2013 Top Autos: No. 1

Say what you will about the Florida Panthers and their horrendous 2013 NHL season, but they'll go down as a highlight of our hockey-hounding campaign. To me, this team sheet, made with a wallpaper image, is about the coolest thing we've ever gotten signed.

From a strong, eye-catching image to the gold signatures, this will be front and center in Colin's team sheet binder.

Colin racked up nearly two dozen signatures when the Panthers visited Tampa for their last regular-season game of the season.

So, there you have it, this team sheet is the top autographed item of our 2013 hockey-hounding campaign.

In case you missed the others, here is a rundown:

No. 2: Glenn "Chico" Resch
No. 3: Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson
No. 4: Bobby Clarke
No. 5: Jarome Iginla
No. 6: Buffalo Sabres team sheet

2013 Top Autos: No. 2

When creating this list of the top autographs from the 2013 hockey-hounding campaign, the original idea was to show off the top five. In reviewing the season's efforts, though, there was one item -- this puck that was signed by former NHL goalie Glenn "Chico" Resch -- that stuck out.

Yes, it's part of the collection. But, we didn't get it. It was our buddy Scott who got it for us.

I had been carrying the puck most every time the New Jersey Devils, for whom Resch serves as a color analyst, visited Tampa, but never had the opportunity to get it signed. So, after missing once again in late March, Scott offered to see what he could do.

And, as you can see, he delivered.

To me, the puck deserves this ranking for two reasons -- it was finally added to the collection and, more importantly, it was a friend who got it for us.

Up next: No. 1

2013 Top Autos: No. 3

It's easy to imagine that Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson has signed more than a few of these 2012 NHL All Star Game pucks. The game was played in Ottawa. He served as the captain of Team Alfredsson. And he earned a standing ovation for a pretty nifty goal.

What makes this puck so special, though, was that it was our first autograph of the 2013 hockey-hounding campaign. Alfie signed it in late January when the Senators visited Tampa to play the Lightning.

Up next: No. 2

2013 Top Autos: No. 4

To say that Bobby Clarke was a chippy player would be an understatement. No, he was more of a demon, buzzing around and letting opponents know that they could expect a few bumps, bruises and, on occasion, broken bones by game's end.

That point was driven home recently by watching a documentary on the 1972 Summit Series, in which Canda and the Soviet Union engaged each other for hockey supremacy. While Paul Henderson remains a Canadian legend for his series-clinching goal, Clarke's two-hander on Valeri Kharlamov is remembered just as well.

Lacking a specific puck that commemorates that series, this Team Canada puck, which Clarke signed in late January when the Philadelphia Flyers came to Tampa, serves as a capable substitute.

Up next: No. 3

2013 Top Autos: No 5

With a lineup already deep with such names as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, it was a trade deadline coup for the Pittsburgh Penguins to snag a player of Jarome Iginla's talents. As luck would have it, too, the Penguins would be in Tampa shortly after Iginla joined the team in early April.

I chose to have Iginla sign this puck, the team's third logo and the one he wore in his Pittsburgh debut. Sure, it would have been just as cool to have him sign a regular Penguins or Calgary Flames puck, but I'll go with scarcity every time.

Up next: No. 4

2013 Top Autos: No. 6

When I look back on the abbreviated 2013 hockey-hounding campaign, I'm left with two impressions:  We didn't do all that bad, scoring 538 autographs in 14 trips (an updated accounting from earlier totals), and we added some quality items to the collection.

So, beginning today, we'll take a countdown-style look at the top six autographs:

Colin's team sheet from the Buffalo Sabres, in town March 26 to play the Lightning, sealed the deal, for me, on using NHL team wallpapers as autograph platforms. When you get the right image and a contrasting ink color, the finished product pops. That's exactly what we have here.

Looking ahead,these will serve as our go-to items for his team sheets.

Up next: No. 5

Team report: Tampa Bay Lightning

Over the course of the past NHL season, I figured we'd have plenty of time to devote a single hounding session to the Tampa Bay Lightning. As the season wore on, though, those opportunities -- from the abbreviated training camp to the two dozen home games -- slipped away.

That's why, as the shortened campaign was down to its final day here in Hockey Bay, we put in the time to pay homage to the hometown hockey players. And, even then, we hounded the Lightning only after finishing our second hounding adventure of the season for the Florida Panthers.

Honestly, that wasn't a slight to the Bolts. It was just how things worked out. Sure, we snagged a handful from Lightning players and coaches during the season. These, though, were random, catching them at signing sessions around the Tampa Bay area or near the rink on game days.

So, in our sole session devoted to the Lightning, we capped our hockey-hounding campaign by adding 20 autographs. Not the greatest, mind you, as far as numbers are concerned, but we're pretty pleased with the quality, though Steven Stamkos didn't stop to sign that late April day.

Who did stop? Well, Vinny Lecavalier for starters, who signed the pair of pucks shown above. Marty St. Louis, shown below at right with Teddy Purcell, also stopped to sign pucks for us.

Beyond former NHL star Steve Thomas and a couple of Bolts knocking out a long-awaited pair of double-signed cards, others signing pucks and cards were:

Chris Dingman, on the old-school Lightning puck, and Benoit Pouliot;

Purcell also signed a four-pack of cards; and 

Victor Hedman, Tom Pyatt and St. Louis signed cards.

Next up: Our top six autogaphs of the 2013 hockey-hounding campaign

Perfect opportunity

If you wait long enough, chances are you'll find yourself with an opportunity to catch up with some retired NHL stars or players. It can take place at alumni games or the so-called celebrity golf tournaments. Or, as I like to do, wait for the players to join an NHL team's administration or coaching staff.

That's exactly what we have here. Steve Thomas, who logged 1,040 points in 1,409 NHL seasons (including playoffs), served as a player development consultant with the Tampa Bay Lighting this past season. And, on the final day of the shortened 2013  NHL season, he stopped to sign after the Lightning's final game-day morning skate.

Double-dipping

It's safe to say that these two cards have awaited completion for at least three, maybe four years. But, then, within an hour, on the final day of the shortened NHL season down here in Hockey Day, I got the two signatures from Tampa Bay's Vinny Lecavalier and Sami Salo needed to complete each card.

Honestly, I can't remember when Jordan Caron, who shares the card with Lecavalier, signed that one. I'm thinking it had to be down here in Florida. I'm pretty certain, though, that Patrick Traverse signed the other card before we moved here in 2006.

Sooner or later, I figured the cards would be complete. Just how long, though, surprised me.

Next up: Once an NHL player, always an NHL player

Team report: Florida Panthers II

Normally, we wouldn't make two trips in a shortened NHL season, especially within a month, for a team like the Florida Panthers. With injuries decimating its lineup, knocking out such players as Jose Theodore, Stephen Weiss and Ed Jovanovski, a certain "Wow!" factor was missing. Still, it was the final day of the season, at least down here in Hockey Bay, so we ended up making the ride to Tampa.

More than anything else, it allowed Colin to get in a hounding session with the Panthers. The Panthers have always been a great signing team. So, of course, he put his time to good use, racking up a pretty impressive team sheet and a nice 8x10 wallpaper from Jonathan Huberdeau, a Calder Trophy finalist.

All told, we added another 44 autographs to the collection.

Signing cards, shown above, were:

Top row: Brian Campbell, Tomas Fleischmann, Marcel Goc and Filip Kuba; and
Bottom row: Jakob Markstrom, Peter Mueller, Jack Skille and Scottie Upshall.

We even added a trio of pucks:

Signing were, from left, Nick Bjugstad, Huberdeau and Markstrom.

Next up: A duo of double-signed cards

Don't forget these

As much as we like to use wallpaper images from an NHL team's website for Colin's team sheets, we've found these images work just as well, if not even better, for having a team's player sign an 8x10 for us.

Granted, you won't find one for each and every player on a team, but we're thinking this one for Florida's Jonathan Huberdeau, a Calder Trophy finalist, worked just fine during the Panthers' season-ending trip to Hockey Bay last month.

Now, if we could just do something about that scribble.

Next up: Panthers team report II

Natural progression

Over the course of his young life, Colin has relied upon team sheets as his go-to platform any time he had the opportunity to hound an NHL team. At first, he drew them by hand, doing the best he could to match the team's logo, or used ones I made on the computer. In time, his artistic talents improved, but then we discovered using printed team wallpaper sheets.

These days, though, he has been using more and more of the wallpaper images for his team sheets. They're quick. They're easy. And with a 40-percent discount at Walgreen's, they're pretty affordable. So, yes, he's given up some individuality, but the reward is when you seal the deal with an item as sharp as this.

Of the team wallpaper sheets he has done this year, I'm thinking this one, completed on the Florida Panthers final trip to Hockey Bay, is among the best, if not the best, he has even worked. To me, the image, as well as the gold ink, makes this one pop.

Among the 23 Panthers players signing it were Calder Trophy nominee Jonathan Huberdeau, Brian Campbell, Tomas Fleischmann, Peter Mueller, George Parros, Shawn Mathias, Jakob Markstrom and Tomas Kopecky.

Still, nothing tops this, a true one-of-one for his beloved Boston Bruins.

Next up: Florida's Jonathan Huberdeau

Team report: Toronto Maple Leafs

Can't remember why, but I missed the Toronto Maple Leafs first visit to Hockey Bay during this abbreviated hockey-hounding campaign. That's likely the biggest reason why I had relative success, adding another 32 autographs as the team made its way to a morning skate in late April.

And once you add the 23 that Colin scored on his nearly team-signed jersey, we logged the third-biggest team haul of the season.

Beyond the two pucks (shown above) signed by Joffrey Lupul, left, and James Reimer, the rest of the haul came in cards:

Top row: Tyler Bozak, Matt Frattin, Jake Gardiner and Mikhail Grabovski; and

Bottom row: Carl Gunnarsson, Phil Kessel, Nikolai Kulemin and John-Michael Liles

Top row: Frazer McLaren, Colton Orr and Dion Phaneuf; and

Bottom row: Reimer, Ben Scrivens and James van Riemsdyk

Three Leafs players -- Cody Franson, from top to bottom, Nazim Kadri and Clarke MacArthur -- signed four cards each:

Up next: Florida Panthers team sheet

Nearly complete

Given the number of hockey jerseys that fill the closets of our home, I'm surprised we don't have more team-signed items, such as this one from the Toronto Maple Leafs, added to the collection. But, like most any other subset of our hockey memorabilia, it has to start somewhere.

Honestly, to call this Leafs jersey, which Colin had 23 players, coaches and a general manager sign, a team-signed item is a bit of a misnomer. Despite the numbers, it lacks signatures from two of Toronto's bigger names -- Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul.

Who did sign? Well, most everyone else, including Dion Phaneuf, James Reimer, Nazim Kadri, Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk, Colton Orr, Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin.

As for Kessel and Lupul, it's not as though Colin didn't try.

Putting in a quick session before attending a hockey clinic, he asked Kessel to sign it before he boarded the team bus before the game. Kessel, who can be a little frosty, simply kept on walking, dropping of his luggage and then getting onto the bus, a good 15 minutes before its departure. As for Lupul, we never saw him.

Even without their autographs, the jersey is pretty special to Colin. Mr. Al, our buddy in Toronto, gave it to him a few years ago. We later added the patch, from the Toronto fire station where Mr. Al once worked. I'm sure he'll wear it next summer, when we visit Toronto.

Up next: Leafs team report

Team report: Pittsburgh Penguins

Over the past few NHL seasons, I haven't made much of an effort to hound the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sure, their lineup is stacked with NHL superstars. Sidney Crosby. Evgeni Malkin. Kris Letang. And, to some degree, Marc-Andre Fleury.

The only problem, for me at least, was that the team brought out bigger crowds, which usually means fewer autographs. So, after taking a break over the past few seasons, it was time for me to deal with any crowd and hound the Pens when they visited Hockey Bay in early April.

Honestly, the hounding crew wasn't as big as I'd feared. Surprisingly, it was downright manageable. I imagine, too, that Crosby's absence, brought about by a broken jaw, had something to do with the relatively low turnout. It made me wonder what I'd been missing.

And though the numbers weren't spectacular, adding 21 autographs to the collection, it certainly lowered any mental barriers I had over the team. The adventure started out nice when Brenden Morrow sign the pair of pucks shown above.

Also signing pucks were, from left, Fleury and Letang.

Signing cards that day were:

Top row: Matt Cooke, Pascal Dupuis and Tanner Glass;

Middle row: Jussi Jokinen, Tyler Kennedy and Douglas Murray; and

Bottom row: Brandon Sutter, Joe Vitale and Tomas Vokoun.

Also adding to the haul were Jarome Iginla and, much to my chagrin, Chris Kunitz.

 Next up: Team-signed (almost) Leafs jersey

Slam-dunk decision

Though I sometimes may questionable decisions when it comes to hounding, every so often I like to think, in borrowing a phrase from baseball, that I hit one out of the park. For instance, consider this puck signed by Pittsburgh's Jaroma Iginla.

Likely the biggest name that generated a headline at the NHL's trade deadline, Iginla joined a star-studded lineup in the Steel City. And, as far as hockey hounding is concerned, he only added to a target-rich environment any time the Penguins visit Hockey Bay.

When it came to choosing a puck for Iginla to sign, though, there was never a question about which one I wanted. The fact that he wore the team's third jersey in his Penguins debut was the determining factor and, if memory serves, was possibly the only one like it he signed that day.

So, in a way, it makes up for missing Evgeni Malkin. Kind of.

Next up: Penguins team report

Living with decisions

One would think that I would've learned by now. Greed, in any way, shape or form, seldom, if ever, pays off. Yet, once again, I failed to take heed of a pretty simple lesson within hockey hounding: given the choice, always go with the bigger name.

This latest incident, occurring in early April with the Pittsburgh Penguins in town, involved one of the team's big-name stars. No, it wasn't Sidney Crosby. He didn't make the trip, as his jaw was broken only days before. The player was Evgeni Malkin. And, unfortunately, it was a major whiff.

As Penguins players headed back to the team's hotel after a morning skate, Malkin was in a group of four walking down the sidewalk. As expected, he drew a crowd of hounds. As I made my way toward him, I recognized teammate Chris Kunitz. And, having a few cards for him, I switched gears, so to speak, and stopped him.

My assumption that I'd have plenty of time to snag these cards from Kunitz and offer up a puck to Malkin. Needless to say, I was surprised when I looked up to see Malkin, in a full-blown trot, moving past me. In hockey vernacular, I was caught flat-footed. I never had a chance.

Oh, well, there's always next season. Maybe, too, Crosby won't be hurt and will make the trip.

Up next:  Pittsburgh's Jarome Iginla

Lightning headlines

The Tampa Bay Lightning made two major moves recently, firing their head coach and trading away a popular player to bring in another unproven goalie. Each move, or so the story goes, was designed to right a sinking ship or solve a longstanding issue surrounding the team's goaltending woes.

Though I welcomed both to Tampa Bay and wished them the best of luck, I'll also bit my tongue when I had Jon Cooper, left, who replaced Guy Boucher as the Lightning's head coach, and Ben Bishop, acquired after the Lightning dealt away Cory Conacher, sign these pucks.

Honestly, I wasn't a fan of either move. To me, both show that Stevie Why? is still learning on the job, at the Lightning's expense, until the Detroit Red Wings come calling with their general manager position.

Up next: Missing Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin

Team report: Ottawa Senators II

Throughout the course of the lockout-shortened 2013 NHL hounding campaign, the temptation to resist hounding a team twice hasn't been too hard to overcome. Case in point: the Ottawa Senators, who made their second trip to Hockey Bay earlier this month.

If memory serves, it was the Senators who kicked off our hounding campaign, back in January. In fact, it was Ottawa captain Daniel Alfreddsson who signed our first autograph of the season.

The Senators most recent trip, however, didn't provide as fruitful as the first. All told, I added only 13 autographs, including the puck shown above, signed by Sergei Gonchar, and another from Hall of Famer Denis Potvin, to the collection.

The primary objective that trip, Cory Conacher, who was recently traded to Ottawa by the Tampa Bay Lightning, was nowhere to be seen before the game. I had a few pucks, as well as another item, that will have to wait for next season.

Still, getting any autographs is better than getting no autographs.

Signing the cards, shown above, were, from left,
Craig Anderson, Guillaume Latendresse, Chris Phillips and Kyle Turris. 

Jared Cowen signed these four cards as well.

I also added a pair of pictures to the collection:

Colin Greening signing a picture of him with Colin; and

Putting another magazine tear sheet, this one
of Ottawa coach Paul MacLean, to good use.

Up next: Tampa Bay Lightning's big moves

No confusion here

If you mention the name Denis Potvin to most hockey fans, they'll remember him as an integral part of the New York Islanders' Cup-winning dynasty. Or, if they're New York Rangers fans, they just might break out in an infamous chant that involves his last name.

When it comes to hounding, though, he's a must-have Hall of Famer worthy of adding to as many different pucks as you can get. That's why I had him sign this Ottawa Senators puck during the team's recent visit to Hockey Bay. These days, Potvin provides color commentary for Senators telecasts.

Besides, after adding him to Islanders, Panthers and Team Canada pucks, this was the only team left.

Up next: Senators team report II