Paint pen issues

I don't know what it is, but I'm being plagued again by balky DecoColor paint pens. Over the years, these have been a reliable resource in building our 2,100-plus autographed puck collection. But these three pucks, snagged earlier this week when the Boston Bruins came to town, are the latest examples that have me looking for something new.

I swear, I take the time to prime each pen -- shaking it and depressing the tip to get the paint flowing -- before getting a puck signed. Still, though, the results are less than impressive. Though it's been chilly down here lately in Hockey Bay (by Florida standards, that is), I'm not convinced that the culprit.

While two of the pucks -- the 2010 Olympic champions puck from Patrice Bergeron and big Bruins logo from Milan Lucic -- are passable, the Providence Bruins puck "signed" by Tuukka Rask is a candidate for a do-over.

In honor of Olympic gold

Thanks to Al, Hound Central 5.0's senior correspondent in Toronto, we have a new hockey-hounding project to keep us busy over the next few seasons. And thanks to Carolina's Eric Staal, the captain of the Hurricanes, we were able to break the ice, so to speak, with the project.

Not too long ago, Al asked if we were interested in this set of nine members of Canada's 2010 Olympic gold-medal winning squad. Of course, we were, I told him.

Though we live down here in Hockey Bay, where palm trees ( not maple leafs) are part of the hockey landscape, I certainly can appreciate what that special moment in Vancouver meant in the cradle of hockey.

Besides Staal, who else is in the set? Here's who: New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, San Jose's Dany Heatley, Calgary's Jarome Iginla, Vancouver's Roberto Luongo, Columbus' Rick Nash, San Jose's Joe Thornton and Chicago's Jonathan Toews.

Conditions exist for us to have Brodeur, Crosby, Nash and Toews sign their bases, like Staal did, this season. The others, however, will have to wait until at least the 2011-12 hockey-hounding campaign.

Either way, it'll be no easy feat. Still, though, once we complete the set, the effort will certainly be worth it.

Dang it!

Of the thousands of pucks we've gotten signed over the years, you'd think paint pen issues would be a thing of the past. Despite shaking and priming the DecoColor Liquid Gold paint pen, I was less than satisfied with how it worked when Nashville's Shea Weber signed this puck.

Granted, Weber's signature is legible, but it's not as thick as I'd hoped.

Good for laughs

Now that Moody has told his story of getting autographs from Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman, it's time to spill the beans on what happened just before the new Tampa Bay Lightning general manager made him feel like a 14-year-old girl at a Jonas Brothers concert.

Because it was hot that day during the Lightning's Young Guns player development camp, we braved the outside elements tucked inside the air-conditioned comfort of Moody's truck. It was, after all, summertime in Florida.

As we sat inside, soaking up the AC and trying to stave off an afternoon nap, we spied someone walking down a sidewalk. At first, the person's identity was obscured by bushes and we dismissed it was Yzerman because the person appeared to be wearing a touristlike fanny pack.

Boy, were we ever wrong. Not only was this person not wearing a fanny pack (it was a cell phone holster), but it was, indeed, the Red Wings' legendary captain. The alarms, so to speak, were sounded.

In what can be accurately described only as a jailbreak or a scene from the Three Stooges, the three of us (Moody, Colin and I) sprung to action. Colin nearly climbed over Moody trying to get out. In return, Moody nearly sent Colin back into his seat. Me? I was fumbling through my bag to grab the pucks shown above as well as two paint pens.

Moody was the first to leave the truck, scrambling up a small incline to the sidewalk and begin the chase. Colin, only seconds behind in his departure, ran along the incline, issuing his request.

"Yzerman," he shouted, "can you sign for my friend and Dad?" (It's nice to know where I rank, isn't it?) No "Mr. Yzerman" or "Steve." Just "Yzerman."

Thankfully, Stevie Y stopped.

After gathering the four pucks and pens, I nearly fell out of Moody's truck, getting a foot tangled up in my hounding bag, to join the chase. Despite my girth and age, I made up lost ground as quickly as I could, most likely causing seismic activity from my heavy feet.

As you can see, our reward was well worth the comedic effort. In less than five minutes of actual hounding, coming within a nearly three-hour-long wait, we knocked out one-third of our primary hounding project this season, The Yzerman Project.

For the record, Colin scored the Red Wings and Lightning pucks. Given Yzerman's and Team Canada's success at the 2010 Olympics, I had Yzerman sign the top pucks in gold.