Team report: Ottawa Senators

Nothing fancy, just like last year, but more of a general "Look at what I got" approach from my first hounding trip of the 2013 season. All told, I added another 19 autographs to the collection, mostly in cards. I'll add that all were obtained after the Ottawa Senators morning skate, a departure from my normal routine of hounding before the morning skate. 

Beyond  having Daniel Alfredsson sign an 2012 All Star Game puck, which, by the way, was the first autograph of the season, this puck, signed by Kyle Turris, was the only other one I got that day.

Over the rest of the season, expect to see a lesser emphasis on pucks than I've placed in the past. With the autographed puck collection nearing 2,500, I'm finding it increasingly more unnecessary to load up. Besides, I'm behind in cataloging the pucks, so the more I get the further I fall behind.

Excuses? Yes. But it's the best I have. And, honestly, it's the only one I have. That's the way it goes. Between work at the newspaper and my own freelance efforts, shuttling Colin to school each morning and our increasing focus on his hockey, hockey hounding has slid down the priority list.

Still, the trip out for the Senators was only the first of at least seven or eight (maybe even more) hounding adventures planned for this season, And, for the first trip out of the gates, I was surprised at how well -- relatively speaking, mind you -- the day went.

One highlight, if you ask me, was having Sergei Gonchar sign these four cards. Just as in the past, I'll take the time to separate and show these four-bangers any time I score them. To get that many from an NHL star like Gonchar was surprising. 

Another highlight was getting Ottawa's Colin Greening to personalize a card to Colin. Going forward, we'll try to focus a bit more on these, getting pictures and subsequent autographs of the handful of players who share that first name.

Beyond that, I was pleased to get autographs from 13 players that day. Nine are shown above:

Top row: Craig Anderson, Ben Bishop and Erik Condra

Middle row: Kaspars Daugavins, Mark Methot and Milan Michalek; and
Bottom row: Chris Phillips, Peter Regin and Jakob Silfverberg.

Next up: Bob, not Bobby