Flashbacks 08.10

Here's another player's-only stroll down hockey-hounding memory lane:

March 9, 2009: St. Louis' T.J. Oshie
Jan. 31, 2009: Hall of Famer Joey Mullen
Dec. 28, 2007: Montreal's Carey Price
Nov. 26, 2006: Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson
Dec. 29, 2005: Toronto's Matt Stajan

Rest in peace, Reg

The recent passing of former NHL player Reg "The Ruffian" Fleming struck a chord with Moody, Hound Central 4.0's roving Southeast correspondent.

Here's Moody's recollection:

"I had the chance to meet him during an old timers charity game at a local rink back in Michigan. I had just graduated from high school, so I wasn’t very good at recognizing players. I had a few cards and one of them was a Tall Boy Reprint of Fleming.

"Armed with a Bic pen (Most of my early sigs were with ink pens), I snagged the players as they came off the ice. Mr. Fleming came off and, as I asked who he was in order to rifle through a stack of cards to find his, he patiently waited and happily signed the card for me.

"He may have played well before my time, but his signature is one of the first that has launched my interest in vintage autographs. As tattered as the card may be, it still sits on the top of my most memorable successes."

Pencil these in

After a long day of watching hockey, ordering a Wendy's single with everything but onions and watching Colin collect three foul balls, I've finally had enough time over the past few minutes to scribble a list of top 10 teams we'll hound during the 2009-10 campaign:

No. 10. New Jersey Devils, Oct. 8: It's always nice to see Marty.

No. 9. Montreal Canadiens, Dec. 30: Respect the Le Bleu-Blanc-et-Rouge.

No. 8. Vancouver Canucks, Feb. 9, 2010: A chance for redemption after missing them on their last trip to Hockey Bay.

No. 7. San Jose Sharks, Oct. 22: So many big names, so little time.

No. 6. Buffalo Sabres, March 18, 2010: Later, I'll attend the game with relatives from Western New York.

No. 5. Anaheim Ducks, Jan. 29, 2010: This team rewards effort.

No. 4. Phoenix Coyotes, March 16, 2010: But only if Wayne Gretzky is part of the organization. If not, the Coyotes trade places with the Canucks.

No. 3. Los Angeles Kings, Nov. 14: I'm burning a vacation day for this team. Lots of new faces certainly worthy of a bunch of pucks.

No. 2. Calgary Flames, Feb. 6, 2010: It's not just the Stanley Cup Finals history between the Flames and Lightning. It's an opportunity to snag a couple more pucks from Jarome Iginla and Jay Bouwmeester.

No. 1. Boston Bruins, Dec. 28: Three days after Christmas? Colin will be on vacation. I have the day off, too. Need I say anything more?

So, tell me. What are your top 10 hounding trips?

Update: 10 Big Sigs

Before the 2008-09 hockey hounding season down here in Hockey Bay, I predicted that these items would be added to the collection.

Let's see how I did:

No. 10: Montreal's Saku Koivu on the Canadiens' legends jersey - Did not obtain

No. 9: Dallas' Brad Richards on a Stars puck

No. 8: San Jose's Dan Boyle on a Sharks puck

No. 7: A team-signed Boston Bruins jersey

No. 6: New Jersey's Martin Brodeur on a replica jersey

No. 5: Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby on Colin's #87 Penguins jersey - Did not obtain.

No. 4: Columbus' Rick Nash on Blue Jackets and Team Canada pucks

No. 3: Pucks from Chicago's Patrick Kane (Blackhawks, London Knights and Team USA) and Jonathan Toews (Blackhawks, Team Canada and University of North Dakota)

No. 2: Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski and Henrik Zetterberg on Red Wings pucks

No. 1: Chicago's Nikolai Khabibulin (provided he stays), Columbus' Fredrik Modin (provided he stays healthy) and Toronto's Pavel Kubina on our Tampa Bay Lightning 2004 Stanley Cup Champions items. - Not a single item.

Looking back, it wasn't a great season, but it wasn't bad. Though Crosby signed during his visits to Hockey Bay, I missed getting him to sign. Perhaps, too, I overshot on the goals for the Red Wings. And Koivu signed a Canadiens team helmet instead.

The biggest disappointment, though, was not adding to the Tampa Bay Lightning 2004 Stanley Cup Champions items. One would think that the No. 1 item on the 10 Big Sigs campaign would take precedence, but a combination of players not traveling to Hockey Bay (Khabibulin and Modin) and simply forgetting (Kubina) worked against me.

Still, I'm happy to have added what we did. I'm sure, too, that this project will return for the 2009-10 hockey hounding campaign. This time, though, I'll have to keep my eyes on the prize, won't I?

Outside the norm

Though we added only six signatures to the Slovakian team jersey over the 2008-09 hockey hounding campaign, it's hard to complain when Detroit's Marian Hossa is one of them. It's too bad, though, that Big Poppa Pump's distinctive signature, one of 11 collected on the jersey over the past two NHL seasons, is a bit sloppy.

While Canadian and USA jersey projects are popular, as well as those for Czech Republic, Finnish Russian and Swedish players, this particular effort represents another solid expansion of a project that's just outside the mainstream of hockey collecting.

Here's who signed over the past season during visits to Hockey Bay:

~ Colorado's Peter Budaj and Marek Svatos;
~ Detroit's Hossa and Tomas Kopecky;
~ Montreal's Jaroslav Halak; and
~ Tampa Bay's Andrej Meszaros.

Next season, we'll be looking to add, at the least, Buffalo's Andrej Sekera and Washington's Milan Jurcina. The list will grow, I presume, once the Lightning's 2009-10 schedule is released and I can run through rosters.

Likely candidates, based on my best guesses, would include Edmonton's Lubomir Visnovsky, Los Angeles' Michal Handzus, Minnesota's Marian Gaborik and Branko Radivojevic, and Vancouver's Pavol Demitra. Tampa Bay's Vladimir Mihalik seems like a lock, too.

Way to go, Patrice

I can't let an opportunity pass to tip Hound Central 4.0's roughed-up Copper SK600 Boston's Patrice Bergeron for teaching Montreal's Josh Gorges a lesson during last night's opening-round game. It's not so much the fight, a rarity for him, but the continuation of his recent physical style of play.

Granted, there are others on the Bruins -- Shawn Thornton and Shane Hnidy, come to mind -- better suited for fisticuffs. We also share in the concern for Patrice's health. To me, though, it was another test that he has passed since coming back from a second serious concussion.

Looking ahead, let's hope that Patrice's contributions light the lamp, not some Canadiens player's nose.

Playoffs picks

For as long as I can remember, rooting for the underdogs in any playoff series carries great appeal. Still, though, one should be realistic, calling upon intellect, insight and, more importantly, gut instincts.

With that in mind, here are one hockey hound's best guesses at how the 2008-09 NHL playoffs, which begin tonight, will shake out right on through to early June. As you can see, I'm predicting a few upsets:

Opening rounds

Eastern Conference

Boston Bruins (1) vs. Montreal Canadiens (8)
Bruins in five games (Bruins win 4-0)

Washington Capitals (2) vs. New York Rangers (7)
Capitals in six games (Capitals win 4-3)

New Jersey Devils (3) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (6)
Devils in seven games (Hurricanes win 4-3)

Pittsburgh Penguins (4) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (5)
Penguins in six games (Penguins win 4-2)

Western Conference

San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Anaheim Ducks (8)
Sharks in seven games (Ducks win 4-3)

Detroit Red Wings (2) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (7)
Blue Jackets in seven games (Wings win 4-0) (Oops!)

Vancouver Canucks (3) vs. St. Louis Blues (6)
Blues in six games (Canucks win 4-0) (Oh, well)

Chicago Blackhawks (4) vs. Calgary Flames (5)
Flames in five games (Blackhawks win 4-3)

Conference semifinals

Eastern Conference

Boston Bruins (1) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (4)
Bruins in seven games

Washington Capitals (2) vs. New Jersey Devils (3)
Devils in five games

Western Conference

San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (4)
Sharks in four games

Calgary Flames (2) vs. St. Louis Blues (3)
Flames in six games

Conference finals

Eastern Conference

Boston Bruins (1) vs. New Jersey Devils (2)
Devils in seven games

Western Conference

San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Calgary Flames (2)
Sharks in five games

Stanley Cup

San Jose Sharks vs. New Jersey Devils
Devils in six games

Conn Smythe winner: Zach Parise

Hello, Tony O

Though Colin may have gotten more than 300 autographs on his hand-drawn team sheets over the course of the 2008-09 hockey-hounding season, none were bigger, in my opinion, than this card signed by Hall of Famer goalie Tony Esposito.

I'd heard that Esposito was a frequent visitor to Lightning games and would sign single items as he walked across the plaza at the St. Pete Times Forum.

On Thursday, after hounding the visiting Washington Capitals, we finally put the information to good use. Our patience, I believe, was rewarded.

Next time, though, I'll carry Blackhawks and Canadiens pucks.

Brodeur is better, but ...

More than anything else, recent history most likely played a role in Hound Central 4.0's latest poll -- asking who was a better goalie, New Jersey's Martin Brodeur or Hall of Famer Patrick Roy.

Given that Brodeur eclipsed Roy's career wins mark (551) just a few weeks ago, it's easy to understand by readers overwhelmingly gave the nod to Brodeur. Thirty-eight of the 63 votes cast indicated that Brodeur was, indeed, a better goalie than Roy.

Even though I'm a Roy fan, having cast my vote for the former Canadiens and Avalanche goalie, the objective fan in me has to agree with the majority. Beyond the career wins mark and an impending record for career shutouts, Brodeur is the better goalie of the duo.

Having said that, though, Roy has made a greater impact on the sport and the position. Any goalie using the butterfly style will attest to that.

Question: Who's better?

Martin Brodeur: 38 out of 63 votes cast (60.3 percent)
Patrick Roy: 25 out of 63 votes (39.7 percent)

Hot trade rumor

Just in case Ottawa Sun hockey columnist Bruce Garrioch, a master of trade rumors, Googles his name between now and Wednesday:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

According to a well-placed source deep inside a secretive intelligence organization scattered across the four corners of hockey's cosmic universe, there's a major trade brewing between two Eastern Conference foes.

The source, who professes allegiance to neither team involved in the pending pre-NHL deadline day blockbuster, dutifully reports, without hesitation and little other confirmation, the deal to end all deals in the history of professional sports:

To Tampa Bay: Goaltender Carey Price and defensemen Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek

To Montreal: Goaltender Olaf Kolzig and defensemen Andrej Meszaros and Paul Ranger

"Oh, yeah, this is a done deal. It's a win-win situation for both teams. Still, the Lightning might even get Chris Higgins as a sweetener," according to the official, who spoke in hushed tones on these extreme conditions of anonymity: untraceable satellite signals, 37-second tape delay and voice-scrambling technologies while wearing camouflage fatigues in a darkened room at an undisclosed location before face-changing cosmetic surgery.

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.

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.

Glad I missed this

Most times, I regret having to drive home from hounding in Tampa so I can get into the office at the prescribed hour. This past Tuesday, with the Montreal Canadiens, was no different. Because I had to work -- reading back on stories and rewriting the occasional headline -- Colin and I were limited to just the morning session.

From what I hear, though, I should be happy I had to work that evening. No fewer than three hounds told me the game-time hounding session for the Canadiens could be summed up in two words: mob scene.

Between a larger-than-normal complement of Hockey Bay hounds and a sizable clutch of French-speaking Habs fans enjoying a holiday week of Florida sunshine, estimates for Tuesday's game-time crowd ranged from 75 to 100.

The crowd was so big and unruly that hotel security, who tried to escort the Habs' bigger-name players to the team's bus, apparently lost control of the crowd. How bad did it get? Well, the driver of the team's bus reportedly had to keep fans from climbing aboard.

All the time, I was about 20 miles away, content in my chair at the office, knowing full well that we had a solid morning, snagging 43 autographs. And, as you can see, my main project was a Canadiens team helmet, which 22 players and coaches took the time to sign:

Signing the right side, shown above, were, from left: Alex Tanguay (shown, in better detail, at left), Ryan O'Byrne, Maxim Lapierre, Tom Kostopolous, Bob Gainey and Andrei Markov.

Signing the left side were, from left: Carey Price, Guillaume Latendresse, Doug Jarvis, Francis Bouillon and Patrice Brisebois.

Signing the front were, from left: Steve Begin, Ben Maxwell, Mike Komisarek, Roman Hamrlik and Kirk Muller.

Signing the middle were, from left: Sergei Kostitsyn, Josh Gorges, Matt D'Agostini, Tomas Plekanic, Andrei Kostitsyn and Roland Melanson.

Who did I miss? Most of the Canadiens stars, including Alex Kovalev and Robert Lang, who said they'd sign after the morning skate but waited until game time to sign a handful of autographs for the crowd.

We'll also have to add coach Guy Carbonneau and goalie Jaroslav Halak as well as injured players Saku Koivu, Chris Higgins, George Laraque and Mathieu Dandenault.

Still, though, a pretty respectable effort in the morning and certainly no complaints for missing a mob scene.

Other highlights included:

~ veteran defenseman Patrice Brisebois reminding Colin that patience is, indeed, a virtue;
~ Halak becoming the 11th player to sign the Slovakian team jersey; and
~ having a game-used stick for Tampa Bay goalie Karri Ramo, an emergency AHL call-up staying at the same hotel as the Habs and their willing-to-travel faithful.

Loud and clear

Given that I'm his father, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Colin needs to work a little on his patience. Having crunched deadlines for decades, I'm a sooner-rather-than-later kind of guy. And the apple, I'm afraid, didn't fall far from the tree.

Just ask Montreal's Patrice Brisebois, one of 17 players to sign Colin's team sheet before Tuesday's game against Tampa Bay.

It seems that the young man made repeated "Can you sign, please?" requests to the Canadiens defenseman before he responded "Can you be a little more patient, please?"

Properly scolded, and much to my relief, Colin waited his turn as Brisebois worked his way through pucks, cards and photos.

"Now," Brisebois said, turning to Colin, "I have time to sign for you."

Also signing the team sheet, the ninth of the 2008-09 season, were, in alphabetical order, Steve Begin, Matt D'Agostini, Bob Gainey, Josh Gorges, Jaroslav Halak, Roman Hamrlik, Doug Jarvis, Andrei Kostitsyn, Sergei Kostitsyn, Maxim Lapierre, Guillaume Latendresse, Ben Maxwell, Kirk Muller, Tomas Plekanic, Carey Price and Alex Tanguay.