Oh, yeah, the rest of the Coyotes

To be quite honest, I never thought that Wayne Gretzky would sign autographs earlier today in Tampa. Between all the rumors of the team’s arrival, and to the horror stories of hounds and dealers, I was stunned to see Gretzky signing away and chatting with fans.

In hounding the Coyotes, I was willing to settle for Grant Fuhr, the Hall of Fame goalie, signing a Buffalo Sabres (above, right) puck. I knew, too, that Shane Doan would sign the Kamloops Blazers (above, left) puck. And even if Jeremy Roenick (who, unfortunately, I missed) might be playing his last season in the NHL, he’s always been a fan-favorite.

Beyond that, and I’m not lying, it really didn’t matter. I’m not a big fan of Curtis Joseph and Owen Nolan. In fact, had we attended tonight’s game (actually, I would have been the only one and I knew that wouldn’t have been fun), I was looking forward to losing my voice leading a never-ending mocking chant of "CuJo! CuJo! CuJo."

Now, as I look at the morning’s effort, I can’t really complain. Besides Gretzky, Fuhr and Doan, I was also able to get autographed pucks out of Cliff Fletcher, Georges Laraque, Darren Pang, Yanic Perreault and Steven Reinprecht.

Nick Boynton signed a game-used stick, too.