Our pal, Joey

You know what they say in Hell's Kitchen, don't you? It's a good day when you get an autograph from a Hall of Famer. Even better, too, if he's from there.

Joey Mullen, an assistant coach with the Flyers, satisfied both requirements Friday.

In case you didn't know, Mullen was the first American-born NHL player to reach 500 goals and 1,000 points.

Nice save

Rather than squirrel this away in the longshot hopes it might become valuable years from now, I believe Philadelphia's Matt Carle put this memorabilia card to good use after Friday's morning skate.

That teal swatch of an "authentic jersey," described on the card's back as a "piece of hockey history," is from a photo shoot.

Don't delay

Only hours remain to enter January's Win this Auto contest -- this puck signed by Hall of Famer and Islander hero Denis Potvin.

Really, how often do you get the chance to obtain, for a mere 100 words on how you'd spend a day with Lord Stanley's Cup, an autographed puck from one of the game's best defensemen?

It's not just that, either. That's a pretty sweet autograph.

I even pick up the shipping.

Let's play nice, shall we?

Can it be true? Chicago-based hounds taking their "turf" -- and the Blackhawks -- a little too seriously? At least that's what I'm hearing on the hockey-hounding grapevine.

C'mon now? What do you think? I imagine I'd be grumpy if I had to hound in subzero temperatures. I was miserable in Boston's cruel winters, and they aren't nearly as bad.

Still, though, there's little need to block others from getting an autograph. Right? Thought so.

Besides, nonsense like that happens only in Philly.

You won't break a sweat

Now that he's got into a rhythm in his new assignment, Moody, Hound Central 4.0's roving Southeast correspondent, reports that he was finally able to visit Atlanta IceForum, the Atlanta Thrashers practice facility, above, in Duluth, Ga.

"Man alive," he writes, "they made it too easy."

Players are accessible inside and outside the arena. In fact, most of the cards Moody snagged -- and there's a bunch of them -- were scored inside the barn. The best place to hang out outside is this corner of the parking lot.

Also, former NHLer Yan Kaminsky is the rink's youth hockey director.

Dress warmly, too. Moody says the IceForum is colder than any arena he's visited, including some in Alaska during the winter.

Crowds should be expected. On the day Moody attended, there were about 20 people out by the end of practice.

Beyond missing out on Thrashers stars Ilya Kovalchuk and Bryan Little, both of whom were in Montreal for All Star weekend festivities, Moody had a pretty good day, adding more than three dozen autographs and having an adventure with goalie Kari Lehtonen.

Though Lehtonen signed four cards, Moody said he initially made, as he put it, "a royal hounding NO NO." When the goalie came over to sign, Moody didn't realize his card book was open to the wrong page until Lehtonen pointed it out. A step back and a flip of the page put him back into position, albeit a bit red-faced.

"I really felt like my homework was incomplete, but it was only a matter of a page flip," Moody writes. "So I will redeem myself next time. "

To be honest, I think he's being a bit hard upon himself. You shake it off, learn the lesson and wait for the next player.

Beyond Moody's "misadventure" with Lehtonen, here's his breakdown:

Top row: John Anderson, Erik Christensen, Niclas Havelid and Garnet Exelby
Middle row: Kari Lehtonen, Slava Kozlov, Johan Hedberg and Tobias Enstrom
Bottom row: Hedberg, Exelby and Zach Bogosian

Top row: Marty Reasoner, Chris Thorburn, Matheiu Schneider, Boris Valabik and Todd White
Bottom row: Colby Armstrong, Zach Bogosian and Todd White.

The neatest item Moody got signed was this program from the 1998 International Hockey League's All Star Game in Orlando, drawing comments from Anderson and White.

Beyond complimenting Moody on his knowledge, White told him that it may be the only All Star game that he and Tampa Bay's Marty St. Louis appear together.

Anderson was surprised to see the program and asked who else, besides St. Louis, had signed it.

Pucks came from rookie defenseman Zach Bogosian, left, and veteran defenseman Mathieu Schneider.

So, this is a football

Even though it meant stepping outside our comfort zone, we tackled the biggest show in Tampa Bay this week -- the upcoming Super Bowl XLIII and all of the sideshow atmosphere that comes with it.

It truly is like a huge carnival. Stretch limos. Super Bowl parties. ESPN and NFL Network sound stages. People wearing Steelers and Cardinals gear. And, yes, lots of sunburned people carrying bulky bags full of deflated footballs, jerseys and shiny helmets. Lots of them, many more than what we're used to seeing with hockey.

Though we saw a few big names -- Hall of Famer Joe Montana and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan -- we were limited in the autographs we could obtain.

Between overzealous security and athletes' unkept promises to sign "on the way back," Colin was happy to add two identifiable autographs -- retired offensive lineman Jonathan Ogden, left, and Tampa Bay Buccaneer Warrick Dunn -- to his mini Super Bowl XLIII football yesterday afternoon.

There's another, on the other side of the football, but I'm still trying to figure out who it is. I've checked current NFL rosters, but no names match up. Does anyone know who it is?

Still, it's like we say, one's, or in this case, two, maybe even three, are better than none.

Addendum (Feb. 2): Last Friday, while hounding the Philadelphia Flyers, John Lynch, a former hard-hitting defensive back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver Broncos, signed the ball.

Another platform

As promised, both here in Hockey Bay and in Dallas, here's a sneak peak at my latest article for Beckett publications. This article, in the Feb./March 2009 edition of Beckett Hockey, articulates a puck-hungry hound's newfound appreciation for today's NHL tough guys.

The magazine hit newstands earlier today.

Just a couple weeks ago, the February 2009 edition of Beckett Sports Card Monthly recounted my tale of the day Colin scored 50-plus autographs from the Rangers and Lightning.

Going forward, expect a piece on goalies in the next Beckett Hockey.

And, as always, folks, thanks for stopping by. I hope it's worth it.

Default mode

I knew days like Tuesday were bound to happen. After years of focusing primarily on pucks, the hounding bag for the Montreal Canadiens was noticeably lighter. The wish list lacked pucks. Not even one.

Sure, a couple other pieces proved useful, but a nearly full book of cards saved my bacon, with 14 Habs players and coaches adding more than two dozen to the collection:

Top row: Francis Bouillon, Patrice Brisebois, Josh Gorges and Jaroslav Halak;
Bottom row: Chris Higgins, Maxim Lapierre, Guillaume Latendresse and Kirk Muller.

About those other pieces? They made for a pretty solid day:

~ Guy Carbonneau, Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev and Robert Lang knocking out the Canadiens team helmet;
~ Carey Price signing a picture to Colin and a magazine;
~ Tomas Plekanic inking four cards;
~ More cards from the Habs' All Star defensemen; and
~ Notable efforts from the Brothers Kostitsyn and Ryan O'Byrne.

Erasing doubts

Never in a million years, no, make that a gazillion years, would I believe that four of the biggest names from the Montreal Canadiens all agree to sign the team helmet, bringing one chapter of Hound Central 4.0's season goals to completion.

That's what happened, though, when these players and the head coach found room on the helmet:

Captain Saku Koivu (top right) and Robert Lang (bottom left). Others shown, from left, are Kirk Muller, Guillaume Latendresse and Carey Price;

All Star Game MVP Alex Kovalev, top, joining Bob Gainey on the Canadiens logo; and

Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau.

Sometimes, you ask twice

As a rule, I try not to double-dip on a NHL player within the same opportunity. I'll leave that up to the dealers.

But, I have no problems at all asking a player to sign items -- be it pucks, cards, photos, whatever -- more than once during any given day.

Take Montreal's hound magnet Carey Price, for instance.

After having him sign The Hockey News' Future Watch 2008 before yesterday's morning skate, I asked him to sign the 8x10 above to Colin on his way back to the team's hotel.

As you can see, Price didn't mind.

All Star defensemen

Fresh off of Sunday's All Star Game, Montreal's Mike Komisarek and Andrei Markov got hit pretty hard as they headed over to the St. Pete Times Forum yesterday morning. Yes, I contributed to the crowds, but so did their appearances in the game.

It never gets old

I don't what it is, but I get a kick any time an NHL player signs four cards for me. Montreal's Tomas Plekanic was the latest to sign, stopping yesterday after the Canadiens' morning skate.

A slab of humble pie

For as much as I pride myself on recognizing NHL players, I committed a major boo-boo yesterday, confusing the Brothers Kostitsyn when asking Andrei, left, to sign his brother Sergei's cards.

"That's Sergei," he pointed out.

Well, yes it was. A quick flip of a card-book page, though, and the correct offerings were in place.

Neither held it against me.

Yeah, he's that guy

Remember the Montreal Canadiens defenseman who shot the puck into his team's open net, giving the New York Islanders a game-tying goal last November? His name, in case you didn't remember, is Ryan O'Byrne.

Thankfully, he's a bit more adept with a Sharpie, as these autographs, obtained before Tuesday's morning skate, will attest.

Wishful thinking

Here's a rumor that was floating around Hockey Bay hounds yesterday: The NFL has to find hotel rooms for the Philadelphia Flyers, in town to play the Lightning on Friday, after booking up entire hotels near the St. Pete Times Forum in downtown Tampa for Sunday's Super Bowl XLIII.

If so, I'm voting for the historic Renaissance Vinoy in St. Petersburg. It's closer to home and the ride is much nicer.

Time's running out

With only one week left in the month, I'm hoping for a more entries into Hound Central 4.0 Win this Auto contest for January, featuring Hall of Famer and Islanders legend Denis Potvin.

Tell me, in 100 words or less, what you'd do with your day with Lord Stanley's Cup.

We've got five solid entries so far. I'd like to think that Potvin is certainly worthy of a few more entries.

Now, if you need to get your creative juices flowing, take the latest Hound Central 4.0's Hockey Quiz.

Sunday night homily XIX

On our way over to watch the Sabres-Lighting game this past Wednesday, Colin told me he hoped to get a puck during warm-ups. Instead of wanting the keepsake for himself, though, he said he wanted to give it to his great-great Aunt Pat.

It's become somewhat of a tradition to take Aunt Pat to a Sabres-Lightning game as she spends her winters away from Western New York down here in Hockey Bay.

Colin, I suppose, just wanted to make this year's excursion extra special.

Lo and behold, Buffalo's Toni Lydman helped Colin make his wish come true. Near the end of warm-ups, with Colin leaning against the boards, Lydman scoops up a puck, taps the glass and tosses it over. Colin had his puck.

After warm-ups, we found our seats, where Aunt Pat and Momma were waiting. Colin showed her the puck. This is for you, he told her.

Pretty nice gesture, don't you think? Aunt Pat sure did.

Classy Canadiens

Nice touch by the Montreal Canadiens to feature living Habs legends during breaks in tonight's 57th NHL All Star Game at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

So far, I've paid attention long enough to have seen Henri "The Pocket Rocket" Richard, Serge "The Senator" Savard and Yvon "The Road Runner" Cournoyer introduced to the crowd.

Many a chill ran down the spines of not just the Canadiens faithful, but old-school hockey fans as well, with every introduction spotlight.

5 Big Sigs

Even with Super Bowl XLIII in town, I'm hoping to get in a couple hockey hounding sessions this week when the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers make their second trips if the season to Hockey Bay. Here's who we're looking to add:

~ Montreal's Alex Kovalev and Robert Lang on the Canadiens team helmet;
~ Montreal's Carey Price on a THN Future Watch 08 cover;
~ Tampa Bay's Steve Downie on Lightning and Flyers pucks;
~ Philadelphia's Mike Richards on a 2005-06 UD Rookie Class set card; and
~ Philadelphia's Matt Carle on a 2006-07 Fleer Hot Prospects Hot Materials teal swatch jersey card.

Ice time

While someone pulled an extremely early shift at the newspaper this morning, the youngest Goofy Dude in the house got to partake in an on-ice kids clinic with a couple of members of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization at a not-as-local rink here in Hockey Bay.

Assistant coach Wes Walz, right, and former Bolt-turned-TV-analyst Chris Dingman shared their expertise, ran a few drills, chased the youngsters around the rink a time or two and, of course, signed autographs.

It also seems, too, that Colin and Thunderbug, the Lightning's mascot, continued their long-running feud during the clinic. Thunderbug has a tendency -- as any good mascot should -- to "hassle" Colin any time he wears the opponent's jersey or hat. Well, let's just say the fleet-footed Colin got a little payback today.

No injuries, I'm relieved to say, were reported.

Sabres save the day

After oversleeping by an hour yesterday morning, I was afraid that my hounding efforts for the Buffalo Sabres this season would fall far below my expectations.

I'd missed the Sabres' first trip to Hockey Bay last December, when a previous commitment with the jolliest of elves meant a train ride rather than a hockey game. Then, yesterday, I missed the prime time before morning skate because of an extra 240 winks of sleep.

Thankfully, though, my hometown team took care of me as they headed off for the game, providing another 60 autographs, including 22 cards and nine pucks, for the collection.

Signing pucks, shown above, were:

Top row: Tim Connolly and Patrick Lalime
Bottom row: Craig Rivet and Henrik Tallinder

Signing cards were, from left, Jochen Hecht, Clarke MacArthur, Daniel Paille and Jason Pominville.

Other highlights of the day were:

~ Ryan Miller personalizing, at Colin's request, a Sabres replica jersey as well as a Sabres mini helmet and the Team USA jersey;
~ Nine cherry-picked players, including Maxim Afinogenov, Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek, and team brass on a Sabres mini helmet;
~ Converging factors adding up for two pucks from Drew Stafford;
~ Four cards each from Paul Gaustad and Jaroslav Spacek;
~ Thanking my stars for AHL specialty and team sets; and
~ Twenty players on Colin's latest team sheet.

Nineteen out of 20

I used to pride myself on being able to identify most any signature that Colin got on one of his team sheets. I'm not so sure I'm able to do that anymore.

For the life of me, I can't tell which member of the Buffalo Sabres signed the bottom left corner of this sheet yesterday before heading off to play the Tampa Bay Lightning.

I'm hoping it's Derek Roy, but I've never seen a sloppy Roy autograph like that.

What I can say, though, is that these players and coaches did sign:

Tim Connolly, Matt Ellis, Paul Gaustad, Jochen Hecht, Ales Kotalik (top center), Patrick Lalime, Toni Lydman, Clarke MacArthur, Ryan Miller (above and to the left of the "30"), Teppo Numminen (atop the Buffaslug's head), Nathan Paetsch, Daniel Paille, James Patrick, Jason Pominville (to the right of Miller's signature), Craig Rivet, Lindy Ruff, Jaroslav Spacek, Drew Stafford (under "Sabres") and Thomas Vanek (above, and to the top right of that undecipherable scribble).

Anyone out there in hockey hounding land recognize it?

Guilty, as charged

Yes, your Honor, I was cherry-picking yesterday with a handful of items for Buffalo's Ryan Miller. I beg for mercy and understanding by submitting these pieces of evidence:

Item: Buffalo Sabres replica jersey, personalized at Colin's request

Item: Team USA jersey, one of nine signatures upon it.

Item: Buffalo Sabres mini helmet, one of nine signatures upon it.

On a side note, he was also one of 20 Sabres to sign Colin's team sheet.

Too tough a call

I suppose limiting this Buffalo Sabres mini helmet to a sole player would've increased the impact of the piece. Problem was, this lifelong Sabres fan couldn't decide which player.

That's why, in a stroke of no-brainer hounding brilliance, I added these players yesterday:

Left panel: Ales Kotalik, left, and Derek Roy

Right panel: Thomas Vanek, left, and Jason Pominville

Back: Coach Lindy Ruff, left, and general manager Darcy Regier

Middle: Maxim Afinogenov, top, and Teppo Numminen.

Goalie Ryan Miller signed it, too.

Convergence

Here's another instance when knowing a player's pedigree, dumb luck and quick thinking added a pair of pucks from Buffalo's Drew Stafford to the collection.

Stafford, the Sabres No. 1 pick in 2004, played college hockey at the University of North Dakota. Hence, the official game puck, one of five UPS delivered only hours before.

The Sabres puck, from Hound Central 4.0's specialty bin, was intended for Buffalo's Toni Lydman. Once I saw the parallel horizontal stripes -- thick and thin -- on each puck, I called an audible.

Turned out pretty nice, didn't it?

Golden Goose

When asking most players for an autograph, I usually include their first names in my request. With Buffalo's Paul Gaustad, I slipped up a bit, addressing him by his nickname, "Goose." It didn't matter. After shrugging off my apology, he signed these four cards.

"You can call me Goose, Paul or whatever," he said.

Another win-win situation

I can't say for certain, but I believe showing Buffalo's Jaroslav Spacek cards from four different teams went a long way toward him signing the quartet yesterday before Buffalo's game against Tampa Bay.

When doing your prep work, dig deep through your card collection. Not only does it build your overall collection, but it also adds to individual team collections.

No minor matter

Need more proof that AHL specialty and team sets don't come in handy? These three from Buffalo's Clarke MacArthur, Nathan Paetsch and Jason Pominville were among the 22 cards we got signed yesterday.

Yes, they might cost a little more and you'll have to wait for them to be shipped, but they offer different looks to players used to seeing and signing the same cards.

Setting things straight

Fresh after backstopping Team Canada to the 2009 World Junior Championships gold medal and signing his first pro contract, Tampa Bay goalie prospect Dustin Tokarksi was welcomed to Hockey Bay earlier this week with a couple of meet-and-greets with Lighting fans.

During one of those sessions, during the first intermission of Monday's Dallas-Tampa Bay game, Tokarksi, wearing his WJC gold medal, signed autographs, including these three cards, for Lightning fans.

Some, however, didn't appreciate Tokarski's contribution to Canadian hockey lore. One Lightning "expert," showing off his limited hockey knowledge, foolishly chanted "USA! USA! USA!"

I couldn't help but point out, much to Tokarski's amusement, that fan's ignorance. "They finished fifth," I said, holding up five fingers as a visual reinforcement. "Canada won the gold."

Tokarski, well within earshot, approved. "That was pretty good," he said. "I'll have to remember that one."

Winning is nothing new to Tokarski. He tended net for the 2008 Memorial Cup champion Spokane Chiefs, earning the tourney's most valuable player honors.

Seeing Stars

It should come as no surprise that Hound Central 4.0 gets a little ramped up any time a Western Conference team crosses the Mississippi and makes its way down here to Hockey Bay. Take the Dallas Stars, for instance.

Thanks to a work schedule, a school holiday and leftover 2008 holiday time, the central command here at Hound Central 4.0 headquarters helped to welcome the Stars to town yesterday. We got up early, loaded the car with cards, pucks, sticks, jerseys as well as our game tickets and, by putting in the time and effort, added 65 autographs, including 31 cards, to the collection.

Sure beats work, doesn't it?

It was fun, too, snagging signatures from the Stars' big names -- Mike Modano, Jere Lehtinen, Marty Turco, Loui Eriksson, among others. Other than Brian Sutherby, who signed at game time, every Stars player signed on his way over to morning skate.

We missed former Bolt Brad Richards (I'm glad I got him before camps opened) and Brett Hull, one of the Stars' two GMs. Though both signed for a few folks Sunday night, we never saw them Monday. Yes, it would have been nice, but the rest of the team more than made up for it.

Signing pucks, shown above, were:

Top row: Fabian Brunnstrom, Jere Lehtinen and Matt Niskanen
Bottom row: Mike Ribeiro, Darryl Sydor and Marty Turco

Among those signing cards were:

Top row: Stu Barnes, Trevor Daley and Loui Eriksson
Middle row: Jere Lehtinen, Joel Lundqvist and James Neal
Bottom row: Matt Niskanen, Steve Ott and Stephane Robidas

And, no, we didn't forget to have Turco sign the Team Canada jersey. All told, the goalie signed seven items for us yesterday.

We also added these to the collection:

~ Future Hall of Famer Mike Modano on a Stars puck and a Team USA jersey;
~ Four autographed cards each from Marty Turco, Mike Ribeiro and Mark Parrish;
~ Twenty-four players and coaches, including Modano, Turco and Lehtinen, on Colin's team sheet
~ a game-used stick signed by Doug Janik; and
~ the 1,000th autograph of the season from James Neal.

Thanks, Mikey Mo!

Any hounding adventure with the Dallas Stars would be seen as woefully incomplete if it didn't include an autograph (or two) from Mike Modano.

After getting the future Hall of Famer to sign the Team USA team jersey, as well as this Dallas Stars puck, I'm comfortable with the fruits of our labor. He also signed Colin's team sheet, meaning, at day's end, we had another three signatures.

Veteran hounds should notice a difference in his autograph, too. Rather than the nearly letter-perfect signature that we've come to expect, these were the likely result of drawing an expected large crowd.

A word of caution, though. Be prepared to walk -- backwards, even -- to get Modano's autograph. He drew a moving crowd before the Stars morning skate.

Still, though, don't you believe a player of Modano's stature is certainly deserving of a little extra effort? We do.