Oh, really?

Earlier this year, we heard from a Clearwater Threshers players that collecting an assortment of autographed Florida State League team balls might be a difficult task. Well, guess what? It hasn't been hard at all, as Colin recently secured his sixth team ball of our Summer of Baseball.

You'll find that story, as well as others, at Baseball Mondays. Take a break from hockey, won't you, and check out our summer hobby.

Less than convincing

Now that we find ourselves mere hours away from the first overall pick being made in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal, Hound Central 4.0 readers are far from certain that the New York Islanders will, indeed, select John Tavares.

Of the 14 votes cast (a low number, curiously), only eight felt that the Isles will pick Tavares to lead them to the promised land. Sure, it's a majority, but it's hardly a ringing endorsement.

So, what going to happen? Hard telling. We'll have to watch the draft at 7 tonight on Versus to find out.

Question: Will the New York Islanders take John Tavares first overall?

Yes: 8 out of 14 votes cast (57.1 percent)
No: 6 out of 14 votes (42.9 percent)

Now, while you still have on your general manager/player personnel hat, feel free to take part in the latest Hound Central 4.0 poll, which asks what is the best way to build an NHL team.

Back in the day

I thought you might get a kick out of this: Hockey Sock Rock by Phil Esposito and the Ranger Rockers, released in 1979, and featured, besides Espo, John Davidson, Ron Duguay, Pat Hockey and Dave Maloney.

Even better, the flip side contains Please Forgive My Misconduct Last Night by Dionne and the Puck-Tones, featuring the Los Angeles Kings' Marcel Dionne, Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor.

A tip of Hound Central 4.0's roughed-up Cooker SK600 to Moody, our roving Southeast correspondent, for passing along the photo.

Little Gray Box: Mike Green

Little did I know, during the 2005-06 season, that Washington's Mike Green would become a Norris Trophy finalist, a NHL First Team All Star and set an NHL record for defenseman with his eight-game goal-scoring streak.

Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to have him sign one of my homemade cheap skates cards.

You're on the clock

With only a handful of days before the 2009 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal, it's time we all put on our general manager/player personnel hats and figure out the top 30 NHL draft prospects.

Though the top two picks are easy, either John Tavares or Victor Hedman, it gets a little tricky after that. Will teams pick the best available player or try to fill an institutional need?

Barring any last-minutes trades (think Toronto trading for the Islanders' No. 1 overall pick), here's a lineup of the draft order for the first round. If you'd like to participate, feel free to share your insights in a comment.

In the meantime, here are my picks:

No. 1: John Tavares, C, New York Islanders
No. 2: Victor Hedman, D, Tampa Bay Lightning
No. 3: Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, LW, Colorado Avalanche
No. 4: Matt Duchene, C, Atlanta Thrashers
No. 5: Evander Kane, C, Los Angeles Kings
No. 6: Jared Cowen, D, Phoenix Coyotes
No. 7: Brayden Schenn, C, Toronto Maple Leafs
No. 8: Dmitry Kulikov, D, Dallas Stars
No. 9: Nazem Kadri, C, Ottawa Senators
No. 10: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D, Edmonton Oilers
No. 11: Zack Kassian, RW, Nashville Predators
No. 12: Jordan Schroeder, RW, Minnesota Wild
No. 13: John Moore, D, Buffalo Sabres
No. 14: David Rundblad, D, Florida Panthers
No. 15: Simon Despres, D, Anaheim Ducks
No. 16: Dylan Olsen, D, Columbus Blue Jackets
No. 17: Scott Glennie, C, St. Louis Blues
No. 18: Louis Leblanc, C, Montreal Canadiens
No. 19: Carter Ashton, LW, New York Rangers
No. 20: Jacon Josefson, C, Calgary Flames
No. 21: Robin Lehner, G, Philadelphia Flyers
No. 22: Ryan Ellis, D, Vancouver Canucks
No. 23: Chris Kreider, C, New Jersey Devils
No. 24: Ryan O'Reilly, C, Washington Capitals
No. 25: Stefan Elliott, D, Boston Bruins
No. 26: Calvin deHaan, D. New York Islanders
No. 27: Carl Klingberg, LW, Carolina Hurricanes
No. 28: Landon Ferraro, LW, Chicago Blackhawks
No. 29: Kyle Palmieri, C, Detroit Red Wings
No. 30: Tim Erixon, D, Pittsburgh Penguins

Three-Sharpie day?

When it comes to my own hounding productivity, it's a great day any time I score at least 50 autographs. One hundred autographs? Only once.

How do you describe it, then, when you snag 206 autographs in a day? Awesome? Impressive? Frightening? I'm at a loss for the perfect word.

You'll just have to ask Brett, a Hockey Bay hound who also hits the diamonds every season, including the Florida State League's All-Star Game festivities in Fort Myers. He filed his report with Baseball Mondays.

No surprise here

Eyebrows didn't even flinch this time. Going in, I knew, without even a hint of doubt, that Hound Central 4.0's readers would show off their hockey IQ. Know what? I wasn't disappointed.

An overwhelming majority, picking with their heads more than their hearts, said John Tavares would be picked first overall at next Friday's NHL Entry Draft in Montreal. Hands down, too.

The margin of victory? Not even close. Huge, even. Then again, that was a given. Not even Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene combined could top the Next One of 2009.

The $10 million endorsement deal question now -- across the hockey spectrum, including here at Hound Central 4.0 -- is whether or not Tavares lands on Long Island or, perhaps, elsewhere. I know there's a few Loafs fans who think he'd look real good in blue and white.

It won't be long now.

Question: No. 1 overall pick

John Tavares: 20 out of 36 votes cast (55.5 percent)
Victor Hedman: 10 out of 36 votes (27.8 percent)
Matt Duchene: 6 out of 36 votes (16.7 percent)

The envelopes, please

After careful tabulations, double-blind accounting and pacts of secrecy authenticated by verification experts at the highest levels, the inaugural edition of the Hockey Bay Hounding Awards have finally arrived on the shores of Tampa Bay.

In the moments ahead, you'll find yourselves nodding in agreement, shrinking away in horror and, occasionally, shaking your head in disagreement. That's exactly what we're hoping for, at least.

Before we get to the winners, though, Hound Central 4.0 would like to thank everyone who has visited this chronicle of the 2008-09 hockey-hounding campaign. Using an incalculable payment of your free time, your presence and attention is the greatest reward we could ever receive. Again, thank you.

Now, let's see who's winning nothing more than a mention here at Hound Central 4.0:

Hound of the Year: Awarded to the hound who consistently racks up quality autographs on a diverse platform of memorabilia. Winner: Chris

Autograph of the Year: Awarded to the hound who scores an autograph from one of hockey's best players -- past or present -- during the course of a season. Winner: Ryan, for his team-signed picture, shown above, of Louie, the St. Louis Blues mascot.

Rookie of the Year: Awarded to a hound who excels in his/her first full Hockey Bay season. Winner: Ryan

Lifetime Achievement Award: Honors a veteran Hockey Bay hound for their dedication, knowledge and product of their efforts. Winner: Ron (Thanks, folks)

Best Supporting Hound: Awarded to the hound(s) who assists in the collection of autographs. Winner: Three-way tie -- Andy, Scott and Colin

Meatball of the Year: Awarded to a hound who displays a clear lack of thought and consideration toward his peers. Winner: Meatball

Best Original Score: Awarded to the hound obtaining an autograph(s) on a rare or peculiar piece of memorabilia. Winner: Jamie, for getting game-used sticks signed twice by each player. Don't ask me why, ask him.

NHL awards

Nicest NHL player: San Jose's Jeremy Roenick

Snottiest NHL player: Toronto's Curtis Joseph

Best-signing team: Dallas Stars

Worst-signing team: Washington Capitals

Best-dressed player: Atlanta's Garnet Exelby, for his fedora alone

Like looking at pictures?

Good. Check out these five galleries from the 2008-09 hockey-hounding season down here in Hockey Bay:

April 8, 2009: Pittsburgh Penguins
March 18, 2009: Toronto Maple Leafs (my favorite)
March 7, 2009: St. Louis Blues
Feb. 23, 2009: Boston Bruins
Feb. 18, 2009: Chicago Blackhawks

Teeming with sharks

After adding 40 autographs last week from the Florida State League's Jupiter Hammerheads and Clearwater Threshers during Shark Week, it's safe to surmise that Baseball Monday's Summer of Baseball mini-project didn't bite. Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun.

Little Gray Box: Jeff Carter

These days, Philadelphia's Jeff Carter is best known as a goal-scoring sniper. He signed this cheapskate card during the 2004-05 season, when today's young NHL stars were forced by the NHL lockout to play in the American Hockey League.

Flashbacks 06.10

It's been nearly three weeks since the last installment of this summer space filler. How about a mixture of team and player reports from Hound Central 3.0, 2.0 and 1.0?

April 2, 2008: Atlanta Thrashers
Oct. 27, 2007: Buffalo Sabres
Feb. 20, 2007: Florida's Eddie Belfour
Oct. 29, 2006: San Jose Sharks
Feb. 17, 2006: Hall of Famer Stan Mikita

Know the Bible?

Did you know that Doug Waechter, a St. Petersburg, Fla., native and pitcher for the Kansas City Royals, incorporates a Bible verse in his autograph? Well, he does, and that's just fine with us.

So, which one does he use? You'll have to check out Baseball Mondays, our offseason blog on our baseball-hounding adventures, to find out.

He could relate

Seeing that May's Win this Auto contest featured an NHL official practice puck signed by Colin, it was only right, Hound Central 4.0 decided, that he picked the winner.

It didn't take him long. After reading each of the four entries, Colin decided it was Petey who would win the autographed puck.

Here's Petey's entry about his favorite youth hockey moment:

"My favorite youth hockey moment came when I was about Colin's age. We had this big goalie who came out to help us. It was always a big thrill to score on him, even in practice. I think I got five goals one time, but never 10. That must have been great."

Now, if Petey will send me an e-mail, available at my profile, we'll get this puck, signed by Colin following his 10-goal performance in a recent practice, ready for delivery.

Remember, too, that this is the final contest of the 2008-09 hockey-hounding campaign. I hope you enjoyed it.

Top Shelf: 2009 NHL draft prospects

Want to know who was the first Hockey Bay hound to get an autograph earlier today from John Tavares, the likely No. 1 overall pick at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft?

How about Colin? Yeah, Colin. My Colin.

After nearly four hours of waiting out convention crowds, false alarms and near 90 degree temperatures, Tavares and his two fellow top NHL Draft prospects -- forward Matt Duchene and Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman -- signed autographs for all three of us before their dog-and-pony show for the Tampa Bay Lightning braintrust.

As they left the Marriott Waterside, walking toward a waiting Escalade, we decided to each pick one prospect to stop. I stopped Hedman, Chris took Duchene and Colin, using his "cute kid" status to its full advantage, singled out Tavares.

Guess what? It worked. He got all three to sign this Nike stick blade.

Colin's effort, too, made up for his old man's miss on Tavares. Not bad for an 8-year-old, huh?

No shame in these

With the John Tavares, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene -- the top 2009 NHL Entry Draft prospects -- in Tampa earlier today for a meet-and-greet with the Tampa Bay Lightning brass, a handful of Hockey Bay hounds took it upon themselves to welcome the trio of soon-to-be millionaires to Tampa.

As you can see, Duchene, a forward who signed the Brampton Battalion puck, and Hedman, a Swedish defenseman who signed a NHL practice puck, allowed me to add to our collection, When it came to Tavares, who often personalizes items, I flat-out missed with two pucks.

I suppose I could've asked as he sat in the back seat of a waiting Escalade outside the Marriott Waterside, after I got the pucks from Hedman and Duchene. Thankfully, Tavares did sign something for Colin.

Who knows, maybe I'll head back over tomorrow morning and try my luck again. If not, he'll be around during the 2009-10 campaign.

Still, snagging two of the top three likely picks at the NHL Draft later this month isn't anything to sneeze at.

Not a Crab among them

Can you guess what Florida State League team nearly filled up a team ball for Colin during two games last week? Here's a hint: It's one of the Tampa Bay Rays' farm teams. Need another? Check out Baseball Mondays.

Little Gray Box: Ryan Getzlaf

There was a time when I had little other than pucks for Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf to sign. Namely, a quick demotion to the Portland Pirates, the Duck's AHL affiliate, during his rookie NHL season. That's when this cheapskate card came in quite handy.

Could've been Joey

With only one of 25 votes picking the Boston Bruins over the San Jose Sharks as the biggest choke in the 2008-09 NHL playoffs, one could surmise that it was a Sharks fan or player who felt the sting of the latest Hound Central 4.0.

One unproven theory could be that it was San Jose's Joey Thornton, a former member of the Bruins organization, who cast the sole vote against the Sharks, the Western Conference's top-ranked team, being the biggest disappointment of this season's playoffs. If it was (and, really, I doubt it), Jumbo Joe needs to get some counseling for his denial.

Sorry, but the Sharks were, indeed, the poster boys for playoff upsets. Though Boston's loss disappointed Bruins Nation, it wasn't nearly as gut-wrenching as San Jose's first-round collapse.

Question: Biggest choke

San Jose Sharks: 24 out of 25 votes cast (96 percent)
Boston Bruins: 1 out of 25 votes (4 percent)