Quirky kind of day

One would think that whenever the Atlanta Thrashers come to Humidity Bay that there would be two constants -- more NHL than AHL pucks and I'd have something other than two cards for Ilya Kovalchuk. That wasn't the case on Tuesday, though.

Not only did more Chicago Wolves pucks (shown above) get signed Atlanta coach John Anderson (left) and Thrashers prospect Bryan Little, than Thrashers pucks, but I ended up, in an extremely rare instance of my hounding generosity (meaning don't e-mail me, asking for favors), getting Kovie on an 8x10 for the Swedish Hot, er, Big Dog.

Sure, I'd like to have added a couple Kovalchuk cards, but they seem unworthy of his autograph. To me, there are certain players who belong on bigger items -- jerseys, helmets, sticks, etc. Kovalchuk is one of those players. And I'll be better prepared in February.

Of course, defenseman Zach Bogosian, the Thrashers' top pick and third overall at June's NHL draft, drew a crowd, myself included. He signed, mostly one-per, but wasn't too talkative.

I could be mistaken, but I didn't believe he was enjoying himself. Anyone else notice this? It comes with the territory, I suppose.

Still, though, I can't complain, adding another 44 autographs, including 26 cards, to the collection. Other highlights:

~ getting four cards each from Johan Hedberg, Kari Lehtonen and Brett Sterling;
~ a new in-season hounding project;
~ gaining new respect for Mathieu Schneider;
~ realizing how Eric Perrin is a good role model for younger players; and
~ remembering something from my days as a Boy scout.

Among those signing cards:

Top row: Colby Armstrong, Garnet Exelby (wears a fedora) and Johan Hedberg
Bottom row: Kari Lehtonen, Jim Slater and Chris Thornburn