Hey, I had some, too

New Jersey's Colin White got quite a chuckle Wednesday night out of a request for autographs from Devils defenseman Mike Mottau as they walked to the team's hotel after dinner.

Well, if White laughed at that first request, he must have been floored when I asked Mottau, the 2000 Hobey Baker award winner from Boston College, to sign these four cards Thursday. I needed only the AHL 2006 All Stars card signed, but, as you can see, Mottau did all four.

Did you know that Mottau beat out Devils teammate Brian Gionta for the Hobey that season?

The bear facts

There was a time, a long, long time ago, when I never would have believed we'd end up with a teddy bear wearing a New Jersey Devils uniform covered in signatures from NHL players. Thanks to Colin's aunties down here in Hockey Bay, though, that's just the case.

Yesterday, before the Devils tangled with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Colin added another five players to "Fire," his name for the bear: Martin Brodeur, Bobby Holik, Brian Rolston, Mike Rupp and Anssi Salmela. All told, 15 players have signed Fire.

So, who else is on Fire?

Front (from left): Brian Gionta, David Clarkson, Colin White, Brodeur, Holik, Paul Martin, John Madden, Rolston and Salmela.

Back (from left): Rupp, Dainius Zubrus, Sergei Brylin, Jamie Langenbrunner, Patrick Elias and Zach Parise.

Take a look at those skates, will you. They're a hoot, if you ask me. Fire also has gloves and a stick, but I had to remove them to show the front of the jersey.

In full color

Sure, I suppose Colin should've stuck to one color Sharpie while working his team sheet for the New Jersey Devils earlier tonight. But, really, does it matter?

It didn't bother him or the 14 players -- including Patrik Elias, Brian Gionta, Jamie Langenbrunner, Zach Parise and Brian Rolston -- who signed for him.

These guys also signed: David Clarkson, Scott Clemmensen, Jay Leach, John MacLean, Michael Rupp, Anssi Salmela, Bryce Salvador, Colin White and Dainius Zubrus.

Gallery: New Jersey Devils

Any time a team carries a couple of future Hall of Famers, you can expect a big crowd of fans, hounds and dealers. The New Jersey Devils, in town to play the Lightning, showed Thursday why they are one of the better signing teams in the NHL.

Though he is still recuperating from his elbow injury, future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur traveled to Hockey Bay with the team and maintained his one-per policy for most everyone.

Another future Hall of Famer Brendan Shanahan, who reportedly was signing long, loopy autographs after dinner Wednesday night, connects with Devils fans.

Forward Zach Parise obliges a request for an autograph.

Forward Brian Gionta poses for a picture with an appreciative fan.

Taking questions

It's about 9:30 p.m. down here in Hockey Bay. Let's try another round of impromptu live blogging for the next hour or so.

Feel free to ask any hounding or hockey question, using the comments on this posting or send an e-mail.

Update (10:45 p.m.): I'd like to thank rhinomark and kc for stopping by. Excellent questions all around. The word association was a great idea. We'll do this again some other time.

As always, folks, thanks for stopping by.

Pack lightly

My anticipation only grew in the weeks leading up to the Chicago Blackhawks visit Tuesday. After having only one other attempt -- a mighty-swing-and-a-miss about five years ago outside a locked-down Cambridge, Mass., hotel -- let's say I was more than ready for this season's visit to Hockey Bay.

Not only was I pumped, but my puck-laden hounding bag was at its heaviest of the campaign. On a day when quality certainly topped quantity, I could've saved myself a ton of time by leaving more than half at home. The Blackhawks, save for one, didn't sign multiple pucks. It's been awhile since that happened.

The biggest letdown was the absence of goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, who was hurt in Monday's practice in Chicago. A few Lightning Stanley Cup mementoes needing his fanciful Cyrillic signature will have to wait.

Beyond that, we have no complaints at all. We added another 33 autographs, including nine pucks, in two trips.

This is a talented team. The players are young. We'll all have plenty of time to collect our autographs.

Worthy of HoundCenter highlights:

~ Winger Patrick Kane taking care of a fellow Buffalo kid;
~ Captain Jonathan Toews paying homage to his college days;
~ Defenseman Brian Campbell changing his mind about signing;
~ Defenseman Cam Barker (or is it Cameron?) signing four cards; and
~ Thirteen players filling up Colin's team sheet.

Signing pucks, shown above, were:

Top row: Dustin Byfuglien, Martin Havlat and Cristobal Huet
Bottom row: Duncan Keith and Keith Seabrook

Signing cards were, from left, Troy Brouwer, Adam Burish and James Wisniewski (Yes, Wisniewski card is creased. Too much erasing.)

Don't forget, too, to check out the Blackhawks photo gallery.

Top Shelf: Patrick Kane

All day long Tuesday, I heard that Chicago's Patrick Kane was, for the most part, a strict one-per signer, even taking the time to study a person's face before signing their item. Given the crowd he attracted, I would have been content with just one autographed puck.

I suppose sharing the fact that we both hail from Buffalo (I lived at Albany and Barton on the city's west side during the late 1960s) -- naming my old public and high schools went a long way toward my getting the Blackhawks and London Knights pucks signed.

Optical disillusion

You have to trust me on this one, but the silver paint pen does look good on these University of North Dakota pucks. Really, it does.

Especially when the signature comes from Chicago captain Jonathan Toews, a former Fighting Sioux.

For some reason, though, Hound Central 4.0's normally reliable scanner doesn't like the combination of silver on green as much as I do. It's a shame, too.

Again, trust me. It looks nice.

Change of heart?

From what I heard, hotel check-in time proved the best time to snag autographs from the Chicago Blackhawks. Arriving about 5:30 p.m. Monday for Tuesday's 7:30 p.m. game with the Lightning, most very player signed, including All Star defenseman Brian Campbell.

Seeing that I didn't get this puck signed until Tuesday afternoon, as Campbell made his way to the St. Pete Times Forum for the game, I should consider myself lucky.

More than one person told me earlier Tuesday, during morning skate traffic, that Campbell announced that he fulfilled his signing obligations in Monday's opportunity. This Ottawa 67's puck, I suppose, shows how quickly things can change.

In the interest of full disclosure, Colin's presence helped. Had Campbell not signed his team sheet, there's no guarantee he would have signed.

Well, what is it?

Not that it will be too much of a surprise, but I'm a bit confused. All four of these cards, signed yesterday by Chicago's Cam Barker, tell me that his name is, indeed, Cam Barker.

At last night's Blackhawks-Lightning game, a scoring change in Chicago's second goal awarded an assist to Cameron Barker. Same guy, full name.

Since when do hockey players, outside of common names, use their full names? It's their name, I suppose, but still?

Proven formula

As always, Colin's team sheets were a big hit. A respectable number (13) of Chicago Blackhawks, including Patrick Kane, Brian Campbell, Brent Seabrook and Cristobal Huet took the time Tuesday afternoon to sign for Colin.

The highlight, though, was a fairly animated conversation between Eddie Olczyk, a former Blackhawk and current TV analyst, and the Goofy Dude about the virtues of doing well in school.

Other signers were Cam Barker, Marc Bergevin, Troy Brouwer, Aaron Johnson, Antti Niemi, Joel Quenneville, Matt Walker and James Wisniewski.

Gallery: Chicago Blackhawks

Yes, it was disappointing that Chicago's Nikolai Khabibulin, who backstopped the Tampa Bay Lightning to the 2004 Stanley Cup, didn't make the trip. Most of the team, though, did its best to lift spirits:

If winger Patrick Kane was hoping his hat would hide his identity, it didn't work. Thankfully, he didn't hold it against us, signing at least one for nearly everyone at gametime.

All Star defenseman Brian Campbell, who said late Monday that he was done signing for the trip, took care of hounds at gametime.

Defenseman Brent Seabrook made the day for quite a few hounds.

Coach Joel Quenneville wishes a happy birthday to a Chicago native and Hawks fan.

Former Blackhawk and current TV analyst Eddie Olczyk signs Colin's team sheet. That's Colin's noggin barely showing through the greenery.

By a whisker

In the end, it came down to the final vote on the final day. Upon the completion of the latest Hound Central 4.0 poll -- asking which team was better, Boston or San Jose -- only one vote separated the teams.

After two weeks in the closely contested poll, Hound Central 4.0's readers had made their razor-thin decision: The Boston Bruins are better than the San Jose Sharks.

Twenty-three of the 45 votes cast in the poll picked the Bruins, despite a nationally televised drubbing by the Sharks in the days before the poll's closing, capping a comeback that saw San Jose take a quick 5-0 lead in the early voting.

I suppose, too, I should ask Colin, Hound Central 4.0's official voter, how many times he picked the Bruins.

So, are the Bruins better than the Sharks? On paper, I doubt it. San Jose's depth and talent is a touch better than Boston's solid team play and goaltending. And their teams' last meeting gave the Bruins a taste of what could happen later this spring.

Until then, we'll just have to see how it all plays out.

Question: Who's better?

Boston Bruins: 23 out of 45 votes cast (51.1 percent)
San Jose Sharks: 22 out of 45 votes (48.9 percent)

Sunday morning homily XXII

In an ideal world, every player -- from Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby to Washington's Alex Ovechkin to even Tampa Bay's Marek Malik -- would not only honor every request for an autograph, but they'd also ask if there's anything else they could sign for you.

We all know, though, that isn't the case. Especially with the game's top stars. As much as I would like to have top-shelf players fill The Vault with each and every item I'd ever want signed, it's unrealistic to expect even the sloppiest of scribbles.

It doesn't matter if you're a hound or a dealer, no one likes hearing "No" to their request for an autograph. But, it does happen. Quite a bit, too.

That doesn't mean, though, that the player or a team member should be continually badgered to the point of having to contact hotel security. It makes no difference to a player if you share the same birthday. Or if you bought that player's jersey to celebrate the occasion. As hard as it is to hear, no means no.

To push back to a point that one's actions, brought about by selfish desires, ruin it for others is not a very smart strategy.

Yes, it stinks hearing "No." But when you do, and, trust me, this comes from experience, it's always best to walk away. A hard lesson? Perhaps. But it's one that needs to be learned.

Shooting blanks

I couldn't help but get a chuckle out of Toronto's Brad May and his refusal Thursday to sign blank 8x10 pieces of photo paper.

"I don't want my autograph appearing on a picture of boobs," said May, who had no problems signing a puck for me. "You just don't know how it's going to be used. That's why I don't sign those."

Given his refusal, as well as Atlanta's Eric Perrin wanting to know what the pieces of paper were for, I won't be surprised to see more players passing on requests.

Something tells me, too, that I'm not done writing about this. I'm curious as to what the NHL and the players association think about this. As a journalist, and not just a blogger, I'm obligated to find out.

5 Big Sigs

It'll be a pretty busy week down here in Hockey Bay with the Chicago Blackhawks and New Jersey Devils coming to town. Here's what we're hoping to add:

~ Chicago's Patrick Kane on Blackhawks and London Knights pucks;
~ Chicago's Jonathan Toews on Blackhawks and University of North Dakota pucks;
~ Chicago's Nikolai Khabibulin on Lightning Stanley Cup items (didn't make the trip);
~ New Jersey's Martin Brodeur on his replica jersey; and
~ New Jersey's Zach Parise on a University of North Dakota puck.

God bless

Our deepest condolences and prayers to the families and friends of the 50 loved ones killed when doomed Continental Connections Flight 3407 crashed Thursday night in Clarence Center, a hamlet northeast of Buffalo.

Not only as a journalist, but as a native of Western New York (Buffalo's Public School #18 and Pioneer Central, Class of 1979), this tragedy hits home. We, too, live within a flight path down here in Hockey Bay.

Please, say a prayer tonight.

Told you

In a post yesterday whining about the substandard quality of Toronto rookie defenseman Luke Schenn's autograph, I surmised that our cat Bella could do a better job. Sure, it's staged. But it does make a point -- I'll stoop to most any level for a laugh.

By the way, that's our other cat, Taz, cuddling with his big sister.

Equal opportunity

Just because I grew up in Western New York, where despising the Toronto Maple Leafs is a God-given right, doesn't mean that I won't try to add autographs from the team's players. Even at the most basic level, the Leafs have that Original Six appeal. Love 'em or hate 'em, they are NHL history.

That alone, I believe, makes them worthy of hounding.

Or, at least, that's my reason for spending the better part of today over in Tampa, hounding members of the storied, but stumbling, franchise. Yes, my wife would have preferred I stayed home to tend to laundry and other household chores, but a hound has to do what a hound has to do. Sorry, dear.

And after scoring 51 autographs, including 24 cards and 19 players on Colin's team sheet, I really should cut the Loafs some slack. Then again, a Sabres fan has to do what a Sabres fan has to do. Sorry, guys.

So, who signed the pucks shown above? Here's who:

From left: Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin (a rare doubling-up as I was trying to preserve a spare Leafs puck just in case Joe Nieuwendyk poked his head out the hotel door), Brad May and Lee Stempniak.

Also, here's a sampling of the two dozen cards we got signed:

From left: Nikolai Antropov, Jeff Finger, Jonas Frogren and Niklas Hagman

From left: Alexei Ponikarovsky, Matt Stajan, Vesa Toskala and Ian White

From left: Ryan Hollweg, Jamal Mayers and Dominic Moore

Also worth mentioning:

~ Jason Blake paying homage to his alma mater;
~ Trying to decipher Luke Schenn's autograph; and
~ Basking in the glow of Colin's team sheet.

He's true to his school

It's no secret that Toronto's Jason Blake doesn't enjoy signing autographs. Oh, sure, he'll stop when asked, but he usually has a pained expression upon his face.

It's funny, though, when you drop a name that means something to him. No, I'm not talking about a favorite cousin or an old friend.

What I am talking about is his alma mater, the University of North Dakota.

Making his way back from the Leafs' morning skate earlier today, Blake tried pulling away from a handful of hounds until I asked if he would sign this North Dakota puck.

As you can see, it worked.

Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy

For the most part, I try to give NHL players -- especially the veterans -- the benefit of a doubt when it comes to the quality of their autograph. Over the course of a player's career, it's not unreasonable to guess they'll easily sign thousands of autographs.

What I can't understand, though, is some of today's younger players and the assorted scribbles and squiggles that somehow are supposed to represent their name.

Take these two pieces signed by Toronto's rookie defenseman Luke Schenn, the fifth overall pick in the 2008 draft. You're telling me either one says Luke Schenn? Sorry, buddy, but I don't think so.

In fact, our cat Bella could do a better job with a paint pen.

Now, I don't expect a letter-perfect autograph from each and every NHL player. But, a little differentiation between a first and last name would be appreciated. I don't think it's too much to ask, is it?

Good as gold

If there is a constant within hounding, it has to be that NHL players love seeing kids with hand-drawn items, like Colin's team sheet for the Toronto Maple Leafs. How can we tell? Nearly every one of the 19 Leafs -- including Nikolai Antropov, Jason Blake, Pavel Kubina and Luke Schenn -- who signed complimented Colin on his artistic efforts.

It's like I say, I don't know who has more fun -- Colin or the players.