Rookie signings

Besides these two pucks, center Patrick Berglund, left, and goalie Ben Bishop, two of the St. Louis Blues' top rookies, stepped up to the plate Friday, adding to Hound Central 4.0's collection:

~ Berglund, third among NHL rookie scorers, signed this mini pennant; and

~ Bishop, a native Des Peres, Mo., signed the American-born goalie stick. That Blues puck is the 1,800th of the collection.

In the meantime

Every time I see Cap Raeder, an assistant coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning, I chide myself for forgetting to bring the work-in-progress University of New Hampshire jersey.

In 1974, Raeder was an All-American goalie for the Wildcats. If you're a UNH hockey fan like me, Cap's a huge deal.

Well, I missed another opportunity for the jersey Thursday when I saw Raeder outside the Devils' team hotel. Thankfully, though, I had something else for him -- the American-born goalie stick. He played for Team USA in the inaugural Canada Cup in 1976.

Sooner or later, I'll have Raeder sign the UNH jersey. When? Who knows?

A select club

It's easy to tell when you're working on a winner of a project. The player providing the latest addition expresses his appreciation for the item and wants to know who else has signed it. Or at least that's what New Jersey's Scott Clemmensen did Thursday when he signed the American-born goalie stick.

For the record, the stick contains signatures from Florida's Craig Anderson, Hurricanes goalie coach Tom Barrasso, Detroit's Ty Conklin, the Isles' Rick DiPietro, Islanders goalie coach Mike Dunham, former NHLer John Grahame, Washington's Brent Johnson, Buffalo's Ryan Miller, Islanders GM Garth Snow and Boston's Tim Thomas. Most were collected in the 2007-08 campaign.

Right place, right time?

Any hound worth his or her salt knows that Tom Barrasso, goalie coach for the Carolina Hurricanes, is not the easiest person to ask for an autograph. Requests, I've heard, are usually ignored or met with a stern stare.

In fact, that was the case Saturday morning, as he made his way over to the team's morning skate. Multiple requests from a sizable clutch of hounds and dealers were ignored.

I suppose I should consider myself fortunate, then, after Barrasso became the 10th player to sign the American-born goalie stick Saturday afternoon before the Hurricanes' 4-3 comeback victory in overtime over Tampa Bay.