hound Central 5.0's senior correspondent, had the honor of meeting Propp when he played for the Flyers. He was kind enough to sign these cards for him.

In this new feature, Hound Central 5.0 asks NHL players -- past and present -- a few questions about their views on autographs. Ian Moran was the first to respond, giving us a few minutes of his time. We truly appreciate the opportunity provided by Propp.

Hound Central 5.0: Did you collect cards/autographs as a kid?
Brian Propp: No

Hound Central 5.0: Is signing autographs fun or a chore?
Brian Propp: It is fun signing

Hound Central 5.0: What's the weirdest thing you've ever signed?
Brian Propp: Forehead

Hound Central 5.0: Do people still recognize you in public?
Brian Propp: Yes

Hound Central 5.0: Can you tell the difference between autograph dealers and collectors?
Brian Propp: Yes

Hound Central 5.0: Does it really matter if someone is a dealer?
Brian Propp: 1. No. Doesn’t matter to me

Hound Central 5.0: Would/do you sign blank pieces of photo paper?
Brian Propp: Yes

Hound Central 5.0: Most famous person to ask for your autograph?
Brian Propp: Howie Mandel

Hound Central 5.0: Most famous person you've asked for an autograph?
Brian Propp: Gordie Howe

Hound Central 5.0: Black or blue Sharpies?
Brian Propp: Black

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

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.

Moody's Olympics Gold: Team Switzerland

I wanted to take advantage of the Olympic break to show off the diversity of my collection with a small picture gallery for a few of the teams.

Team Switzerland is my first team. The Swiss, or Suisse, have never won a gold and only finished sixth in the last Olympics played in Torino, Italy.


Shown are cards I've received in the past from various Suisse forwards through fan packs:

Top row: Martin Pluss, Sandy Jeannin and Ivo Ruthemann; and
Bottom row: Hnat Domenichelli and Romano Lemm

I have also been fortunate enough to land a few defensemen, including, from left, Rafael Diaz, Philippe Furrer and the New York Islanders' Mark Streit.

Rounding out the Suisse's three-man goaltending squad are the Anaheim Ducks' Jonas Hiller, Dallas Stars prospect Tobias Stephan and Ronnie Rueger.

Top Shelf: Arturs Irbe

Younger hockey hounds may not remember former NHL goalie Arturs Irbe. I do, though, as he was among the first two dozen NHL players to provide the foundation of our 2000-plus autographed puck collection.

Back in 1996-97, after the Hartford Whalers headed south to North Carolina, Irbe was a consistent and friendly signer among the Hurricanes. As a result of that and his inspired play, the diminutive Latvian became one of my favorite NHL players. And now, some 14 years later, little has changed.

Not only did Irbe, the Washington Capitals' goaltending coach, sign these three pucks yesterday, but "Archie" was also gracious enough to reminisce a bit about those days when the Hurricanes played their home games at the Greensboro Coliseum.