To the defense

In nothing more than sheer coincidence, it's a bit amusing, if you ask me, that three of the five Phoenix Coyotes who signed multiple pucks earlier this week were defensemen. Perhaps it's because they're more grounded and less prone to shameful acts of self-importance.

Following that line of thinking, let's just say that most NHL defensemen are the consummate team players. Most aren't afraid to get their noses dirty, stick up for their teammates and, as you can see, sign more than one puck at a time.

For that, I'm grateful to these three players, from top: Adrian Aucoin, Ed Jovanovski and Zybnek Michalek.

Moody's midseason hounding report

Because we are around the halfway point of the 2009-10 NHL season, I thought I would give my report of how the season has gone for me.

I assume that for most Hockey Bay hounds, the numbers and item counts are different, but the overall success for each team is relative.

This has been one of my most successful seasons to date, knocking out more than 1,000 signatures from nearly 350 players.

This is a team-by-team breakdown of how the season has played out so far.

As expected, I've done pretty well with the Lightning and Panthers. Can't complain, either, about the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Atlanta Thrashers, Colorado Avalanche, Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Wild and San Jose Sharks.

I am debating on tapering off my efforts the rest of the season or continuing on just to see how well I do.

(Puckhound's note: Why stop now? You could hit 2,000 autographs or 500 players by season's end.)

There are still a few West Coast teams on the calendar, so I'm sure I will make the trip out for them.

Prime spot

Sure, it would've been nice to get, say, Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux to sign the top of the Canada crest of our Team Canada jersey.

Instead, I had Los Angeles' Ryan Smyth, known as "Captain Canada," sign in the spot of honor before the Kings' game against the Tampa Bay Lightning last week. he joins New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, left, and Boston Bruins' legend and Hall of Famer Cam Neely.

There's still room, too, for a few notable players, don't you think? who knows, maybe Steve Yzerman, who's leading Canada's 2010 Olympic efforts, will be in town over the next week or so.

Earlier, Nick Schultz, a defenseman for the Minnesota Wild, signed the work-in-progress jersey. Being a part of two gold-medal-winning World Championship squads certainly made him worthy of inclusion.

Cardboard's lighter

In what's becoming something of a trend this season, my hounding bag for the Minnesota Wild wasn't as heavy as normal. It's not that I didn't have items for the Wild. No, that wasn't the case. It's just that I didn't have a whole lot of pucks for them.

In fact, the only two I had were for goalie Niklas Backstrom, who signed the Finland souvenir puck, and right winger and 2008-09 NHL hits leader Cal Clutterbuck, who signed the Minnesota Wild puck.

After last season's trip, when we added 20 pucks in a day from the Wild, I really didn't need to load up again. That's why, more than anything else, 50 autographed cards thoroughly dominated the 58-signature haul through two days of hounding:

Top row: Derek Boogaard, Andrew Brunette, Cal Clutterbuck and the increasingly tough and equally unpleasant Mikko Koivu; and
Bottom row: Antti Miettinen, Benoit Pouliot, Nick Schultz and Marek Zidlicky.

Also signing cards were, from left, assistant coach Dave Barr, Kyle Brodziak, Martin Havlat and Greg Zanon.

Other highlights from the Wild's visit:

~ At least four cards each from five players: Niklas Backstrom, Andrew Brunette, Brent Burns, Josh Harding and Kim Johnsson;
~ A pretty neat assortment of 8x10s from Cal Clutterbuck, Josh Harding, Martin Havlat and Owen Nolan;
~ Specialty set cards from Cal Clutterbuck, Benoit Pouliot, James Sheppard and Marek Zidlicky; and
~ a cheap-skate card from shot-blocking specialist (a nicer way of saying "defensive defenseman," don't you think?) Greg Zanon.

Twenty out of 50

It's always nice when an NHL player signs more than one autograph. Last week, with the Minnesota Wild in Hockey Bay, we encountered quite a few players willing to sign more than one items, be they pucks, photos or, in this particular instance, cards.

All told, we accumulated 50 cards for the collection, with these players significantly adding to the inch-high stack:

Goalie Niklas Backstrom, top, who fears no nineboards, and Andrew Brunette, owner of one of the NHL's most distinctive autographs, had no trouble signing four cards;

Defenseman Brent Burns, top, and goalie Josh Harding, each inked four cards; and

a quartet from defenseman Kim Johnsson.

Deepening the stack

Sure, we added quite a few cards last week -- 50, to be exact -- from members of the Minnesota Wild. Helping out, as usual, were cards from specialty sets.

In this case, we added cards from Cal Clutterbuck, Benoit Pouliot, James Sheppard (a one-per, if you can believe that) and Marek Zidlicky.

The Zidlicky cards, given to me last season by a fellow Hockey Bay Hound, came from a couple of Finnish sets.

Another example

Just because you have a card for a certain player, such as Minnesota's shot-blocking specialist Greg Zanon, it doesn't mean you can't create and use a cheap skate card to add another signature to your collection.

Pictures, perfect

There are many reasons for hockey hounds to use 8x10 photos as signing platforms. They're easy to find, can be quite affordable if bought in bulk and, when it comes to storage, don't take up as much space as pucks, cards and memorabilia.

Last week, when the Minnesota Wild traveled to Hockey Bay, I had four different reasons for getting four 8x10s signed. I'm not asking you to agree, I'm just asking you to appreciate:

Simply put, our collection, I believe, would be incomplete without a photo from the best name in hockey, Cal Clutterbuck.

Here's an instance when I thought this photo of Josh Harding was just too neat to pass up. In my book, not every photo needs to come from a big-name player.

The best part about this photo of Martin Havlat? There are very few dark areas where he could, if he so chose, hide his autograph as some players often do.

Owen Nolan, a grizzled NHL veteran if there ever was one, studied this photo for a few seconds before signing it. It's my guess he was trying to recall when he suffered this cut. I think it reinforces the notion that Nolan is really a tough old coot.

Wild things

They're not the best videos that HockeyBayHound has ever shot, but you'll get the idea of these three taken earlier today at the Minnesota Wild's practice at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon:

~ Minnesota goalie Josh Harding making a nice blocker save;
~ Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom taking part in a drill; and
~ A quick clip of the Wild gathering near the bench during a break.

Sunday morning homily VI

Astute visitors to Hound Central 5.0 have recognized by now that we aren't attending as many Lightning games this season as we have in the past. Last season, we went to nearly 20 games. This season, we'll be lucky if we get to more than a half-dozen.

Pure and simple, it's an economic decision.

The journalism industry has been hard-hit in this recession. As a result, my salary, just like the rest of my colleagues, has been cut. Sure, it's a bitter pill to swallow, but it's better than being without a job. And though I bust my butt at work, sometimes pulling five different shifts and associated tasks within my workweek, there's no guarantee that the coming year won't bring a layoff.

That alone is reason enough to scale back, right?

Still, that doesn't mean we're walking away from the sport. Colin's midway through his first rec league season. Conditions exist, as long as my bleary eyes hold up and the Hockey Gods smile upon us, for him to continue playing. I'd hate to have him stop after as much ground, or shall I say ice, as he's covered in the past year.

In a way, his season has become our season ticket. The games -- win or lose -- are much more enjoyable. Plus, as a hockey parent, the access is unrivaled. There's nothing like tying up Colin's skates, snugging up his shoulder pads and getting him ready for a game.

What's the reward? There's watching him get better with every practice and game. There are the shared smiles of both knowing that he made a good play. There are the shooting drills out back on the patio, even if I do take the occasional errant wrister off a bare leg.

Bottom line, it's the strengthening bond between child and parent. That alone is reason enough to keep at it, isn't it?

Give or take a few inches

Did you happen to catch San Jose's Dan Boyle during an interview played Friday night on the NHL Network's On the Fly program? It's a good thing he plays hockey.

In one question, he was asked about a new 100-inch TV in his new home theater room. Boyle quickly corrected the size of the TV:

"Actually, it's 120 inches," He said. "That's bigger than 10 feet."

Actually, Dan, at 12 inches per foot, it's exactly 10 feet.

5 Big Sigs

It's always a good week whenever a couple of Western Conference teams come to Hockey Bay. Here's what we're hoping to add this week:

~ A Finland souvenir puck from Minnesota Wild goalie Nicklas Backstrom;
~ A Wild puck from Cal Clutterbuck (the best name in hockey);
~ Los Angeles' Drew Doughty on Kings puck and the 2008 NHL Draft program;
~ Los Angeles' Dustin Brown on a U.S.A. souvenir puck; and
~ Los Angeles' Ryan Smyth on the Team Canada jersey.