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.

Team report: Chicago Blackhawks

By Colin
Hound Central 5.0 junior correspondent

Sometimes when you're a kid, it's just plain better, especially with the Chicago Blackhawks. When we went out hounding them a couple weeks ago, I got 11 autographs at game time, including signatures from Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp and Brent Seabrook. Lots of players didn't sign at all. Some of the guys I got on my team sheet signed just for kids like me.

How many did my Dad get all day long? Just these two, a puck from Marty Turco and this card signed by Fernando Pisani. I guess that makes me a better hound than my Dad. Funny, eh?

My Dad's been doing this for 16 years. I've been doing this for five years. No, really, it's funny.

Editor's note: Though Dad is confident in his abilities, Colin is absolutely right. He's become the better hound. I will say, though, that he's grounded until he's 18. Ah, just kidding.

I have a good reason

By Colin
Hound Central 5.0 junior correspondent

When I hounded the Montreal Canadiens a couple weeks ago, I used a printed-out wallpaper image for a second time this season. Why? They're an Original Six team and the logo they use this season hasn't really changed.

So, I kinda have to choose to do a printout instead of a hand-drawn one for my team sheets. Either way, it works. With 18 autographs, I think I did pretty good. I think it looks cool as well.

I know I got Brian Gionta, Carey Price, P.K. Subban and Roman Hamrlik to sign it. My Dad says some of the other signers were Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanic, James Wisniewski, Brent Sopel and coach Jacques Martin on it, too.

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.

No lizards here

By Colin
Hound Central 5.0 junior correspondent

When I wanted to do the lizard logo for Phoenix Coyotes team sheet, my Dad said, "No. You have to do a more recent logo."

So, my Dad forced me to do the regular logo or the paw. I chose the paw logo.

I kinda improvised the logo because I can't write "Phoenix Coyotes" with a crayon that small, except if I drew the logo really big. So I drew the paw with the background, even though it took me 15 minutes to find a burgundy color crayon. Then I put the "Phoenix Coyotes" on the side.

Oh, yeah, I got 25 autographs on it.

Editor's note: Yes, I am that "mean." Darn nice paw, eh? I never understood what a lizard had to do with coyotes.

Among those signing were Shane Doan, Ilya Bryzgalov, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Derek Morris, GM Don Maloney, head coach Dave Tippett, assistant coach Ulf Samuelsson, goalie coach Sean Burke, former NHLer-turned-analyst Tyson Nash, Vernon Fiddler, Mikkel Boedker, Martin Hanzal, Paul Bissonette and Kyle Turris.

Just me and Mama

By Colin
Hound Central 5.0 junior correspondent

Text goes here.

Catching up with Joey Mac

By Colin
Hound Central 5.0 junior correspondent

When I first met Joey MacDonald, he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs. We were at their morning skate in Tampa. I had asked him for a goalie stick and he gave me one. Then I asked him to sign it, so he did.

After he got traded from the Leafs, I thought I'd never see him again. But I did, when we hounded the Detroit Red Wings a couple weeks ago. I found out he was with the team when my Dad told me.

When he came out, I said "Do you remember me?" Then he said, "Hey, little buddy." I said "Did you get that picture I drew for you?" He said, "Yep." I said" Did you like it?" He said, "Yep."

I was glad to see him again.

I was glad that he signed my team sheet, so I could add it to my collection.

Editor's note: Besides Joey Mac, others the signing the team sheet included Mike Babcock, Dan Cleary, Pavel Datsyuk, Kris Draper, Valtteri Filppula, Johan Franzen, Jimmy Howard, Jiri Hudler and Brian Rafalski.

I'll know better next time

By Colin
Hound Central 5.0 junior correspondent

On Feb. 12, we hounded the Carolina Hurricanes. We ended up 27 getting autographs, including 15 on my team sheet.

Unfortunately, I didn't get Eric Staal on my team sheet. The reason is because he had already walked into the St. Pete Times Forum before I could get him. If I didn't try to get my big picture of him out, I could have made it.

I should have gotten him to sign the team sheet when I could have. So, I learned a lesson, but I had fun.

Editor's note: Among those who did sign were Tim Gleason, Chad LaRose, Jamie McBain, Sergei Samsonov, Jeff Skinner and Brandon Sutter. he also got an 8x10 signed by goalie Cam Ward.

They're really nice guys

By Colin
Hound Central 5.0 junior correspondent

I couldn't believe how nice the St. Louis Blues were as a team. I expected them to be a little grumpy, because they're a team that hasn't had the best season. That's why I was surprised that I got so many of them to sign my team sheet.

My Dad tells me I did pretty good, getting 20 autographs. He knows the players better than I do, but he said I got guys like Patrik Berglund, Brad Boyes, Eric Brewer, Barret Jackman, Erik Johnson, T.J. Oshie and Alexander Steen (he's on our fantasy hockey team). My Dad said I even got Scott Mellanby on it.

I wanted to get David Backes to sign it, but he walked out the hotel's back door or something. That was a little disappointing. He's an American-born player like me and I wanted to ask him a question about taking faceoffs.

Colin's Plan B

Over the course of his growing number of hockey-hounding campaigns, Colin has built up a sizable collection of team sheets. For the most part, he'll use one of his hand-drawn logo team sheets to load up on autographs.

After hounding a team for the third or fourth time, and running out of alternate logos to use, he didn't want to give up on his tried and true approach. That's why he's turned to using a team's wallpaper image, like this one for the Atlanta Thrashers, as a platform for his team sheet adventures.

The players and coaches don't seem to mind, either. Last Sunday, Colin scored 23 autographs on this one, including signatures from Nik Antropov, Alexander Burmistrov, Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little, Freddy Modin and Ondrej Pavelec, among others.

Drawing them in

By Colin
Hound Central 5.0 junior correspondent

I had wanted to do the Columbus Blue Jackets' third logo of a cannon for my team sheet, but I kept messing up. I guess it was out of my drawing capabilities, so I went and looked for more logos and saw the bug head one.

For some unknown reason, I started out with the eyes, basically because they had most of the inside navy blue lines attached to it. I think it actually turned out pretty good. The only thing I left out was the gray stripe because I wanted to keep it close to the same colors.

The players liked it, as I got three compliments, including one from R.J. Umberger when he signed it for me. All together, it worked out great as I got 21 autographs, including Rick Nash, Derik Brassard, Kristian Huselius, Fedor Tyutin and Jakub Voracek.

A good choice

Given the good luck Colin had using a wallpaper image as a team sheet for the Montreal Canadiens, it made perfect sense to try it out a second time. Enter the New York Rangers, another Eastern Conference team we've consistently hounded over the years.

With it being the New York Rangers' 85th anniversary, wallpaper images conveying that distinction certainly seemed appropriate. After Colin scored 14 autographs on New Year's Day, it's looking like a solid call.

Among those signing were captain Chris Drury, Ryan Callahan, Daniel Girardi, Marc Staal, Martin Biron, Ruslan Fedotenko and, yes, Sean Avery.

Why stop now?

For the past two-plus seasons, Colin has employed his hand-drawn team sheets to load up on autographs from NHL players. This season is no different. Take this one for the New York Islanders, for instance.

In less than 45 minutes, Colin added 15 autographs from Islanders players, including captain Doug Weight, Rick DiPietro, Nino Niederreitter, Matt Moulson, James Wisniewski, Blake Comeau and Frans Nielsen.

Perfect sense

As hard as I try, I can't think of any reason for Colin not to use a team sheet any time we go out hounding. C'mon, just look at this one. In less than 45 minutes, Colin scored autographs from 28 of the 32 Tampa Bay Lightning prospects (plus one coach), including top 2010 picks Brett Connolly, Brett Beukeboom and Adam Janosik.

Team sheets are perfect for these kinds of opportunities.

Other notable signers, per Lightning fan standards, were former 2009 draft picks Carter Ashton and James Wright. The Norfolk Admirals, the Lightning's AHL affiliate, are represented by Mitch Fadden, Jaroslav Janus, Richard Panik, Kevin Quick, Dustin Tokarski, Dana Tyrell, Ty Wishart and former Admirals coach Jim Johnson.

No worries

Brett, one of Hound Central's longtime readers, sent Colin a couple Dustin Tokarski cards recently. Tucked into the envelope was a very nice note. At note's end, Brett complimented Colin on his team sheets, saying they are "awesome" and imploring him to continuing using them.

Well, Brett, there's little to worry about. After Colin racked up another 23 signatures from the Florida Panthers earlier this month, including autographs from Bryan Allen, Keith Ballard, Nathan Horton and Dmitry Kulikov, it's safe to say Colin's team sheets will be a featured item during the 2010-11 hockey-hounding campaign.

All told, Colin gathered nearly 450 autographs (444, to be exact) on 25 sheets during the 2009-10 campaign. Not bad for a kid, huh?

ECHL Spring Break

I loaded up the Moody Crew last week and we went up to Atlanta for a little rest and relaxation for the kids' spring break. While there, we decided to take a shot at hounding the local Holiday Inn over in Gwinnett to try our luck at the South Carolina Stingrays.

It was Mikayla's first time hounding without any help from dear old dad, other than I got to be the taxi driver. She looked like a veteran out there. She even thought enough to talk to the bus driver to find out the best place to be to get autographs.

The Stingrays, similar to their parent club -- the Washington Capitals -- like to throw their fans a bit of a curve ball. The team gets bused over in two separate trips. We ended up getting there in time for the second trip. The little one added 10 signatures to her team sheet, including the likes of Johann Kroll, Rob Ricci, Jake Hausworth and Shane Connelly.

After a quick bite to eat, we took in the game between the Gwinnett Gladiators and the Stingrays, for the final game of the ECHL season. It was a decent game and for the dollar it was well worth it. For less than $20 a ticket, we sat on the glass right behind the bench where the Glads entered from the locker room.


After time ran out in the second period and the players headed to the locker room, Gwinnett goalie David Brown came over to Mikayla and handed her this game puck. Needless to say, she was ecstatic. It sure made the day that much more fun.

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.

Money in the bank

Really, what more can I say about Colin's team sheets? He loves them. The players like them. And they're true 1/1s. Looking back, having Colin use these hand-drawn sheets is one of the best calls we've ever made when it comes to hockey hounding.

This one, which Colin worked last Friday with the New York Rangers in town, shows just how useful they are, as he snagged autographs, including signatures from such notable Rangers players as Henrik Lundqvist, Marian Gaborik, Marc Staal, Olli Jokinen, Ryan Callahan and some guy named Sean Avery.

About the only player he missed was Chris Drury.

Keeping a good thing going

I'll let you in on a little secret here at Hound Central 5.0. Though I may not be as active in hounding over the 2010-11 NHL season, there's one thing I won't step away from -- putting Colin in the right place at at the right time to add to his team sheet collection.

Seeing how much fun he has with them, as well as the compliments he gets from the players, it would be foolish not to continue with his hockey-hounding tradition.

This past Saturday, Colin missed only Pavel Kubina on his latest team sheet for the Thrashers. In all, 22 players and coaches signed this effort.

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.