Full accounting

In the interest of full disclosure, and in lieu of a Hallmark card thanking him, please allow me this opportunity to show some of the items that Al, Hound Central 5.0's man in Toronto, was kind enough to send to us down here in Hockey Bay.

Among the items, and there were many, was a puck (shown above) signed by Hall of Famer and Montreal Canadiens legend Guy Lafleur, obtained by one of Al's buddies at a New Year's Eve party.

Al's goodwill package also had Team Canada pucks signed by Calvin de Haan, left, taken 12th overall in 2009 by the New York Islanders, and Boone Jenner, both of the Ontario Hockey League's Oshawa Generals.

Renewing acquaintances

After hitting the Tampa Bay Lightning hard in training camp, it's been a conscious decision to take a break from hounding the Bolts. With Colin on holiday vacation, however, we've found that it's a solid opportunity to revisit the hometown team.

We made our first trip of the break Wednesday, snagging a baker's dozen autographs in less than 30 minutes. Later today, we'll spend some more time hounding the Lightning with hopes of adding quality and quantity. Recent card releases have added to the Bolts' stockpile, so we hope to make as a big of a dent as we can.

If not, though, we're more than happy to have added these from Wednesday's trip:

Signing cards were, from left, Kurtis Foster, Ryan Malone, Antero Niittymaki and Alex Tanguay.

The card was not the only item Tanguay, who's been on somewhat of a hot streak as of late, signed for us.

He also signed this puck, from his junior days when he was tearing it up in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, as well as adding to the Threads project, which features jersey swatch cards.

As a side note, this puck represents the first step in a long march to the next major milestone of the autographed puck collection. After Boston's Patrice Bergeron signed the 2,000th puck of the collection, it didn't take long to score No. 2,001.

If you're down here in the Hockey Bay area, make sure you stop by one of the local Champs sporting goods stores in most of the malls. For most of the season, the stores have been handing out -- simply for the asking -- these promotional cards of Lightning players.

Also on Wednesday, we had Matt Walker, one of the Lightning's offseason acquisitions, sign this one.

Why it's called Hot-Lanta

I couldn't resist putting in my two cents in on the recent visit by the Atlanta Thrashers. Some of you know that I was a resident of the Greater Atlanta area (even if only for six months) and put out several reports on their signing habits.

Normally, I wouldn't post the same outings as the Puckhound, but I just did so darn well that I wanted to brag a bit.

In one of my reports, I let you all know how good the Thrashers were about handing out sticks after the practices in Duluth.

The littlest hound (3-year-old Natalie) couldn't wait to get her Eric Boulton stick signed by her favorite Thrasher. She made the two-hour journey with that one goal in mind.

As you can see, it paid off. Eric signed the stick and said hello to his little buddy from Duluth.

When Pavel Kubina came out, Miss Mikayla's eyes lit up. Prior to her current crush on the Tampa Bay Lightning's James Wright, the little one was eyeing Mr. Kubina. Pavel signed three photos for her. I added this Cleveland Lumberjacks jersey nameplate that I have been hanging on to for several years. He asked what team it was from. When I told him, he said "that has to be a one of a kind; I wasn't there but for two weeks."

All in all, the Moodys managed 44 sigs from the Thrashers, including 21 photos, two sticks, the nameplate and a few cards.

Among the photos:

Captain Ilya Kovalchuk;

Goalie Johan Hedberg;

Fellow goalie Ondrej Pavalec, from his days with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League; and

forward Bryan Little, from his days with the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League.

Good deal

Living in Ontario and attending Ontario Hockey League games affords hockey fans the ability to watch tomorrow's NHL stars today, says Al, Hound Central 5.0's correspondent in Toronto.

It also makes it quite easy to snag autographs from tomorrow's stars through player appearances. Aside from the occasional John Tavares, who likely has been hounded since the second week he strapped on skates, most of the junior players are more than willing to sign autographs.

Most times, especially if you're a speculative collector, you keep these items. There are times, though, when you work out a trade, just like Al did before the season with a like-minded collector:

Al got these items, pucks signed by Windsor Spitfires left winger Taylor Hall, center, in photo above, and defenseman Cam Fowler, right, both top prospects in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, as well as right winger Richard Panik, a Tampa Bay Lightning draftee, for ...

... these items signed by Oshawa Generals defenseman Calvin de Haan, top, taken 12th overall in 2009 by the New York Islanders, and center Boone Jenner, the Generals' first-round pick in 2009.

Pretty fair trade, don't you think?