Hounding 2006-07: Season in review

Like any other sports season, my hounding efforts during the 2006-07 NHL season were full of peaks and valleys.

Sure, it was nice to add another 258 pucks to the collection, including a couple from some legends. It was educational, too, realizing that it's best to conduct the bulk of my hounding earlier in the season. And, at times, namely when the circus that's known as the Pittsburgh Penguins came to town, it was frustrating.

All in all, though, it was far from a disappointing season. Looking back, these are some of the more memorable moments, listed in reverse chronological order, of the 2006-07 season:

~ Ending the debate, for once and for all, that erasing is better than dusting.

~ Completing a set of goalie gloves (blocker and catching, for the uninitiated) signed by New Jersey's Martin Brodeur.

~ Pulling a pretty sweet auto jersey patch card of Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin.

~ Having more than 40 drivers sign a license plate the the St. Petersburg Grand Prix.

~ Reaching 1,250 pucks when Tampa Bay's Shane O'Brien signed this pair of pucks.

~ Being stunned that Florida's Eddie Belfour would refuse an autograph request from a child.

~ Realizing that there is art within collecting hockey autographs.

~ By snagging four pucks, witnessing Boston's Zdeno Chara live up to his reputation as a willing signer.

~ Having Florida's Olli Jokinen sign the 1,200th puck of the collection.

~ Simply put, getting one from the Great One.

~ Being thankful that Tampa Bay's Marty St. Louis made a day for a little boy and his daddy.

~ Logging some major brownie points with my wife, Lisa, for getting an autograph from one of her favorite players, Nelson Emerson, on a day when the Los Angeles Kings' young players, including Anze Kopitar, stepped up for hockey hounds.

~ Helping create a little buzz for the RBK Edge system.

~ Forgetting for a morning that, as a Buffalo Sabres fan, I can't stand the Toronto Maple Leafs.

~ Putting a Pacific Exhibit oversized card of Montreal's Saku Koivu to good use on the same day that Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau signed a hat trick of pucks.

~ Having Anaheim's Teemu Selanne sign four pucks in one day.

~ Loading up on 20 autographed pucks from the hard-to-find Buffalo Sabres

~ Erasing a pretty crappy autograph from Washington's Alexander Ovechkin.

~ Having Tampa Bay teammates Marty St. Louis and Eric Perrin sign University of Vermont pucks.

~ Scoring Ottawa's Wade Redden for the 1,072nd puck of the collection.

~ Watching Ottawa's Jason Spezza make a kid's day.

~ Suggesting that Ottawa's Dany Heatley should spring for a new shirt.

~ Putting another Pacific Exhibit oversized card of Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk to good use.

~ Getting a chuckle out of the driving abilities of Tampa Bay defenseman Doug Janik.

~ Not only holding Mark Bell, then a member of the San Jose Sharks, to his word, but also being surprised that Tampa-area hounds actually identified rookie defenseman and Hobey Baker Award winner Matt Carle.

~ Believing I made the correct call between Philadelphia's Bob Clarke and Peter Forsberg.

~ Having Carolina's Cam Ward make a little boy's day.

~ Capping a busy day of hounding by bumping into former Lightning captain Dave Andreychuk.

~ Renewing acquaintances, again, with Boston's Patrice Bergeron and some of his teammates.

~ Being the only people to catch the Dallas Stars and Mike Modano at the team's hotel before a preseason game.

~ Getting Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis to sign 2004 Stanley Cup champions pucks.

~ Future Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille taking time out of his retirement to sign a jersey.

What will the 2007-08 season hold? It's coming soon enough. And Hound Central 3.0 will chronicle even more additions to the collection.

Told you so

As promised, hockey fans should begin seeing NHL replica jerseys popping up in retail establishments. With the league's move to the RBK Edge uniform system, last year's styles are, shall we say, old-school relics.

Over the weekend, I added these jerseys to the collection:

~ New Jersey Devils Martin Brodeur road adult replica (embroidered name and numbers): $75
~ New Jersey Devils Martin Brodeur home child replica (embroidered name and numbers): $50
~ Colorado Avalanche home adult replica: $42.50
~ Montreal Canadiens home adult replica: $42.50

But rather than assign these jerseys to the darkest corners of a closet, why not add them to your autograph stock.

I have no doubt that Brodeur will sign his jersey(s). And with Colorado and Montreal visiting Tampa Bay this season, I'll use them, in highly selective fashion, to snag some top-shelf players, say Saku Koivu and, if I'm particularly lucky, Joey Sakic.

I nearly forgot about this

As I was putting together a puck order that was placed earlier today (and, my, what an order it was, seeing that it's most likely the first of three or four this season), I came across a forgotten project -- an unsigned helmet for the 1999 NHL All Star Game played in Tampa Bay.

The helmet, a white Itech, came from the Manchester Monarch pro shop's bargain bin a couple seasons ago. I found the stickers at the Lightning's IceFest last season, paying $1 each for home and away (shown above) versions. Five minutes of effort, namely affixing the home version of stickers to the helmet, and the rest is history.

Though there are some participants who I'm unlikely to get, such as Steve Yzerman, Al MacInnis, Theo Fleury and Sergei Krivokrasov, enough players remain active or will visit the Tampa Bay area this season.

Some of those players at the top of my wish list are New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, Detroit's Dominik Hasek and Nicklas Lidstrom, Dallas' Eric Lindros, Mike Modano and Sergei Zubov, Vancouver's Markus Naslund, the Rangers' Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Martin Straka, and Toronto's Mats Sundin.

Others, and most likely easier to get, include Atlanta's Bobby Holik and Alexei Zhitnik, Boston's Marco Sturm, Buffalo's Lindy Ruff and Teppo Numminen, Minnesota's Pavol Demitra, Montreal's Roman Hamrlik, Pittsburgh's Mark Recchi and Washington's Viktor Kozlov.

Should travel take me back to New England over the next few years, and I'm pretty certain it will, I'd like to add Ray Bourque, too.

Oh, yeah, there's one other player that I'll save some room for -- game MVP Wayne Gretzky. Maybe you've heard about him.

Review: 2006-07 Be A Player

One of my consistent criticisms of Upper Deck's hockey products is how it's early-season products seldom show players traded at the deadline wearing the colors of their new teams. Apparently, someone at 5909 Sea Otter Place got the memo.

Tucked within its autograph-heavy 2006-07 Be A Player release are cards of some of those sent packing all decked out in their new duds: Then-Buffalo's Dainius Zubrus, then-Calgary's Brad Stuart, Pittsburgh's Georges Laraque and St. Louis' Brad Boyes.

Heck, UD put out not one, but two cards of Nashville's Peter Forsberg. Seeing that Foppa's a free agent, though, I wouldn't expect to see too many more of him as a Predator.

By including these cards, Upper Deck has raised the bar for this season's sets. From the low-end Victory brand to even its staple Series I, the omission of these new looks in any 2007-08 release would be taking a gigantic step backwards.

As usual, these cards pose preparation chores for hounds. Though the bottom strip of the card is ready to go, it's doubtful that many players would take the time to sign there. The photos are pretty glossy. An attempt to sign one straight from the pack led to nothing but bubbles. An Eraser or baby powder will be needed.

My biggest complaint with this product is sheer value. I'm not so sure the autographs I pulled are worth the near $100 price I paid. Beyond those cards, the autographs (the Band-Aid variety) came from Antero Niittymaki, Tom Poti, Tim Taylor, Kimmo Timonen and Vesa Toskala. Rookie cards were San Jose's Matt Carle and New Jersey's Travis Zajac.

Maybe I'm simply being greedy, believing that a memorabilia insert would make the box (eight packs of five cards, with an average of one auto per pack) a much better deal. I guess that's what happens when you're starved for hockey. Another lesson, I'm afraid, has been learned.

I'll pass next time.

A closer look

If you look real close, you can see that Upper Deck has used yet another photo of Brad Boyes as a member of St. Louis Blues in its 2006-07 BAP. Nice card, too. I just wish I was more of a Blues fan.

Nice draw

Though I really shouldn't quibble about getting a double-autograph card out of the Upper Deck 2006-07 Be A Player, I can't help but think, especially if I was playing some warped contest of Hockey hold'em poker, that I'd have a stronger hand with these two cards.

First draft

Now that I've taken an initial run through my 22-team hounding schedule for the 2007-08 NHL season, I'll offer the following prediction: I'll add at least 225 pucks to the collection, taking it to a cool 1,500 by season's end.

I also plan to increase the diversification of the collection by:

~ working a Florida Panthers team helmet. They're a young team, with kids like Gregory Campbell, Rostislav Olesz, Stephen Weiss and Noah Welch, but they also have a few stars in Jay Bouwmeester, Nathan Horton, Olli Jokinen and Richard Zednik. Don't forget, too, about new goalie Tomas Vokoun. Radek Dvorak, Ruslan Salei, Jozef Stumpel and Mike Van Ryn round out the must-haves for a team item.

~ cherry-picking on jerseys (Atlanta, Colorado and Team Canada, in particular, and, if I'm really lucky, the Q's Acadie-Bathurst.)

~ starting a goalie-only stick. Doesn't matter where they're from. If they're a goalie, I'll want them on it. Everyone except, say, Cujo.

~ Adding signatures, somewhat selectively, to the Team Canada goalie mask. There's ample room for Tampa's Marc Denis, Boston's Manny Fernandez, Detroit's Chris Osgood, Toronto's Andrew Raycroft, Edmonton's Dwayne Roloson, Buffalo's Jocelyn Thibault, Colorado's Jose Theodore, Dallas' Marty Turco and New Jersey's Kevin Weekes, among others. I won't say I'll get them all, just that there's room for them.

~ Filling up, for the lack of a better term, a Young Guns stick, which has autographs from only Boston's Patrice Bergeron and Carolina's Eric Staal. That wish-list includes:
~ Atlanta's Marian Hossa and Ilya Kovalchuk
~ Buffalo's Ales Kotalik, Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek
~ Florida's Jay Bouwmeester and Nathan Horton
~ New Jersey's Brian Gionta and Zach Parise
~ Philadelphia's Daniel Briere (though, he's not so young anymore. Still, why not?), Jeff Carter and Mike Richards
~ Tampa Bay's Paul Ranger.

Of course, Colin will add to his team sheet and autographed jersey collections.

Christmas in July

Imagine my delight last night when I saw that the NHL released its schedule for the upcoming 2007-08 season. Just a few days after whining that a lack of hockey created a void in my summer, I now have the pleasure of putting together a hounding schedule down here in Tampa Bay.

As I cobble together my wish-list, I must remember a promise I made to myself last season. Having come to the realization that the economic principle of diminishing returns applies to this hobby, I'm going to practice the fine art of cherry-picking. In essence, I'll be making fewer trips as the season wears on, limiting my efforts to favored teams and those that are infrequent visitors to this tropical NHL outpost.

Having said that, though, I'll still make the effort to hound certain teams. It's hard to resist the opportunities to score autographs from New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk and all those fresh faces in Philly. My goal, however, is to check these teams off my to-do list earlier in the season, when the players aren't so tired of constant hounding, rather than later when everyone, including hounds, are grumpy.

With that in mind, here's the first take on my hounding adventures, based on the Lightning's 15th anniversary schedule. Key dates include:

~ Saturday, Oct. 27: Buffalo Sabres. How can I resist? Sure, some big names are gone, but it's hard to not hound your favorite team. Besides, I have a Sabres mini mask just waiting for Ryan Miller's autograph. I might even work a team stick, too.
~ Saturday, Dec. 1: Boston Bruins. It's not just my birthday, but we'll also get to, once again, renew old acquaintances.
~ Thursday, Dec. 13: Calgary Flames. A rematch of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, this provides an opportunity to add Jarome Iginla, Miikka Kiprusoff and Dion Phaneuf to our 1,275 autographed pucks. It also brings former Lightning defenseman Cory Sarich back to town.
~ Tuesday, Jan. 15: Colorado Avalanche. Two words: Joey Sakic. Our collection is sorely lacking anything signed from this future Hall of Famer. I'll likely take the day off from work.
~ Tuesday, Jan. 22: Edmonton Oilers. To be honest, I'm not sure who's left that would be worthy of taking another personal day from work. Dwayne Roloson? Certainly. Ales Hemsky, too. I'm sure, though, that I'll make good use of my time.
~ Thursday, Jan. 31: Vancouver Canucks. Without a doubt, this will be a full-day trip. Between the Sedin twins, Markus Naslund, Brendan Morrison and Roberto Luongo, the Canucks represent a target-rich opportunity.
~ Wednesday, Feb. 27: Minnesota Wild. In what will likely one of the last adventures of the season, I'd be a fool not to hound Marian Gaborik, Pavol Demitra, Brian Rolston and Niklas Backstrom.

Other trips penciled in, for now, though everything, as always, is subject to change:

Thursday, Oct. 4: New Jersey (Opening night)
Saturday, Oct. 6: Atlanta Thrashers
Wednesday, Oct. 10: Florida Panthers
Thursday, Oct. 25: Philadelphia Flyers
Wednesday, Nov. 14: Carolina Hurricanes
Friday, Nov. 16: Washington Capitals
Wednesday, Nov. 21: New York Rangers
Tuesday, Dec. 4: Ottawa Senators
Saturday, Dec. 8: New York Islanders
Thursday, Dec. 20: Toronto Maple Leafs (Yeah, I know I despise them.)
Thursday, Dec. 27: Montreal Canadiens
Thursday, Jan. 10: Pittsburgh Penguins (A likely horror show, given the presence of Mssrs. Crosby, Fleury, Malkin and Staal)
Tuesday, Jan. 29: Buffalo Sabres
Saturday, Feb. 23: Boston Bruins
Wednesday, Feb. 27: Minnesota Wild

Chances are, too, that I'll make a few trips for the Lightning.

Excellent advice

If you've stumbled upon this blog, looking for information on how to score some autographs, you'd be well-served to read this posting by Drew Pelto. Every possible answer you'd ever need is right there.

Temporary quarters

Do you want to see, in terms of pucks, what four months of hounding looks like? Take a look at these pictures. It's not so much what's in the display cases, but what's sitting atop -- the 130-plus pucks since Dec. 31.

As a result, I'll be spending time in the weeks ahead archiving and cataloging these efforts. I'll rotate a couple into the displays that are temporarily showcasing items.

As for the cases, the top photo is home to Hall of Famers, the Lightning and, as you can see, goalies. I'll trade the Bruins mask, signed by Hannu Toivonen, for the Martin Brodeur gloves. I'd like to frame and display the jerseys, but the Florida sun is so brutal they'd fade in a couple years.

The case above holds mostly top-shelf items. Pucks from Sidney Crosby, Jason Spezza and Mike Modano sit atop jerseys signed by Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille and Modano. The Patrice Bergeron collection fills nearly half of the Bruins display.

In both cases, think of these as the "before" pictures. Once I've chronicled the pucks and updated the cases, I'll post the "after" pictures.

Looking ahead, when we finally find a house to our liking (as well as our checking account), we'll be able to put more on display. I'd like to build a wall of old locker stalls as the means to display jerseys, sticks and select groupings of pucks. A giant block of pucks, using the rest of the collection, would fill shelves on another wall.

Here we go, finally

As promised, and I do apologize for the delay, here is that player-model goalie glove set signed by New Jersey's Martin Brodeur. Though it's not the Team Canada mask, it still is a pretty cool piece.

Soon. I promise.

With all of my newfound time, I imagine I should should keep this promise. Check back later, please.

Sunday morning homily XXII

There are times in life, such as this morning, where one is forced into making a decision. Do we drive over to Tampa and continue adding to the hockey collection. Or do we stay closer to home and get Trot Nixon, Colin's favorite baseball player, to sign his Red Sox jersey.

As you can see, there was no dilemma. Either decision would have left us happy. Somehow, though, watching Colin's eyes light up when he saw Trot, someone he had seen only on TV, showed we made the right call. For the record, Nixon also signed in the sweet spot of a MLB baseball.

The day of decisions will also take us to Tropicana Field this afternoon, rather than the St. Pete Times Forum, where the Lightning hopes to stave off elimination by beating New Jersey. Again, we're happy with our decision.

Rather than spend $60 a ticket for the same seats that were $25 during the Lightning's regular season, we'll be 12 rows behind Nixon at the Trop. Our tickets, which include a hot dog, pop and a snack, are just $15 a seat. And, if Colin's one of the first 7,500 kids through the door, he gets a free Devil Rays hat.

It's not that I've abandoned hockey. Nor am I suffering from burnout, thanks to a long season that started in early September. Nope, my motivation was to have Colin meet one of his Boston baseball heroes, even if that hero now plays for the Cleveland Indians. This temporary diversion, I'd dare say, was well worth the time.

A true keeper

Should the Lightning lose today, it'll also bring an end to my hockey hounding season. Do you know who signed the final puck of the season? None other than New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, providing puck no. 1,275 of the collection.

Even if I'm not exactly thrilled with the quality of the autograph, I certainly won't quibble about the fact that it came from the game's top goalie. Would you?

Swing . . . and a miss

With former Red Sox player Trot Nixon in town with the Cleveland Indians, I stopped by the team's hotel after work today hoping to have him sign an item or two, or, if I'm really lucky, three. Unfortunately, I missed the team.

Colin and I will head out tomorrow morning. Maybe we'll have better luck. If not, we'll see him at the game. We're sitting in right field.

I don't feel sorry

I certainly didn't shed a tear as Ottawa closed out Pittsburgh, using a 3-0 whitewashing last night to take their Eastern quarterfinals series, 4-1. Given the youth and talent that permeates the Penguins' roster, I'm sure this was the first in a long run of playoff appearances for Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Marc-Andre Fleury.

The Senators, on the other hand, advance to the semifinals. They could be dangerous, too. It seems like Ottawa's been on a roll since that brawl against Buffalo.

The Sabres, back in Buffalo tonight, could send the Islanders home for the summer. Nashville, also at home, looks to keep its hopes alive, If not, the Predators are done.

As for the Lightning, I recognize the opportunity that awaits. Should Buffalo prevail tonight, and Tampa Bay defeats New Jersey in their series, my 2006-07 hounding season should continue with the Sabres.

M-t. No B. No dot.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm beginning to wonder whether New Jersey's Martin Brodeur and I are on a first-name basis. At first glance, this autograph looks like it says "Marty."

There's no "B." Even his infamous dot is missing. Of the four I've gotten this season, this is the weakest one. What do you think?

You won't be disappointed

For a team that's known for its businesslike approach to hockey -- from the front office right down to the assistant equipment manager -- the New Jersey Devils are, in my opinion, one of the best-signing teams in the NHL.

Every player, even the often-elusive Scott Gomez, will stop to sign. Some players, like Martin Brodeur and Brian Rafalski, will sign just one item. Others, such as Patrik Elias, John Madden and Paul Martin, will sign multiples.

Given the star quality on this team, any hound worth his or her salt should make every effort whenever the Devils come to town. With a little luck, you could have a team-signed item in less than 90 minutes.

The junior team pucks, shown above, were signed by Gomez, left, Tri-City Americans; and Jamie Langenbrunner, Peterborough Petes.

A tell-tale sign

You know you're having a good day of hounding when a player -- past or present -- is willing to sign three pucks for you. In this case, it's John MacLean, an assistant coach with the Devils.

Rather than using a DecoColor paint pen, I tried a different brand. I didn't like it; the autograph is a bit thin and sketchy. For my money, the DecoColors are the best to use.

Did you figure it out?

If you knew that New Jersey's Richard Matvichuk was a former No. 1 draft pick of the Minnesota North Stars, give yourself a gold star. I didn't know until I checked out his bio.

He also showed a sense of humor as he signed these pucks.

"Hey, Rass, come here," he said to teammate Eric Rasmussen. "Look at this."

Rasmussen, playing along, dutifully walked back to us.

"You know you're getting old," Matvichuk told him, "when you get asked to sign pucks like this (pointing to the North Stars puck)."

Following up

On Monday, it seemed like New Jersey's Zach Parise, in what I found to be out of character for him, went out of his way to avoid signing autographs. Two days later, though, he was back to normal, signing these cards. He scored two goals in the Devils' 4-3 overtime victory over the Lightning last night, giving him six in four games so far this series.