Hounding report: Minnesota Wild

Any time you have a bad outing, be it at work, play or at something else, you want to show resilience by stepping up your game the next time out. That's a lesson I've learned and try to follow, and now that I'm a father, one to pass along.

That's why, after scoring only four autographs from the Los Angeles Kings only two days earlier, I had a little extra motivation when the Minnesota Wild came to Hockey Bay. And though my standards may have lowered a bit, especially when it came to pucks, I felt a lot better making the westbound trip back home across the Gandy Bridge.

After all, I snagged 19 autographs, including a dozen pucks. And, that, is nearly five times what I'd done with the Kings.

Here's the haul, including the pucks shown above:

Top row: Niklas Backstrom, Kyle Brodziak and Dany Heatley; and
Bottom row: Darcy Kuemper, Zach Parise and Nate Prosser.

One highlight was getting a trio of pucks from a player and an assistant coach:

Matthew Dumba, taken seventh overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, who's back with the Portland Winterhawks in the Western Hockey League; and

Darryl Sydor, an assistant coach.

Besides signing a puck, Backstrom also signed these four cards:

Also signing cards were:

Matt Cooke and a pair from Nino Niederreiter.