Sid's no longer a Kid

Though I'd hoped that the Penguins would allow Sidney Crosby even more time to mature, Pittsburgh named him as team captain for the upcoming season, making him the youngest ever in NHL history to wear the "C." Seeing that he already bears the burden of a sport, nation and RBK Hockey upon his shoulders, assuming the leadership role on this relatively young squad should come naturally.

Just like that

I turn on the TV in the office, punch in 7-0 for Vs. on the remote and Dallas takes a 1-0 lead on a Mike Modano goal. Really. The Stars need to win. If not, Dallas is done.

Sidney's broken foot

It seems that Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby played the past month with a broken bone in his foot. Despite that, the Penguins showed they'll soon become a giant pain in the butt. Unless you live in Pittsburgh, that is.

It's their second season, too
Here's a quick shout-out to the Rochester Americans, looking to knot their AHL Calder Cup series against Hamilton tonight. I wonder whether any Sabres fans made the trip?

Do the math: 87 > 8

Is it absolutely no surprise that Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, in only his second NHL season, became the first player to hit 100 points this season with a goal in the Penguins' 3-2 overtime victory over the Rangers?

In this snapshot of their young careers, Crosby is so far ahead of Washington's Alex Ovechkin that any comparison is simply unfair.

They're both great players. Now, however, Crosby is no-brainer.

What do you think?

Penguins have a few choices

Now that Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has stepped into the Pittsburgh Penguins controversy, asking the NHL to keep the team from leaving the Steel City, we should surmise that this entire affair is going to end in one of two ways:

1.) The city and state will cave in and provide the team with a state-of-the art, luxury-box-laden, rent-free arena, complete with all parking revenues, that will include posh three-bedroom, two-bath condos with underground parking spaces for Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal, or

2.) The Penguins will pack their suitcases and move their little webbed feet to one of the following locations and adopt a new nickname:

~ The Las Vegas CSIs. Forget the casinos, the showgirls, the all-you-can-eat-for-$2.99 buffets, the neon, the martini-loving mayor and the, ahem, criminal element. If I'm Penguins management, the make-or-break aspect of any deal moving the team is guaranteed exposure in CBS' popular crime-technology series, including guest spots for the team's stars.

~ The Kansas City Moes. Sure, some want the team to keep the Penguins nickname, but after such a bitter divorce, it's highly unlikely the team will want any mementos from its past. Alas, the Kansas City Penguins concept, which really never would have made much sense, simply floats away like an ice floe.

~ The Oklahoma City Dustbugs. The Blazers, a much better name, is taken and I'm pretty certain the team will have depleted its legal account in securing the move to wrestle away the name from the Central Hockey League team.

~ The Houston Refineries. Can't use the Rockets, Astros or Aeros. Texans is out of the question, too. Using Enrons wouldn't be too smart. What else is Houston known for? To me, the Refineries is a much better name than the Smog.

~ The Quebec Igloos. Really, this would be nothing more than a swipe at Pittsburgh. But, hey, can you blame them? Besides, it means another team in Canada, raising the total to seven (Thanks again, Drew). The team might also be able to integrate some elements of the old Nordiques logo/jersey into the new look.

~ The Portland (Ore.) Timbers. Yes, I know there's a United Soccer League team operating under that name. C'mon, though, second-tier soccer vs. an NHL team? Granted, it would be close. I'm sure the promise of free season tickets for two years to Timbers ownership and any ticket-producing fan will grease these skids.

~ My vote goes to the Orlando Nation. Now that the Seminole Tribe of Florida has completed its deal for the Hard Rock chain of cafes, hotels and music memorabilia, adding an NHL team (an idea I floated late last year) to its portfolio makes financial sense. Fans can stay at the hotel, listen to great music while downing a cheeseburger and a couple beers, try their luck at the slots and then amble over to watch a game. I'm sure, too, that many northern North American teams wouldn't mind a three-game, seven-day road trip to Florida in January or February.

P.S.: That freshly squeezed glass of grapefruit juice was excellent, too.

Definitely worth a shot

One of my fellow bloggers, Drew Pelto, tells me that Chris Chelios, a notoriously toughie on hounds, has been signing autographs, including cards, sent to him at his Cheli's Chili Bar location in Detroit. Or, if you're too lazy to check the link, here's that address: 47 E. Adams Ave., Detroit, MI 48226

If you ask me, it's worth the price of two postage stamps (including one on the stamped, self-addressed envelope) to snag a couple autographs from a future Hall-of-Famer.

Drew, who runs the Simply Drew blog (not the SimplyDrew.com fan site for Drew Barrymore), also tells me that Mark Messier, another toughie, has been signing through the mail. Try him at 12 Cowdray Park Drive, Greenwich, CT 06831.

Drew also passed along this address for Sidney Crosby: c/o CAA Hockey, 520 Broadway, Suite 660, Santa Monica, CA 90401 Attn: Pat Brisson

Sunday morning homily XII

The hounding circus that is known as Wayne Gretzky will make its only stop in Tampa this week. With the Phoenix Coyotes in town on Tuesday to play the Lightning, any hockey fan (myself included) worth his or her salt will be considering a way to try to get The Great One's autograph.

How much of a circus is it? Here are some of the rumors surrounding the team's arrival -- the team is staying in Sarasota; the team is staying in St. Petersburg; the team is staying in Miami and will fly in on Tuesday; and Gretzky never stays with the team.

To focus solely on Gretzky, though, would be a huge mistake. The team is loaded with players and personalities worthy of autographs:

~ Provided he travels with the Coyotes, Grant Fuhr, a member of hockey's hallowed hall, is the goaltending coach.
~ Top-shelf fan favorites Shane Doan, Georges Laraque and Jeremy Roenick seldom disappoint when it comes to signing.
~ Darren Pang, who's probably gained more fame as an announcer that he did as a goaltender, is personable and pleasant with a pen.
~ And, with any luck, grumpy old farts Curtis Joseph and Owen Nolan might even deign us worthy of scribbles.

As for Gretzky, I reached out to the team's front office in a bid to get a puck signed. Though we have Gretzky's autograph on a New York Rangers jersey, it's my belief that our autographed puck collection, now nearing 1,200 in total, is incomplete without one from him. Unfortunately, I've yet to hear back.

Comparing apples to dust

Where in the world does Montreal's punch-drunk thug Aaron Downey believe he even has the right to comment on Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby?

It seems that after Crosby fell to the ice after taking a stick to the chops in a game against Montreal, Downey, a personal punching bag for most of the NHL's enforcers, yapped at Sid the Kid.

Stand up, Downey said, and take it like a man.

Funny thing, though, about Downey. My last visual image of him came after he got smoked on a legal hit by Calgary's Robyn Regehr that left him a woozy and wobbly mess needing the assistance of four people to leave the ice.

Yeah, maybe that's the reason for Downey's bout of the blah-blah-blahs -- he's suffering suffering from post-concussion syndrome. If that's the case, perhaps he needs a seat -- permanently -- until he fully recovers.

In a way, the B's traded Joey, again

The Boston Bruins, in a bid to help salvage a disappointing season, shipped Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau, two of the three players they received for Jumbo Joe Thornton, to Calgary for Andrew Ference and former BC Eagle Chuck Kobasew.

Though I have to give Boston's Peter Chiarelli credit for improving the team through the trade, and perhaps erasing some of the sting for such a lopsided trade loss, I believe it's going to take more than swapping role players for the Bruins to make any kind of run toward the playoffs.

Granted, I hope I'm wrong here, but I doubt it.

Speaking of trades

I don't know what it is, but I look forward to this time of the hockey season. I love to follow the trades, consider the rumors and watch the moves that any team makes to either push for the playoffs or, by virtue of a season lost in November, prepare for the future.

Here, in Tampa, the Lightning are reportedly looking for defensemen. Excuse me, but what team isn't?

The Kansas City Penguins?

Just in case it happens, these could be RBK Hockey's chief poster boy Sidney Crosby's new RBK Edge duds.

Pretty sharp, eh?

What's with all the fuss?

Anyone who knows me will vouch that I place very little emphasis on fashion.

To me, GQ is nothing more than a typo of the old newspaper proofing mark of CQ. As a kid, the only way I could tell what colors went together was to look at the uniforms of most NHL teams. Thankfully, I knew enough back then to stay away from the hideous hues of the California Golden Seals and Kansas City Scouts.

But when I take a look at the new NHL uniforms, modeled by Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, I'm having a hard time figuring out why some folks don't like them. In fact, I think they have a cool Robocop-ish look to them.

The powers that be at the NHL apparently leaked the photo to USA Today for Friday's edition. These uniforms, known as Rbk Edge, will make their debut during All Star Game festivities in Dallas. And from what I understand, all teams will be wearing them during the 2007-08 season.

But, from where I'm sitting, wearing a coffee-stained gray T-shirt and dark-blue sweatpants, I think they look pretty neat.

That doesn't mean, though, that I don't have some issues with RBK Hockey and the NHL. I'll share those with you tomorrow morning.

Find Gary

As nothing more than an inside joke about Tampa-area hockey hounds, can you find our friend Gary in the picture above? It was featured Wednesday as NHL.com's Frozen Moment.

No, he's not wearing Nos. 40 nor 87.

And, if you know Gary's e-mail address, feel free to send him a link to this page. I'm sure he'll get a kick out of it.

A taste of their own medicine

I came to a realization while hounding the Pittsburgh Penguins yesterday afternoon that the hobby is becoming more of a job.

I don't mind putting together a book of cards. Nor am I bothered by the amount of work that goes into avoiding duplication of the 1,145 pucks we have in our collection. I've even come to appreciate the lulls with a day of hounding, creating time to catch up with friends and even make new ones.

Nope, none of that bothers me. What bothers me is the need of a handful of people, mostly dealers, who feel the need to turn a opportunity to collect autographs into nothing more than an ugly rugby scum.

I don't recall ever having that problem in North Carolina. And it sure didn't happen in AHL cities. I first encountered this behavior in Boston, which, when you think of it, should come as no surprise. And, maybe I was naive, but I was disappointed to see it in Tampa.

Much to my own chagrin, I react badly to these instances of, for the lack of a better word, bullying. Yesterday afternoon, a crush to get Sidney Crosby's autograph, despite the best efforts of another daddy, terrified my son to tears. As a result, I've had it.

And rather than walk away, like I know I should do, I remember a lesson I learned as a child. If you run away from a bully, it only makes him stronger and invites him to bother you again. But if you confront bullies, and let them know you're not backing down, they have a tendency to go away.

My wife and son will be taking some time off from adding autographs to our collection. Thankfully, the next few trips will come on work and school days, so it's not like they'll be missing much.

For the next few weeks, beginning Thursday morning with the Washington Capitals, I'll be flying solo. Actually, I'll be doing much more than that. It's time, in a non-physical way, to confront the bullies.

Sunday morning homily VIII

This will be really short, I promise, as I'm on vacation and family obligations await:

~ Though I'm not a big fan of commercials, I like the ones that have been running for the "TimBits" hockey program in Canada. My favorite, though I haven't seen it in a couple days during CBC telecasts on the NHL Center Ice network, shows younger players pulling an age-old trick on Bobby Orr. And, of course, Sidney Crosby is featured in a couple, both of which are designed to tug at a nation's collective heart strings. That desired effect crosses the border, too.

~ Because I like to "rest my eyes" from time to time, it doesn't mean that I totally tune out hockey games on the tube. All I need to hear are such phrases as "a double stack pad save," "end-to-end rush" or "gave him a facewash" and I snap to attention. What other sport can make that claim?

~ All I can do is chuckle at attempts over the past few days to absolve Dallas' Patrik Stefan from his open-net blunder against Edmonton. One knucklehead has even gone so far as to suggest that the announcer Ray "Chicken Parm" Ferraro, a former NHL veteran, owes the former No. 1 overall pick an apology. Apologists aside, Stefan is lucky he still has his job. If there is some good to come out of it, that video will serve as a perfect example that players, when given that kind of opportunity, should have one objective -- shoot the puck as quickly as possible.

Nope, I didn't forget

What? Did you really believe I'd let the first day of a new year pass without a posting? Wasn't gonna happen, I tell ya. No way, not on my watch. Hell, I'm just getting warmed up.

Wanna know the reason why? Even if you don't, I'm gonna tell ya. No, I haven't been drinking all day. Nor have I been sleeping all day, even after watching that ball drop on TV last night.

Nope, I've been working. I've put together my final puck orders for the season, barring the Tampa Bay Lightning making a deep run into the Stanley Cup playoffs. I even have to order a puck, if it's possible, from the Oklahoma City Blazers.

And, in putting that list together, I'm better prepared to make a prediction. It's my guess that I'll add another 125 pucks to our collection, ending the regular season with a total of 1,268.

Who's on the list? You should recognize the names. If you don't, you've come to the wrong place, brother.

Here's a random sampling, just to name a few, in order of appearance, more or less, in Tampa in 2007: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Marty St. Louis, Olaf Kolzig, Bryan McCabe, Mats Sundin, Patrik Elias, Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, John Madden, Brendan Shanahan, Petr Prucha, Fedor Tyutin, Alexander Frolov, Anze Kopitar, Lubomir Visnovsky, Vincent Lecavalier, Wayne Gretzky, Georges Laraque, Yanic Perreault, Alex Auld, Zdeno Chara, Stanislav Chistov, Tim Thomas, Brad Richards, Jeff Halpern, Eric Lindros, Marty Turco, Shawn Bates, Mike Sillinger, Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley, Rod Brind-Amour and Tim Gleason.

Those will work, don't ya think? Wanna know something else? Every single one, from the biggest star on down, will only add to the collection. Some day, that Guinness book is gonna come calling.

Christmas came early . . .

At 5:02 a.m., to be exact. Ninety minutes later, after all the presents had been opened, there had been a few hockey-related presents under the tree:

~ five club-level tickets for the Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning game on Jan. 9, 2007, for Colin, Nana, Babop, Mama and Daddy;

~ a Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh Penguins jersey for Colin;

~ a Marty St. Louis photo plaque for Colin, too;

~ a Hockey Bay hoodie for Mama;

~ a Tampa Bay Lightning T-shirt for Mama, too;

~ an ESPN SportsCentury video of Wayne Gretzky for Daddy; and

~ a framed Vinny Lecavalier photo plaque.

It was a very Merry Christmas indeed.

From our house to yours, we wish you happy holidays.

Christmas Eve homily

As you can see, I found another set of cards available in a collectible tin, this one featuring Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff. I just wonder, though, how long it’ll be before I can get it signed.

Now, if a proposal floated by the NHL gains support from teams, my wait might not be that long.

With Columbus and Atlanta trading conferences, divisions would be streamlined. The biggest benefit, from a hound’s standpoint, is the new schedule would bring a team to every NHL city at least once every two years.

Being in Tampa, I’d hope the northern teams, such as Calgary and Edmonton, would jump at the chance for an extended road trip through warmer climates every other January or February.

Aside from that, though, there’s really no other benefit to hounds. Tampa’s new division would contain teams that already frequent the St. Pete Times Forum – the Rangers, Islanders, Devils, Flyers, Capitals, Hurricanes and Panthers.

In fact, losing Atlanta means we’d get to hound Ilya Kovalchuk, Marian Hossa and Kari Lehtonen far fewer than the four times a season we do now. I suppose, though, that having teams like Vancouver, Minnesota and Detroit would more than make up for that.

An odds-on favorite?

Now that even Mario Lemieux says that relocation of the Pittsburgh Penguins is on the table, I’ll raise again the opportunity that exists (first item) for the Seminole Tribe of Florida to make a play for the team. Wishful thinking on my part, I know, but can you blame me?

Given the Tribe’s sovereign (meaning tax-free) status and its established gambling licenses, snapping up the Penguins would give them another entertainment option and source of revenue. Putting the team near one of its hotel/casinos, even at the expense of building a state-of-the-art rink, would create a wintertime destination for northern snowbirds.

Besides, what hound wouldn’t want a regular opportunity to score autographs from Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Marc-Andre Fleury. I know I would.

Want Scotty Bowman’s autograph?

If you do (and, really, what hound wouldn’t?), I hope I’ll see you next Saturday night as the Montreal Canadiens play the Tampa Bay Lightning at the St. Pete Times Forum.

Another milestone

This is the 200th posting of the season. For those who stop by regularly, I appreciate your support and look forward to sharing more insight, commentary and, as always, hounding adventures.

Addicted to Hockey? Round IV

With all of the pressures associated with holidays (heading to the, ugh, mall, wrapping unevenly shaped presents, stringing up outdoor lights and dealing with family you'd rather not see), it's no wonder that anxiety levels run high.

Couple that with the fact the holidays run dab smack in the middle of the NHL season and conditions exist for a 10-minute misconduct penalty in life. I'm not surprised, then, that certain symptoms of hockey addiction manifest themselves at this time of the year.

Please, take my advice, and seek professional help, namely within the premium club seats, if you recognize yourself in any of the following:

~ Your Christmas wish list contains at least three hockey-related items. Mine are a new Buffalo Sabres jersey, a $100 gift certificate from my puck supplier and a better return from the Tampa Bay Lightning on our hockey investment.

~ You make sure that tag affixed to the wrapping of one specific Christmas present to your highly impressionable 5-year-old son says the item inside (It's a Sidney Crosby jersey, but, please, don't tell Colin) comes from the game's best player. Even better, is that he just might get it signed by that player before a game Jan. 9, 2007, in Tampa.

~ Your idea of exchanging pleasantries with neighbors includes pulling their shirts, or jerseys, over their heads and giving them a couple of haymakers. Just kidding. Violence seldom solves anything. Unless, of course, it takes place on a rink.

~ You leave out a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and a tall glass of ice-cold milk just in case one of these Santa's helpers stops by for a quick visit in the days ahead. Ho! Ho! Ho!

~ You can assign NHL identities to Santa's reindeer: Dasher = Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby; Dancer = Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk; Prancer = Washington's Alexander Ovechkin; Vixen = New Jersey's Martin Brodeur; Comet = Minnesota's Brian Rolston; Cupid = Dallas' Mike Modano; Donder = Calgary's Dion Phaneuf; and Blitzen = Los Angeles' Sean Avery. We'll also throw in ex-NHL coach Pat Quinn, and his big red nose, as Rudolph.

~ You keep telling the good people at the Lightning's souvenir stands that they should push team brass to come up with, at the least, a third jersey. Or, even better, would be a new jersey. I doubt I'm alone in believing the Lightning's yawn-inducing logo and jerseys are among the league's worst. I also wouldn't mind more of a selection of items, rather than overpriced $5 pucks, from the 29 other NHL teams.

~ You book a quick trip back to New England, under the guise of wanting to watch a certain NHL game involving the Bruins at the TD Banknorth Garden, so you can really pay a holiday visit to some old "friends" back there. Sorry, boys, but I won't share the particulars. I would, however, keep the lights on, your eyes open and your heads up.

~ You know that wearing a Lightning hat and, once again, losing your voice urging the hometown team to shoot will far outweigh the wearing of a Lowell Lock Monsters jersey, autographed by the Hurricanes' Eric Staal and Cam Ward, to a game between Carolina and Tampa Bay. Too bad, though, the buck-a-hump Lightning still lost.

~ You arrange an unauthorized Get Scotty Bowman's Autograph Night (see next-to-last item) at an upcoming Montreal-Tampa Bay game because the dinosaur, albeit legendary, can't find 30 seconds to sign a game program. Am I whining? Sure. Do I care? No, not really. It makes good copy, though, and it's all in good fun. Now, if I could just get a few others on board . . .

~ Unlike some other hockey blogs, especially one in the Tampa Bay area, you take great care to adequately credit the source of your quotes, even providing a link to the article, rather than lifting and using the comments as if you spoke to the GM or player yourself.

~ You stay awake until 3 a.m. some nights arranging cards for the rest of your hounding season, cataloguing your autographs or stockpiling much more challenging photos for next year's What's This? contest.

~ Despite your own fears, which are primarily financial in nature, you buy your son a goalie stick that's way taller than he is.

For other questions to check on your condition, feel free to click here, here and here.

Whatever your faith, and wherever you're from, Hound Central 2.0 wishes you a safe and happy holidays. Unless, of course, I'll be stopping by your house, with one of my helpers, to pay a personal visit.

Sunday morning homily

~ Now that Patrick Roy is busy helping his Quebec Remparts defend their Memorial Cup championship, it's a no-brainer to say that New Jersey's Martin Brodeur is the best goalie playing in the NHL. Brodeur made 22 saves last night to blank the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0, his second shutout in as many games.

The shutout, the 83rd of Brodeur's career, moved him into fourth place in NHL history, surpassing the legendary Jacques Plante. Brodeur's next shutout will pull him even with Hall of Famer Glenn Hall. The top two are Hall of Famers Terry Sawchuk and George Hainsworth.

~ Hard to believe, isn't it, that Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby hadn't logged an NHL hat trick until last night's 8-2 drubbing of the freefalling Philadelphia Flyers. With the trick, The Next One has registered 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in nine games this season.

~ Speaking of the Flyers, isn't it about time that Philadelphia defenseman Derian Hatcher decided to hang up his skates? At one time, he was a true force. In the so-called new NHL, he's become nothing but a flat-footed farce.

~ It was only fitting, to Bruins fans at least, that their huge free-agent signing, Zdeno Chara, scored the game-winner last night against his old mates, the Ottawa Senators. It's nice, too, that the Black and Gold's faithful didn't litter the ice following the Bruins' 2-1 victory.

~ Phoenix rookies Matt Jones and Patrick Fischer (who?) scored their first NHL goals last night against the New York Rangers. Though Jones gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead, the scoreboard at game's end read Rangers 7, Coyotes 3. Sadly, it's my belief that few people want to be Wayne Gretzky these days.

I also read that Jim Schoenfeld's favorite referee Don Koharski, a resident of Tampa, Fla., had to leave the game after taking a puck in the puss.