One shy of two dozen

What started out as a blank slate, so to speak, quickly became one of my favorite pieces from the 2008-09 hockey-hounding campaign. All told, 23 NHL players took part in the Team Canada jersey project.

The qualifications are simple. Any Canadian-born winner of a Stanley Cup, Olympic or World Championship gold medal, No. 1 draft pick or a Hound Central 4.0 favorite is eligible. A fluid situation, at the least.

Yes, I would have been nice to add one, or even a few more, ending the campaign with two dozen or 25-plus autographs. But that's the beauty of an ongoing project. Each season brings new opportunities to fill in the blanks with players who've already signed pucks and cards for us.

Among the inaugural Class of 2008-09: New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, Hall of Famers Ron Francis, Cam Neely and Denis Potvin and Triple Gold winner Brendan Shanahan.

Dallas' Brad Richards was the first to sign it, back in late August, after a pre-training camp workout with former Tampa Bay Lightning teammates.

Others to sign were Patrice Bergeron, Jay Bouwmeester, Brad Boyes, Rod Brind'Amour, Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne, Barret Jackman, Vinny Lecavalier, Milan Lucic, Brad Richards, Mike Richards, Marty St. Louis, Marc Savard, Eric Staal, Steven Stamkos, Marty Turco and Cam Ward.

Simple task

If I had known that getting top-shelf players to sign the Team Canada jersey would be so easy, I would have started years ago on the project. This past Friday, two members of the St. Louis Blues became the most recent NHL players to sign the work in progress:

~ Center Brad Boyes, born in Mississaugua, Ont., has represented Canada three times in his international career; and

~ Defenseman Barret Jackman, a native of Trail, B.C., won gold with Team Canada at the 2007 IIHF World Championships.

Unfortunately, defenseman Eric Brewer, born in Vernon, B.C., is hurt and didn't make the trip to Tampa Bay. It's too bad -- Brewer has won World Championships, World Cup of Hockey and Olympic gold for Canada.

A cure for cabin fever

After spending nearly 12 hours Wednesday glued to my computer and TV for the NHL trade deadline day coverage, I needed to get out of the house today, heading over to Brandon, where the Lightning were practicing.

Fresh air, bright sunshine and nearly a dozen autographs combined to make the trip well worth the time.

Besides adding these pucks from assistant coach Wes Walz, left, and newly acquired defenseman Noah Welch, I focused my attention on a few work-in-progress team jersey projects:

Center Vinny Lecavalier and winger Evgeny Artyukhin on the Lightning team jersey;

Winger Vinny Prospal on the Lightning team jersey;

Interim head coach Rick Tocchet on the Lightning team jersey;

Assistant coach Mike Sullivan on the Lightning team jersey;

Goalie Mike McKenna, who's living out his dream, on the Lightning team jersey;

Right winger Marty St. Louis on the Team Canada jersey;

Rookie forward Steven Stamkos on the Team Canada jersey; and

Center Jeff Halpern on the Team USA jersey.

Appreciate it

For a Hockey Hall of Famer, Cam Neely would be well within his right to ignore every request for an autograph. Thankfully, the Bruins legend doesn't do that.

Not only did Neely sign on the crest of the Team Canada jersey yesterday before the Bruins game against the Lightning, but he also signed this card and Colin's team sheet.

The Heroes & Prospects card, from In the Game's 2005-06 set, shows Neely in his days with the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League.

Another three

Hall of Famer Cam Neely wasn't the only Bruins player to sign the work-in-progress Team Canada jersey yesterday. Boston's Marc Savard (left), Patrice Bergeron (top) and Milan Lucic (bottom right) all added to it.

The other signature? New Jersey's Brendan Shanahan, who signed it this past Thursday. To date, 18 players have signed the jersey.

Marty's back

New Jersey's Martin Brodeur may have missed a sizable chunk of the season with an elbow injury, but hounds across the NHL should take note that the future Hall of Famer is traveling with the team.

Don't believe me? How about the Devils' Brodeur #30 replica jersey (shown above) he signed for me yesterday before New Jersey's morning skate or the Team Canada jersey he signed at gametime.

Note the difference in autographs, too. My request for a personalization produced a better-looking signature than the one on the Team Canada jersey. He also continued his established practice of limiting most requests to a single signature, but will sign more than once in a day.

Triple Gold winner

By wearing the maple leaf and winning championships at the 2002 Olympics, 1994 World Championships and the 1991 Canada Cup, New Jersey's Brendan Shanahan gained entrance into the Triple Gold Club.

That's enough of a reason, I believe, to have him sign Hound Central 4.0's work-in-progress Team Canada jersey yesterday before the Devils' morning skate.

Yeah, it works just fine

The purpose of this posting is twofold. First, it's serving as an update on the team Canada jersey, one of the many works in progress here at Hound Central 4.0.

So, who has signed the jersey? This dozen has: Jay Bouwmeester, Rod Brind'Amour, Jeff Carter, Ron Francis, Simon Gagne, Vinny Lecavalier, Denis Potvin, Brad Richards, Mike Richards, Eric Staal, Marty Turco and Cam Ward.

A decent start, if I do say so myself.

Secondly, though, it's a test to see whether the new digital camera is working. Red's kinda bright, isn't it? You'll have to trust me, too, that the picture is clearer than what's showing. Too many programs, I'm afraid. I'll work on that.

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.

Certainly worthy

Besides crossing off the remaining names on the Florida Panthers team helmet, adding two distinctive players to the Team Canada jersey was the primary goal this past Saturday before Florida played the Tampa Bay Lightning.

As you can see, that objective was met, with Panthers defenseman Jay Bouwmeester (above) and Hall of Famer Denis Potvin (below, on the right), a TV analyst for the Panthers, both signing the jersey.

It's amazing, too, the response you get from players when presenting them with a national team jersey. Both Bouwmeester and Potvin remarked that it was nice to sign something that meant so much to them.

Please know, too, that we're far from done with the Team Canada jersey. It will likely be a near-constant companion through the end of the season.

How about you?

I have to be honest with you, I wasn't happy that Philadelphia's Big Three -- Mike Richards (above, left), Jeff Carter (above, right) and Simon Gagne (below) -- signed the work-in-progress Team Canada jersey earlier tonight.

Nope, I'm not happy at all. Not in the least little bit.

I think ecstatic is the word I'm looking for. Yeah, that's it. Ecstatic. Wouldn't you be if you'd been able to get all three to sign your jersey?

Being resourceful

There comes a point in any hockey hound's career when you reach your fill of autographed pucks, cards or photos for a certain team or player. In our case, one of these instances revolves around the Carolina Hurricanes.

Seeing that we've hounded the team since it moved to Greensboro, N.C., from Hartford, Conn., for a few seasons, our collection of signed 'Canes memorabilia reaches deep into the late 1990s. Then, when we lived in New England, two of Carolina's top prospects -- Eric Staal and Cam Ward -- played for the AHL's Lowell (Mass.) Lock Monsters.

As a result, and this is not a complaint, we've nearly reached our saturation point for individual items from Hurricanes players. That's why we've turned our attention to more project pieces like this Team Canada jersey.

Last Saturday, before Carolina beat Tampa Bay, 3-2, four members of the Hurricanes with ties to Team Canada, including Ward (shown above), took the time to sign one of Hound Central 4.0's working jersey projects.

I don't know about you, but this grouping looks pretty nice. That's Hall of Famer Ron Francis up at the top, with Staal signing at the bottom. The one in the middle? An earlier signature from Tampa Bay's Vinny Lecavalier.

With no disrespect intended for Staal (his time is coming), Rod Brind'Amour is the heart and soul of the Carolina Hurricanes. I'm certain, too, that he brought those qualities to his national team effort.

From good to great

It's a good hounding day any time I can get Tampa Bay's Vinny Lecavalier to sign an item for us. But, when he becomes the second player (Dallas' Brad Richards was the first) to sign the Team Canada jersey, an item that presents cherry-picking opportunities, it becomes a great hounding day.

Hopefully, I'll get Tampa Bay's Marty St. Louis and Steven Stamkos to also sign this jersey over the next week. That would be a solid start, don't you think?

I'll take two

I cut my first deal of the season, telling Dallas' Brad Richards if he signed two items for me, I wouldn't ask him for another autograph during these informal skates.

As you can see, he held up his end of the bargain, becoming the only player to sign for me today. As a result, I'll be true to my word.

Richards became the first player to sign the Team Canada jersey (top photo). He also joined a work-in-progress 8x10 that cherry-picks members of the Lightning's 2004 Stanley Cup Champions squad.

There were other players taking part, including Tampa Bay's Vinny Lecavalier and Paul Ranger, at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon. My work schedule, as well as the last day for a couple of copy desk colleagues, necessitated my early departure.

Given the quality of the player who signed, though, it's hard to be disappointed with only two autographs.

In case you're wondering, others skating today were Brian Bradley, Chris Gratton, Olaf Kolzig, Nolan Pratt, Mark Recchi, Mike Smith and Jason Ward.

Points of entry

There's always a point of realization in one's pursuit that branching out only enhances the value of your efforts. While I see no problem maintaining my particular focus -- autographed hockey pucks -- the benefit to building the depth of the collection is crystal clear.

That's why, as we sit on the cusp of an NHL season, a journal's pages more empty than full, Hound Central 4.0 will embark upon another three projects:

Team Canada jersey: Given the many players who've worn the tri-color leaf, this would be easy to fill. I'm thinking, though, that this will be used for cherry-picking. I'm hoping Tampa Bay's Vinny Lecavalier, Marty St. Louis and Steven Stamkos are the first three to sign it.

Colorado's Joey Sakic, Columbus' Rick Nash, San Jose's Joey Thornton and New Jersey's Martin Brodeur would be a darn good start, too.

Team helmets 2008-09: To me, the Lightning is a must-have. Between all the new faces and last season's retooled logo, working this through the season is something I'm good at: a no-brainer.

The main reason I picked Ottawa and Florida is that I won't have too many pucks, don't need too many more cards and, for the most part, they're good-signing teams. So, why not?

Lots for the Lightning: I've been writing about this for some time now. It's funny, too. Without all of the new ownership group's changes, I was looking at a pretty lean year with the Lightning. That's changed now.

The trio joins these existing projects:

~ American-born goalie stick
~ USA Hockey team jersey
~ Slovakian team jersey
~ Team Canada goalie mask
~ 1999 NHL All Star Game helmet