Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock . . .

Another National Hockey League season is rapidly approaching. I can't wait. I've got plenty of items for the Tampa Bay Lightning's Vinny Lecavalier, Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis, among others, to sign. Major items include a 2006-07 team helmet as well as adding a few more select signatures to finish a mini Stanley Cup.

One major difference from last year, though, is that all of the hounding will take place in the Tampa Bay area. Now that I'm done shoveling snow, collecting autographs will continue to provide a mental vacation from the daily pressures of helping to produce one of the nation's best newspapers. And, for the record, I plan on being there a long, long time.

Not only will I get four cracks each at the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, including Conn Smythe winner Cam Ward, Washington' Alexander Ovechkin and Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk and Kari Lehtonen through this relocation, but I'll also have these key teams and players to hound when they come to town this season:

Saturday, Oct. 7: Patrice Bergeron and the Boston Bruins
Thursday, Oct. 19: Peter Forsberg and the Philadelphia Flyers
Sunday, Oct. 29: Joey Thornton and the San Jose Sharks
Saturday, Dec. 9: Teemu Selanne and the Anaheim Ducks
Tuesday, Feb. 6: Lubomir Visnovsky and the Los Angeles Kings
Tuesday, Feb. 13: Coach Wayne Gretzky and the Phoenix Coyotes
Sunday, Feb. 25: Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins
Tuesday, Feb. 27: Mike Modano and the Dallas Stars

Feel free, too, to check back in mid-September once training camps begin. With any luck, I'll finish off the Lightning items.

As always, thanks for stopping by.