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.

Moody's Olympics Gold: Team Canada

Team Canada won its last gold medal in 2002, but failed to medal in the last Olympiad, earning only a seventh-place finish. Of the 23-man roster, I've managed to get 21 players from the NHL-rich squad, only missing out on Philadelphia's Mike Richards (kinda) and Dallas' Brenden Morrow

Cards signed by some of Team Canada's forwards:

Top row: Anaheim's Corey Perry, Columbus' Rick Nash, San Jose's Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley; and
Bottom row: Calgary's Jarome Iginla, Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf, Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Boston's Patrice Bergeron.

More cards signed by Team Canada players:

Top row: Philadelphia's Chris Pronger, Anaheim's Scott Niedermayer, Chicago's Duncan Keith and Los Angeles' Drew Doughty; and
Bottom row: San Jose's Dan Boyle, Chicago's Jonathan Toews, San Jose's Joe Thornton and Carolina's Eric Staal

Even more cards signed by Team Canada players:

Top row: Vancouver's Roberto Luongo; and
Bottom row: Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury, New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, Nashville's Shea Weber and Chicago's Brent Seabrook.

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

Concerning Richards, I do have an autograph from him. Unfortunately, though, it's on a wrong card.

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.

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)

Sunday morning homily XX

When it comes to the Boston Bruins and Colin, there's little that I won't allow. Skipping school? As long as he doesn't have a test. A Sabres fan wearing a Bruins jersey? Someone's got to have his back. Making countless calls to the Bruins Pro Shop in an attempt to get a Bruins Winter Classic Patrice Bergeron replica jersey? I'm still disappointed in myself for having to settle for a Tim Thomas model.

From the time Colin could walk, he's been around the Bruins. From practices in Wilmington, Mass., to this past week in Brandon, Fla., from a Bruins Wives Carnival to watching warm-ups at Bruins-Lightning games here in Tampa Bay, if it involves the B's, I do my best to make sure Colin gets to see his favorite team.

Is it overindulgence? You bet your sweet butt it is. Am I spoiling him? Oh, yeah, without a doubt. But, you know, it doesn't matter. In the interest of objectivity, I also make sure he hears "no" to enough of his myriad other requests that it all balances out.

More than anything else, though, it's about being the daddy I never had. I could sit here and wish all day that I had a dad who doted on me as much as I do on Colin. Well, guess what? It didn't happen. And it won't happen, either. I'll tell you something else, too. There isn't an ounce of regret.

In fact, I feel blessed. To be able to share these experiences with Colin are memories that will last lifetimes -- mine, his and, hopefully, his children should that time comes. I'm fairly certain, even now, that he'll pay it forward. That's what daddies do, right?

Yes, in a way, I'm getting to relive my childhood through Colin. Good or bad, I'm loving every minute of it.

Was that really necessary?

I couldn't help but laugh while getting an autograph from Boston's Zdeno Chara last week. It seems the gigantic Bruins defenseman was so convinced that I was double-dipping on him that he signed a Winter Classic photo of himself on the dark blue jacket of a Boston policeman.

Sadly, the photo was for me. I was doing a favor for another Hockey Bay hound. In fact, I don't believe I even asked Chara, who apparently is sensitive to these matters, for an autograph in the two days we hounded the Bruins. Over the years, I've scored enough pucks and cards from him that, rather than dealing with his attitude, I let him pass.

So, if Chara is a big fan of honesty, which really is a valued trait, here's a brutal dose of reality: Even if he did sign three items (two team photos and a card) for Colin, what he did by signing that photo is pure, unadulterated horse hockey.

There was no need for that. All he had to do was say "no."

Programming note

Now that we find ourselves at the beginning of the Winter Olympics break, there will be a noticeable lull in hockey-hounding activities not just here in Hockey Bay, but all across North America. That doesn't mean, though, that Hound Central won't have fresh content.

Thanks to my two trusty correspondents Moody and Al, as well as some faithful readers, there will be a few items to keep yourselves occupied. I might even weigh in, too, providing some of the final chapters of the Hound Central legacy.

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.

Bruins bonus

Thanks to Chris, one of Hockey Bay's ablest hounds, we added a couple of autographs from Hall of Famer Gerry Cheevers moments before going into Thursday's game between the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Cheevers, the former Bruins goalie known for his stitch-marked mask, was in town for an in-game signing session and was making his way to the St. Pete Times Forum. After being tipped off to Cheevers' presence and proximity, as well as being loaned a Sharpie (I'd put away my hounding bag for the night), we caught up with him along a walkway.

Sitting on a bench by himself, as groups of hockey fans walked past in wonder who was this man signing autographs, Cheevers signed Colin's 2010 Winter Classic Tim Thomas replica jersey, above, as well as on the spoked-B logo of my Bruins Vintage Hockey series jersey.

Honesty pays off for "Big Z"

Editor's note: Moody, Hound Central 5.0's senior correspondent, shares an interesting story about Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara:

While some of Hockey Bay's hounds were waiting at the hotel for the Boston Bruins to board the bus to head over to Brandon for the team practice. I decided to get a head start and get a few Tampa Bay Lightning players while waiting for the Bruins. I was able to snag a few, including Steven Stamkos.

Lo and behold, the Bruins bus came in. With no other hounds around, I figured it would be a signature buffet for me. As the Bruins walked to the locker room, I was told by every player, except one, that he would sign after practice. Chara was the only one to put Sharpie to cardboard for me.

After practice was over, and all the hounds were accounted for, we waited for the Bruins to come out and sign. Amazingly, every player obliged. When Chara emerged from the dressing room, he stopped to sign for all, but told one collector that he signed for him before practice.

I quickly spoke up and let "Big Z" know that it was me, not that particualr hound, who he signed for. Chara then signed for the hound. After he signed for everyone, he looked at me and asked if I had anything that I wanted signed. He even tossed in a "Thanks." I quickly flipped open my book and he added three more signed cards to my collection.

Honesty really does pay when it comes to Chara.

I only mention this because of a recent comment on a post that seemed to frown on "double-dippers." I say that every player has the right to sign, and every hound has a right to ask. Yes, I technically double-dipped. And, yes, I did get caught. I guess each outcome will be different by the way a hound handles the situation.

Good guys may finish last, but sometimes they get three more Chara's than anyone else.

Four-banger

From the moment I pulled this Mark Recchi quad jersey card from a pack of 2008-09 Black Diamond, I knew I had to get it signed. It was way too funny, if you ask me, not to. Just look at it.

Let's see, the card, now a part of the Threads project, feature swatches from one of Recchi's Pittsburgh Penguins jerseys, shows him as a member of the Atlanta Thrashers and, because he was with Tampa Bay at the time of its production, has the Lightning logo tucked in the bottom left corner.

The kicker: He signed it Thursday as a member of the Boston Bruins.

Classic move

For the most part, Colin likes to draw a logo any time he works one of his team sheets for a visiting NHL team. This time, though, we tried something a little different -- a wallpaper image of the team's jersey from the 2010 Winter Classic.

Seeing that 21 Bruins players, including Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, Tuukka Rask, Marc Savard and Tim Thomas, as well as head coach Claude Julien all signed it Wednesday, I'd say it served its purpose.

For the scrapbook

It's always a highlight of our hockey-hounding campaign whenever Colin gets to meet his favorite NHL player, Boston's Patrice Bergeron, and I take what's becoming an annual event -- a picture of the pair.

It's even better, Colin likes to think, when Patrice signs the photo for him, like he did Wednesday when a case of the "Bruins flu" kept Colin from a half-day of classes.

Game winner

From where we were sitting, in Hockey Bay rather than Beantown, we were wicked pumped when Boston's Marco Sturm scored the game-winning goal in overtime at the 2010 Winter Classic in Fenway Park.

Though we'd gathered from other players, from the Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers, it didn't seem right that we didn't have one from the game's hero. Well, Sturm took care of that Wednesday.

Thanks again, guys

Every time the Boston Bruins come to Hockey Bay, we make sure we have tickets to the game. We also make sure Colin plants himself along the glass to watch the Bruins warm up before the game.

Last trip, it paid off for the young man as Boston's Steve Begin and Mark Recchi each flipped him a puck from the ice. On Wednesday, with the Bruins practicing at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon, both signed their respective pucks for Colin.

We'll see if he gets any more pucks tonight as, once again, he'll be rooting for the Bruins.

Three D

Granted, it was more of an afterthought than the primary objective of a midday trip today over to Brandon, but it was nice to add these cards from Tampa Bay Lightning defensemen, from left, Victor Hedman, Mike Lundin and Andrej Meszaros.

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.

Rained out

Before Thursday's morning skate, Vancouver's Roberto Luongo told Hockey Bay hounds, including myself, that he'd sign on his way back to the tam's hotel. Unfortunately, a steady rain kept the Canucks goalie from keeping his word.

I'm especially thankful, then, that he signed this puck Wednesday, before the team held an afternoon practice at the St. Pete Times Forum.

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?

Good sport

The last time we saw Vancouver's Kyle Wellwood, he was standing in a Manchester, N.H., hotel lobby, checking in the day before the 2005 American Hockey League All Star Classic.

The Missus, God love her, was kidding him about his spiky hair, giving him a little grief about the amount of gel had had in it.

Nearly five years later, I caught up with him Wednesday, during the first of two trips to hound the Canucks during their stay in Hockey Bay. His hair, beyond being a bit shorter, hadn't changed much.

After sharing the story of our first meeting, I couldn't resist this: "You're lucky my wife isn't here," I told him. "She'd likely give you the same hard time she gave you back in Manchester."

He laughed, just like he did five years ago.

Three on one

After Vancouver's Sami Salo signed this puck earlier today (the signature on the far left), I realized there was ample room to add a few more signatures. Within minutes, fellow Canucks' defensemen Christian Ehrhoff (top) and Alexander Edler completed the hat trick.

This better be easy

Can you guess what pair of Swedish twins signed this pair of pucks earlier today before Vancouver Canucks practiced at the St. Pete Times Forum? See, I told you it was easy.

Season 2 has begun

If you checked out today's Sunday morning homily, you likely read that Colin started his second season of recreational hockey with a pair of games down in Ellenton, Fla. Though they lost their opener, 1-0, the Pinellas Police Athletic League Stars earned a 3-3 tie in the second game of the day.

As any doting daddy would, I captured a few videos from the games and have posted them at Colin's hockey channel at YouTube:

~ His first shift of his second season;
~ Remembering to stay onsides during an offensive threat; and
~ Lugging the puck up ice during a fairly lengthy shift.

Though those videos show positive moments within his games, there were three unfortunate (and unpenalized) incidents, I believe, that jeopardized the safety of Colin and one of his teammates:

~ An instance where an opponent's stick comes dangerously close to Colin's head;
~ A check that sends Colin nearly head-first into the boards; and
~ One of his teammates being slew footed.

Though I fully understand the physicality of hockey, and was a more-than-willing participant of that particular aspect in my glory days, there is no checking allowed in this league.

With the season's goal to have some fun, it's a shame something like this happened at the beginning of the season.

Sunday morning homily XIX

Had an interesting conversation take place last week regarding the practice of "double-dipping."

Al, Hound Central 5.0's man in Toronto, wrote that after new Leafs goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere said he would be signing only one-per for everyone, Al looped around, got in line again and scored a second 8x10 from the goalie.

Not long after the post went up, a reader from New Jersey filed an anonymous comment asking why, if Giguere said only one-per, did Al get a second autograph, possibly ruining it for others. A fair question, I believed. I must admit, too, that I wondered whether that specific passage would draw a comment.

Al's response makes perfect sense. One, he's not a dealer, so it's not like he made an extra $5 or so on his return trip. Two, if Giguere most likely recognized Al and truly had a problem with it, he could have said "no." One would think that the ability to focus on a blazing blip of rubber correlates to the ability remember the same face in a manner of seconds or, say, a minute, especially given Al's mug (Sorry, sir).

You'll also note that Al got different pictures signed, including one of Giguere accepting the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2003.

Furthermore, I've yet to meet any hound -- save for one prissy fellow who often brings his mother along on hounding trips -- who hasn't double-dipped on a favorite player, superstar or highly touted rookie. I know I have. I'm sure most of you have as well.

To me, it's not a big deal. In a way, hockey-hounding is like as smorgasbord. If you didn't get a full belly on your first trip through the line, you make another trip for a second plate. Part of Hound Central 5.0's mission is the sharing of information. That's why the "intel" tag appears on so many posts.

Season 2

After a two-week delay, Colin begins his second rec hockey league season today in Ellenton, Fla. We're hoping, too, that the extra skating he's done over the past month -- including marathon 2 1/2 hour sessions (of his own choosing) -- will pay off in improved play.

Sure, he's still having trouble stopping on both sides, but he's much better doing clockwise crossovers -- forward and backward. His stickhandling and passing can only get better, too. But, at 8 years old, he's taken great strides since his first skating lessons in 2007.

That's why I can't wait for today's games. Yes, I'd like to see him employ some of the defensive strategies we've practiced and remember to watch the referee's fingers, not just his hand movements, on faceoffs. More than anything, though, it's about him having more fun this season. Win or lose, that's why he plays the game.

In case you missed it ...

I should have given this post much more airtime before burying it under an avalanche of Islanders' hounding reports, but there's a line within the 2005 collective bargaining agreement between the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association that should be of interest to hounds.

5 Big Sigs

Big doings this week with the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins headed down here to Hockey Bay. Seeing that it's the Bruins' second trip of the season, and I missed Vancouver's last trip to Florida, we'll concentrate our efforts on the Canucks:

~ Vancouver's Daniel and Henrik Sedin on Canucks and Sweden souvenir pucks;
~ Vancouver's Roberto Luongo on a couple of different Canucks pucks;
~ Vancouver's Shane O'Brien on the Portland Pirates practice jersey;
~ Boston's Marco Sturm on a 2010 Winter Classic and Germany souvenir pucks; and
~ Boston's Mark Recchi and Steve Begin on NHL practice pucks they flipped to Colin during warm-ups when they played the Tampa Bay Lightning in December.

This won't take long

If this post takes you any longer than three minutes to read, I suggest you immediately head to your local education facility and enroll in a remedial reading course. Why, you ask? That's simple. We got only a dozen autographs, including eight on Colin's team sheet, during a work-induced, abbreviated hour of hounding the Calgary Flames this afternoon.

Those three cards shown above, all signed by Eric Nystrom? That's it for blue Sharpies on cardboard.

This puck? Well, Jay Bouwmeester was nice enough to sign for the Colin's Pucks project. After that, nothing else. Those three pucks I had for Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff will be used elsewhere.

I'd heard the Flames were much more accommodating before the team's morning skate. Too bad, I suppose, I was at the office. Game time, however, was a different story. Most of the team paraded to the bus only minutes before it left the Marriott Waterside for a quarter-mile ride to the St. Pete Times Forum.

Oh, well, we can't win them all. And, as always, 11 more than one is better than none.

Momma helped

Any way you look at it, the Calgary Flames flaming horse logo isn't the easiest to draw, especially if you're an 8-year-old. That's why The Missus helped Colin draw the outline of the logo. He applied the colors and the stylized name on this team sheet.

Even though only eight members of the Flames organization took the time to sign, it's one of my favorites of the 2009-10 hockey-hounding campaign.

After getting shot down by Calgary's Robyn Regehr, the following players and coaches honored Colin's request, from left, Jarome Iginla, Brent Sutter, Darryl Sutter, Ian White, Cory Sarich, Jay Bouwmeester (I got that for him), Adam Pardy and Eric Nystrom.

Stress relief

In all honesty, I never should have gotten a single autograph Thursday from the New York Islanders. Instead, I came home with another 28. You see, the Houndmobile, nearing the end of its long run, threw a belt as I made my way to Tampa.

After nursing it into a parking space, I came to the realization it couldn't be fixed there. I called AAA and arranged for it to be towed back to my mechanic in St. Petersburg. And then Moody, Hound Central 5.0's senior correspondent, agreed to drive me back home.

I figured what the heck, might as well get some autographs. What was I going to do? Sit around and stew about a car repair. That didn't sound like a whole lot of fun. So, Moody and I headed over to the team's hotel, albeit a bit later than normal.

But even that worked out. As we walked across a bridge, who did we run into? How about the Islanders' John Tavares, Jeff Tambellini and Matt Moulson? Needless to say, we put our private signing session to good use.

Among the 21 cards signed yesterday:

Top row: Blake Comeau, Bruno Gervais and Andrew MacDonald;
Middle row: Matt Moulson, Kyle Okposo and Richard Park; and
Bottom row: Dwayne Roloson, Rob Schremp and Jeff Tambellini.

The other highlight of the day? Getting Doug Weight to sign a couple career highlight cards.

Oh, yeah. the car repair? It was $230, plus a $95 tow. Who says hockey hounding isn't an expensive hobby?

It's not that hard to spell

Far be it from me to complain after the Islanders' John Tavares signed this puck Thursday, but it's another example of an NHL player misspelling Colin's name.

In Tavares' case, he made it out to "C-O-L-I-O-N" even after I slowly spelled it for him, letter-by-letter, after hearing he tends to do that with certain items.

Makes you wonder just how much did the 2009 No. 1 overall draft pick pay attention in school. Then again, when you know you'll be a millionaire by 18, life skills like spelling are probably not too important.

Oh, well, it's still an autographed Tavares puck. We're happy to have it.

Try this

Granted, this isn't brain surgery, but showing cards depicting a player in a positive moment of his career certainly increases your chances of getting an autograph. I applied this principle Thursday in getting the Islanders' Doug Weight to sign these two cards.

Growing Monarchy

We've had a bit of a run on the AHL Manchester Monarchs practice jersey. Less than a week after getting Anaheim's George Parros to sign it, New York Islanders players Jeff Tambellini (far left) and Matt Moulson (bottom right) added to the work-in-progress project Thursday.

Parros' signature is above one from Los Angeles' Dustin Brown.

For the rest of the season, we can hope to add the Rangers' Brian Boyle, Carolina's Joe Corvo and Tim Gleason, Phoenix's Jason Labarbera and Buffalo's Adam Mair.

Better than none

As the 2009-10 hockey hounding campaign wears on, I keep revisiting our stash of jersey swatch cards to pluck at least one for every team that travels to Hockey Bay for the season-long Threads project.

In the case of the New York Islanders, I had four, but managed to get only these two signed Thursday by goalie coach Mike Dunham, above, and winger Jeff Tambellini.

I also had cards for goalies Rick Dipietro and Martin Biron. Dipietro, however, arranged private transportation between the Westin Tampa Harbour Island hotel and the St. Pete Times Forum. And, Biron, who's no stranger to Sharpies, was sent down to AHL Bridgeport on a conditioning assignment.

Exhibit 14, No. 11

I certainly won't take credit for finding this gem, that belongs to Hockey Bay Hound Scott S., but I'm sure most hockey hounds will appreciate gaining this knowledge, tucked deep within the current collective bargaining agreement (page 299 of the .pdf) between the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association:

The next time an NHL player snottily shoots down your request for an autograph within the vicinity of club facilities, remind him that he's contractually obligated to fulfill your reasonable request.

Catching up with Jiggy

Al, Hound Central 5.0's Toronto-based correspondent, went out Wednesday morning with a plan of cherry-picking two of the newest Maple Leafs -- Jean-Sebastien Giguere, above, and Dion Phaneuf.

Let's just say, as Al reports, he had mixed results:

"Funny thing is they came together in Giguere's VW SUV, had the California plates on it. They must be staying in the same hotel and are now carpooling.

"When they pulled into the practice rink's parking lot, it was full, thanks to all the hounds taking the overflow spots. So, Giguere drove to the entrance for the players. The two of them got out and a security guard parked it when a spot became available.

"I got all my autos before practice, except for Giguere, who came out by himself after practice and signed the two photos for me.

"He was telling everyone he was going to be one-per. However, I looped around and got the second one done.

"Phaneuf never came out after practice. Rumor was that he got picked up by a cab in the front of the arena to go downtown to do a radio interview.

"As I told my buddies, 'There's still a lot of practices to be had and sooner or later we will get him.' "

Here are those two 8x10s that Jiggy signed for Al:

It wasn't all that long ago that he was signing photos like this down in Hockey Bay.

A sweet item, but have you ever seen a more-conflicted Conn Smythe Trophy winner?

You've got to be kidding

Of all the nearly 50 Hound Central polls conducted over the past three seasons, there has never been an instance where so many people and the ultimate outcome proved to be flat-out wrong, showing only a dreadful absence of hockey knowledge, not an informed opinion.

Risking alienation and damnation from every reader under the age of, say, 12, I have one question: What in the name of Gordie Howe were you kids thinking?

There is no way, as far as I'm concerned, that The Mighty Ducks is the best hockey movie ever. First, it's a Disney product, so we all know the ending (the good guys win) before the movie even begins. Secondly, a stiff-legged Emilio Estevez, as Gordon Bombay, couldn't skate more than a straight line. Finally, it spawned the silliest ever logo for any NHL team.

Sure, it may have funny moments, but, really, just how realistic is it?

Any hockey fan, hound or player worth his or her salt -- or at least born before the 1990s -- knows that Slap Shot is the best hockey movie made. So what if there's some spicy language, unmitigated violence and politically incorrect scenes? It's a true portrayal of hockey's grittier side and darker days. Besides, where else would we come up with Ogie Ogilthorpe? And let's not forget about the Hanson Brothers, shall we?

I am so disappointed. The future, I'm afraid, has forgotten its past. And that, dear children, is a shame.

Question: Best hockey movie?

The Mighty Ducks: 30 votes out of 67 cast (44.8 percent)
Slap Shot: 24 votes (35.8 percent)
Miracle: 10 votes (14.9 percent)
Mystery, Alaska: 3 votes (4.5 percent)

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.

Not that bad, I'd say

I'd heard earlier this season to expect a rough time when the Anaheim Ducks came to town. In fact, "rude and crude" was a term used to describe one's hound's perception of the team. As a result, I went into the two-day hounding adventure with lowered expectations.

After dealing with the Ducks last week, though, I'm guessing that specific hound, who caught up with Anaheim in New Jersey, was unfortunate enough to witness the team on a bad day. Now, I won't say we all gathered around a campfire, roasted marshmallows and sang Kumbaya, but every player signed at least once for Colin and me.

When all was said and done, meaning four sessions over 32 hours, we added 78 autographs (two away from tying our season best) and a variety of items for our efforts. Know, too, that I passed on several more opportunities to add to the haul, being satisfied with the items we'd gotten signed.

Signing pucks Friday, shown above, were Saku Koivu, left, and Scott Niedermayer, on the Canada souvenir and Ducks 2007 Stanley Cup Champions pucks. On Thursday, Colin snagged Teemu Selanne, as well as a funny exchange, on a puck.

Among the bigger names signing cards were, from left, Jean-Sebastien Giguere (now with the Toronto Maple Leafs), Jonas Hiller, Bobby Ryan and Teemu Selanne.

Among those also signing cards were:

Top row: Evgeny Artyukhin, Matt Beleskey and Troy Bodie;
Middle row: Mike Brown, Ryan Carter and Kyle Chipchura; and
Bottom row: Todd Marchant, Ryan Whitney and James Wisnieswki.

Other highlights from the Ducks:

~ Getting Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan and Steve Eminger on an AHL Portland Pirates practice jersey;
~ Tough guy George Parros signing an AHL Manchester Monarchs practice jersey;
~ Adding Jonas Hiller to the right-handed goalie glove;
~ Colin loading up a Mighty Ducks jersey and running out of ink on a team sheet;
~ Scott Niedermayer, Saku Koivu and Nick Boynton adding to the Threads project; and
~ Dan Sexton signing the first North American Hockey League puck of the collection.