Part of the push

As we make the late-season drive to top 2,300 autographed pucks for the collection, these nation-based souvenirs pucks are coming in pretty handy. Last week, with the New York Islanders in town, Al Montoya, left, and Kyle Okposo added this pair to the effort.

As of today, with three teams left to visit and one last visit for the Lightning, we stand only 13 away.

Wearing the red, white and blue

Had he been playing travel team hockey, there's a good chance that Colin would have been an active participant in Sunday's Hockey Day in America. Instead, he went skating at his home rink. We'll see what we can do next year.

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.

Congrats, Dino and Cammi

Yesterday the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Canada, announced that Dino Ciccarelli and Cammi Granato, among others, will be inducted into the player category.

Dino has been waiting since 2002 for the call. He has 602 goals in his career. He's a former member of the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning, so that sorta makes him a hometown hero wherever I have been.

Dino signed this Lightning third jersey for me in Michigan a week after signing with the Lightning. I was the only person in line at the Gibraltar Trade Center show that didn't have something for him from the Wings. During his first training camp with the Bolts, I made up for the lack of Wings respect and had him sign this puck.

Granato is one of two women (Canadian legend Angela James is the other Class of 2010 inductee) being inducted. This is the first time a woman (Or two for that matter) have been individually inducted. She has been with Team U.S.A. for 15 years and has a few Olympic medals to show for it. She was an analyst during these past Olympic games.

Cammi signed this postcard for my daughter about five years ago and has been in her "Girl Hockey" collection ever since. It is a pretty impressive collection that I may showcase for her one day.

Also named to the Hockey Hall of Fame's Class of 2010 were Detroit's Jimmy Devellano and former Calgary Flames owner, the late Daryl "Doc" Seaman.

Mop-up duty

At this point of the season, with only a handful of games left to go, a hound's time is better spent mopping up stray items for a team rather than kicking off projects. That's the approach we took last Friday, when Colin and I hounded the New York Rangers.

Rather than work a team helmet, jersey or stick, we used items on hand and ready to go to add another 43 autographs, including these pucks from Ryan Callahan, left, on the U.S.A. souvenir puck, and Marian Gaborik, who signed the Wild puck

Among those signing cards were:

Top row: Artem Anisimov, Michael Del Zotto and Brandon Dubinsky;
Middle row: Anders Eriksson, Daniel Girardi and Brandon Prust; and
Bottom row: Wade Redden, Jody Shelley and Marc Staal.

I missed getting Michael Del Zotto to sign this cheap skate card on the Rangers' first trip to Hockey Bay this season. This trip, though, was different.

Other highlights from a half-day of hounding:

~ Colin loading up another team sheet;
~ Calling an audible for goalie Henrik Lundqvist; and
~ Adding another pair of cards to the Threads project.

Salvage job

During the Buffalo Sabres' first trip to Hockey Bay this season, this photo of goalie Ryan Miller was the victim of a rogue paint pen, which led to a a sizable glob ruining what was a perfectly fine autograph.

Not wanting to throw it away, I used a variety of tools (eraser, a dab of Goo Gone and a black Sharpie) to erase the mess and get the photo back into circulation. Colin was rather pleased with the results.

Moody's Olympics Gold: Team U.S.A.

Team USA won its last gold medal in 1980 (Miracle On Ice), but failed to medal in the last Olympiad, earning only a eighth-place finish. Of the 23-man roster, I've managed to get only 16 players from the NHL-rich squad.

Cards signed by some of Team U.S.A.'s players:

Top row: St. Louis' David Backes, Carolina's Tim Gleason, Los Angeles's Jack Johnson, Tampa's Ryan Malone; and
Bottom row: Los Angeles' Jonathan Quick, San Jose's Joe Pavelski, Boston's Tim Thomas and Colorado's Paul Stastny.

More cards signed by Team USA players:

Top row: Toronto's Phil Kessel, Nashville's Ryan Suter, New York's Ryan Callahan and Anaheim's Bobby Ryan; and
Bottom row: New Jersey's Zach Parise, Anaheim's Ryan Whitney, LA's Dustin Brown and Buffalo's Ryan Miller

Most of these cards have been signed in the past two seasons, either in Hockey Bay or South Florida. Puckhound helped with the acquisition of the Stastny card.

Home rink advantage

Maybe it's strong national pride or a major case of wishful thinking, but there was no doubt among Hound Central 5.0 readers about what nation will stand atop the podium with gold medals in mens hockey -- Canada.

Really, it's easy to see why. Team Canada fields a very strong squad. Lots of talent and, as always, stellar goaltending. To win, though, it'll have to go through Russia, Sweden and Team U.S.A., which won't be easy.

Imagine the pressure, though, of not winning gold in your home country. That's why, I believe, Team Canada has to play desperate hockey. Anything less than a gold medal will likely demoralize a nation.

Question: Hockey gold in Vancouver?

Canada: 31 votes out of 51 cast (60.8 percent)
Russia: 9 votes (17.6 percent)
U.S.A.: 5 votes (9.8 percent)
Sweden: 3 votes (5.9 percent)
Czech Republic: 2 votes (3.9 percent)
Finland: 1 vote (2 percent)

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.

Well, that was different

Thanks to Vancouver's Darcy Hordichuk and Mason Raymond, a handful of Hockey Bay hounds witnessed one of the funniest attempts to discourage us Wednesday. As you can see, however, it didn't work.

Hordichuk and Raymond were headed to practice, walking along the Riverwalk in Tampa, when they noticed us mobilizing our forces, so to speak, before asking for their autographs. Rather than simply keep walking, the pair sat down on a bench, side by side, and Hordichuk threw his arm across Raymond's shoulders.

After a few moments, they got up and started walking again. We didn't fall for the ruse. We knew who they were. Much to our bewilderment, though, they did it again, stopping at the next bench and sitting down. Hordichuk again threw an arm across Raymond's shoulders.

They soon realized that we weren't going away. "We thought you wouldn't think we were hockey players." Hordichuk told us, drawing a laugh and a few comments from the crowd.

Sorry, guys, but it didn't work, as I added 40 signatures over two hounding adventures from the Canucks. But it did make for a good story, didn't it?

Among those signing pucks, shown above, were:

Top row: Steve Bernier, Alex Burrows (a strict one-per, if you can imagine that) and Alexander Edler; and
Bottom row: Shane O'Brien, Mason Raymond and Henrik Sedin.

Those signing Canucks cards were:

Top row: Steve Bernier, Alexander Edler and Jannik Hansen; and
Bottom row: Mason Raymond, Sami Salo and Kyle Wellwood.

Also signing cards were:

Top row: Christian Ehrhoff, Ryan Johnson and Shane O'Brien; and
Bottom row: Andrew Raycroft, Rick Rypien and Mikael Samuelsson.

Shane O'Brien, our favorite Portland Pirates player, signed the work-in-progress Pirates practice jersey, too.

The other highlights of the two hounding adventures:

~ Goalie Roberto Luongo on a Canucks big logo puck;
~ Twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin on Sweden souvenir pucks; and
~ Forward Ryan Kesler on a U.S.A. souvenir puck.

He's a big star now

It wasn't all that long ago, that Vancouver's Ryan Kesler didn't bat an eyelash at signing more than one item. A lot, I have to say, has changed since then.

Like Canucks teammate Kyle Wellwood, Kesler took part in the 2005 American Hockey League All Star Classic in Manchester, N.H.

Over the course of the two-day event, Kesler signed a trio of pucks and a game program as his folks, who flew into town for the weekend, watched with big, warm smiles.

On Wednesday, I was happy to have him sign this U.S.A. souvenir puck for me. Earlier today, though, I was left wondering why he wouldn't sign a single autograph for anyone, saying that he'd already signed for everyone.

Excuse me, young man, but that wasn't the case. There were a few people who, indeed, didn't make it out Wednesday. The majority, too, weren't dealers. Hard to believe, isn't it, that he couldn't spare 60 seconds to sign maybe a dozen more autographs?

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.

Positive spin

There are times over the course of a hockey-hounding campaign when it's best to measure your success under different terms. On days when you add a bunch of pucks to a stack of cards, it's easy to tout quantity over quality. There are the times, too, when low numbers are the intentional result of pure, unadulterated cherry-picking.

And then you have days like Wednesday, when the Montreal Canadiens were in town to play the Tampa Bay Lightning. Though I added only 20 items from 12 players and an assistant coach, I didn't walk away disappointed. Even better, I finally got Habs goalie Carey Price to sign a McFarlane base for Al, Hound Central 5.0's man in Toronto.

Had I carried items for every player, the numbers would have been higher. But, I had no more items for such players as Tomas Plekanic, Maxim Lapierre, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Benoit Pouliot, Glen Metropolit, Ryan O'Byrne and Mathieu Darche.

In fact, the only two players I missed were Paul Mara, who I never saw before or after the morning skate, and Scott Gomez, who apparently has a good memory (I'll have more about that Sunday).

The numbers may not be that impressive, but to snag 13 players (present and past) out of the 15 who I had items for certainly made the trip well worth the time.

Signing pucks, shown above, were Brian Gionta (Montreal Canadiens and U.S.A. souvenir) and Andrei Markov (Quebec Citadelles and Russia souvenir).

Among those signing cards, shown above, were:

Top row: Josh Gorges, Jaroslav Halak, Roman Hamrlik and Sergei Kostitsyn; and
Bottom row: Ben Maxwell, Travis Moen, Kirk Muller and Jaroslav Spacek.

For the record, and to have the numbers add up, Hal Gill also signed a couple of cards.

Though I'm grateful that Montreal's Mike Cammalleri added to the autographed puck collection, I believe the young man could use a lesson in manners.

U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

Thanks to my puck supplier, Anderson Enterprises KPT, I now have two styles of USA hockey pucks to choose from for American-born NHL players. Los Angeles' Dustin Brown, left, and Jack Johnson, in town for the team's tilt against the Tampa Bay Lightning a week ago, show the two styles available.

Please know, too, that each are part of the Colin's Pucks project.

Safe bet

USA Hockey announced yesterday that it would release the men's hockey roster for the 2010 Olympics during the Winter Classic matchup between the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers at Fenway Park.

When the roster is announced, I'm fairly certain that New Jersey's Zach Parise, who signed this U.S.A. souvenir puck last Friday, will be included. Really, can you think of anyone less deserving of an opportunity to represent the red, white and blue?

There's even talk, too, of him being named captain of the American squad. We'll see. Like others, I believe the "C" will go to Los Angeles' Dustin Brown.

Limited time only

Between my daytime work schedule and a couple of fill-in recreational hockey league games later in the day, the Missus and Colin had a small window of opportunity Saturday morning to collect autographs from the Buffalo Sabres. Namely, when the players headed over to the morning skate at the St. Pete Times Forum.

After their combined efforts, in which they snagged 46 autographs, it's safe to say they delivered.

Colin, in working his Colin's Pucks project, added another three pucks, giving him seven for the week. Signing were, from left, Ryan Miller, on the U.S.A. souvenir puck, and Tyler Myers, who signed the Sabres and Kelowna Rockets pucks.

Among those signing cards were:

Top row: Patrick Lalime, Toni Lydman and Clarke MacArthur; and
Bottom row: Jason Pominville, Craig Rivet and Henrik Tallinder.

Other highlights of the morning-skate-only session:

~ Colin snagging 21 of 23 Sabres players on his team sheet;
~ Taking advantage of a deep collection of specialty set cards;
~ Having Tyler Myers sign the 2008 NHL Draft program; and
~ Adding Mike Grier to the Threads collection.

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.

We all need the practice

Just as I'd thought, we've seen familiar and new faces as more Tampa Bay Lightning players -- from captain Vinny Lecavalier to 2009 No. 1 draft pick Victor Hedman to goalie Mike Smith, above, gather at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon most weekday mornings for informal workouts.

As a fan, these sessions are a sure sign that hockey is just around the corner. Down here, the Bolts hold a rookie camp Sept. 8-11. The NHL camp opens Sept. 12. Beyond that, it's on to April, at the least.

As a hound, these informal workouts are an opportunity to work on your game or, in my case, kick off another hockey-hounding blog. By and large, the players are in great moods. Most stop when asked and are willing to sign multiples.

To me, it's the best time of the season to get the home team players.

Though I've missed getting Marty St. Louis on Wednesday (too busy taking videos and pictures), I can't complain about these additions to the collection:

Signing pucks were, from left, Jeff Halpern, 2009 No. 1 pick Victor Hedman and Ryan Malone.

Signing cards were, from left, Todd Fedoruk, Kurtis Foster, Lukas Krajicek and Mike Smith.