Plenty of ingredients

If I had to characterize Friday's hounding session with Philadelphia Flyers, right in the middle of Super Bowl XLIII festivities, I'd have to call it a stew -- a little bit of this, a dash of that and a sprinkle of nostalgia to whip up a fairly decent dish.

More than anything else I got signed last week, I'm most proud of this Super Bowl XLIII mini helmet and the three Flyers -- Jeff Carter, Mike Knuble and Luca Sbisa -- who assured me it was the first time they'd ever signed a football-related item.

Why a mini football helmet? Well, after getting legendary football announcer and former NFL kicker Pat Summerall to sign it earlier in the day, I was looking at the scarcity created by having NHL players signing a Super Bowl item. As far as I'm concerned, the Flyers' game against the Lightning was, indeed, a Super Bowl-related event. And I wasn't getting too many others on the helmet, either.

For good measure, though, I did bring along some hockey-related items, such as this Milwaukee Admirals puck, signed by Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen.

All told, too, the concoction of items, from the helmet to a mini mask to cards and a puck, netted a cool baker's dozen from 10 players or coaches.

Defenseman Randy Jones, left, and winger Scottie Upshall signed cards.

Other highlights:

~ Goalie Martin Biron and coach Reggie Lemelin on a Flyers mini mask;
~ Hall of Famer Joey Mullen signing a card; and
~ Defenseman Matt Carle signing a memorabilia card.