Funny story

So, the big "secret" of the Hockey Bay hounding community Monday was where the New Jersey Devils were staying. They didn't stay at any of the four hotels commonly frequented by NHL teams. Instead, the Devils stayed at the Le Meridien hotel.

Apparently, this information was as guarded as Fort Knox, with looks of surprise (myself included) when a handful of us met near the corner of Florida and Zack in downtown Tampa. Still, though, that isn't the story.

No, I have New Jersey's ageless wonder, Jaromir Jagr, to thank for that.

We saw him leave the hotel, headed out for a walk before the team paraded onto the bus for a practice at the Amalie Arena. Rather than let the opportunity to snag a future Hall of Famer, I gave chase and started jogging down the street parallel to Jagr. That alone, I imagine, was probably pretty humorous.

As I pulled even and prepared to cross the street, I looked up. Here was Jagr headed my way. I was thinking "Hey, that's pretty nice. He's coming over to sign." Must have felt sorry for me, I thought. You know, one old man to another old man.

Guess what? I couldn't have been more wrong.

When I asked if he had time to sign a few cards (shown above), he declined, telling me he would sign only before Tuesday's game. Seeing that I would be at work at that time, it was a big swing and a whiff.

The only thing I got was this story.

Hounding report: New York Islanders

The schedule hasn't allowed too many opportunities to test the theory that day-before-gameday hounding is the best time to snag autographs from visiting NHL teams. Last Wednesday, with the New York Islanders in Hockey Bay, afforded one of those opportunities. So, with Colin on his spring break, we gave it a try.

Though we didn't snag too many of the big names -- with John Tavares out for the season with a knee injury and Josh Bailey and Kyle Okposo winning at a game of hide-and-seek -- we still came home with 33 autographs, a respectable number, even for a tag-team effort.

All told, our spring break efforts, including the Ottawa Senators,  netted us another 65 autographs for the collection. Within them, too, we added the 500th autograph of the 2013-14 hockey-hounding campaign.

Signing the pucks, shown above, were Islanders' recent No. 1 picks Calvin de Haan, left, and Ryan Strome.

Highlights included getting four players and a coach to sign four cards each:

Cal Clutterbuck, who signed the 500th autograph (second from right) of the campaign;

Travis Hamonic;

Matt Martin;

Frans Nielsen; and

Doug Weight.

We added specialty cards, shown below, from de Haan, from left, Thomas Hickey and Strome:

Also signing cards, shown below, were Colin McDonald and Evgeni Nabokov:

We also employed a trio of cheapskates cards, shown below, signed by Brock Nelson, from top, Anders Nilsson and Strome.

Hounding report: Ottawa Senators II

With Colin off this week for spring break and two teams coming into Hockey Bay, it was time for some father-son hockey-hounding bonding, kicking off with the Ottawa Senators earlier this week. Of course, Colin scored the lion's share of our 32 autographs, but that was by design.

After all, the torch was passed a long time ago.

Sure, I still identify the players for him. That's only fair. He has enough other things to keep his active mind busy. In the meantime, I focus my efforts on pucks, like I always have. Cases in point, perhaps, are the three, shown above, signed by Ottawa's Ales Hemsky, who did two, and Bobby Ryan.

Beyond that, the rest of the day's haul were cards:

Top row: Jared Cowen, Erik Karlsson, Clarke MacArthur and Milan Michalek; and

Bottom row: Chris Neil, Chris Phillips, Kyle Turris and Mika Zibinejad.

Two Senators players signed four cards each:

Craig Anderson and

Bobby Ryan.

The haul also included these set cards signed by, shown below from left, Cody Ceci, Hemsky and Jason Spezza:

Hemsky and Spezza also added to the ongoing Threads project:

Hounding report: Tampa Bay Lightning II

The Tampa Bay Lightning recently celebrated the 10-year anniversary of its 2004 Stanley Cup championship season, hosting a few days of events. During one such event, called Sunday with Stanley, members of the Cup-winning team gathered on a Sunday, making themselves available for photos and autographs.

So, of course, we took full advantage of the opportunity. 

What we didn't do, though, was stand in the very long line to get autographs or take a picture with the Cup. Instead, we waited for the players to mill about the plaza in front of  the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Well, really, it was just Colin, who had five members of the squad sign this puck commemorating the event: captain Dave Andreychuk, Jassen Cullimore, Ben Clymer, Brad Lukowich and Freddie Modin. I'm thinking, too, he may have set a personal record for number of autographs on a single puck.

The following Monday, when the Lightning played the Vancouver Canucks, the team gave away replica 2004 Stanley Cup Champions rings to the more than 19,000 people attending the game.

One of the fans, a nice gentleman who owns a waterfront condo managed by The Missus, thought Colin would like a ring. The man was right. Colin loved it.

Hounding report: New Jersey Devils

Considering that we didn't score autographs from Martin Brodeur or Jaromir Jagr, people might think our tag-team hounding adventure last Saturday for the New Jersey Devils wasn't a complete success. Well, to be honest, those people would be correct. It's disappointing when you don't add autographs from a pair of sure-fire Hall of Famers.

The day, however, was far from a total loss. No, paced by Colin's efforts with the card book, we added another 37 (good number, right?) autographs to the collection, including the trio of pucks, shown above, signed by Stephen Gionta (yes, the paint pen gushed), from left, Cory Schneider and Hall of Famer Scott Stevens.

As always, most of the autographs came on cards:

Top row: Steve Bernier, Ryan Carter, Ryane Clowe and Patrik Elias;

Bottom row: Gionta, Adam Henrique, Jacob Josefson and Tuomo Ruuttu; and

Michael Ryder, Schneider and Travis Zajac.

Three New Jersey players also signed four cards each:

Anton Volchenkov

Marek Zidlicky 

and Danius Zubrus.

Hounding report: Florida Panthers II

After a couple of low-number outings for the Boston Bruins and Phoenix Coyotes, the Florida Panthers' trip north to Tampa Bay last week was just what I needed. Not that my confidence was shaken, mind you, but it never hurts to have a solid day of hounding.

All told, I added another 21 autographs from a dozen players to the collection, getting more from a single team that we did from the Bruins and Coyotes combined.

Signing cards, shown above were:

Top row: Brian Campbell, Dan Ellis and Tomas Fleischmann;
Middle row: Tom Gilbert, Scott Gomez and Jonathan Huberdeau; and
Bottom row: Ed Jovanovski, Vincent Trocheck and Scott Upshall.

One of the highlights of the day, and likely the biggest reason for making the trip across Tampa Bay, was the recently acquired Roberto Luongo, who signed this McFarlane's SportsPick figurine commemorating Canada's gold medal in men's hockey at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver:

Two Panthers players also signed four cards each for me:

Brad Boyes

Dmitry Kulikov

Jovanovski also added to the Threads collection.

Hounding report: Phoenix Coyotes

OK, let's be honest here. Going into Monday's hounding adventure for the Phoenix Coyotes, I figured it would be a pretty productive outing. Western Conference team. Weekday morning. Hound- and fan-friendly Shane Doan.

Man, was I ever wrong.

Aside from the Los Angeles Kings, where I scored only four autographs, the session, outside a downtown Tampa hotel before the team's morning skate, produced only nine autographs. Yes, nine autographs. As in single digits.

For one, I didn't have cards for quite a few players and passed, unlike before for other teams, on making some cheapskate cards. Some players, too, didn't stop to sign. And not a single one of us saw Doan leave the hotel.

Really, though, I shouldn't complain. I got four cards signed by Keith Yandle, shown above, as well as cards from signed by:

Martin Erat, from left, Mike Riberio, Mike Smith and Antoine Vermette.

Hounding report: Boston Bruins II

Many times in the past, especially when an outing's rewards fail to meet effort, I'll promote the concept of quality over quantity. Honestly, it's pure spin, putting the best face forward on what is often a disappointing day.

The Boston Bruins' last Saturday to Hockey Bay could be classified like that. But, unlike other times, this visit was more about a quality moment, most likely the best one of the season, trumping the 11 autographs we scored in our tag-team effort.

If you stopped by the blog Sunday -- and I hope you did -- you likely read my latest Hockey Life column. If you haven't, well, you can do it now. It touches upon how Colin was able to get Boston's Patrice Bergeron, his best NHL buddy, to come off the team's bus to sign the cast on his broken right ankle.

Even if we hadn't scored another autograph, the day -- and that moment -- was truly top-shelf, a rocket-launcher snipe where Mama not only hides the cookies, but her "secret" stash of chocolate.

Like Colin said, and it was unsolicited, having Patrice do that was the "best autograph of my life."

Thankfully, we did score a few more autographs, including Jarome Iginla, shown above, on a McFarlane's SportsPick figurine commemorating Canada's gold medal in men's hockey at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Other Bruins signing that day were:

Gregory Campbell, from left, Zdeno Chara, Iginla and Daniel Paille.

The Hockey Life: 'Best autograph of my life'

Any time a body part ends up in a cast, especially when you're a kid, part of the deal is getting your family and friends to sign your cast. It's a rite of passage.

For the past three weeks, Colin as been collecting autographs on the cast for his broken ankle. Kids from school have signed. So have his hockey teammates and friends. Mama signed it. I have, too.

On Saturday, though, Colin got the person he most wanted to sign his cast to do just that - his best NHL buddy, Boston's Patrice Bergeron. For a few minutes, though, we weren't sure it would happen.

The Bruins, in town to play the Tampa Bay Lightning, were leaving a downtown hotel for the team's morning skate when Patrice walked out. He didn't hear Colin amid the shouts, signed a few autographs for people on the other side of the hotel's entrance and hopped onto the team bus.

I told Colin to walk around to the side of the bus and look for Patrice. Once he found him, I told him to start waving at him. One of Patrice's teammates spotted Colin and alerted Patrice. Patrice looked at Colin, who then pointed to his cast, pointed to Patrice and moved his hand like he was signing something.

To his credit, Patrice nodded "yes," got up from his seat, walked down the bus' aisle and steps to the street, where he found Colin waiting. And, with one simple act, shown in the photo above, Colin got the autograph he wanted.

"This is the best autograph of my life," he said. "The best."

So, not only is that a season highlight, but it's the leading contender for autograph of the year.

Hounding report: Toronto Maple Leafs

So there, folks, this hounding report, from the Toronto Maple Leafs' visit to Tampa late last month, brings me current, so to speak, with the 2013-14 hockey-hounding campaign. Looking back, I took off the month of January, as the holidays, hockey tournaments and freelance work obligations kept me from my appointed rounds.

Now that the deck is much more clear, it's time to make the final push through to the end of regular season. I went out yesterday for my hometown Buffalo Sabres, so I still owe you one. Chances are, too, Colin will join me in hounding his hometown Boston Bruins tomorrow. Next week, with trips planned for the Phoenix Coyotes and New Jersey Devils, will be just as busy.

Enough about that, though. This post is about hounding the Leafs and how I added another 23 autographs, including the three pucks shown above, to the collection in one of the shortest outings of the campaign. After getting that many, and doubting that Phil Kessel (flat-out refusal) and James van Riemsdyk (showing concern for us by saying he was sick and didn't to pass it along) would change their minds and sign for us, I headed home after the squad headed out for its morning skate.

Signing pucks were, from left, Jonathan Bernier, Morgan Reilly and Paul Ranger.

Signing cards were:

Top row: Tyler Bozak, Carl Gunnarsson, Nazem Kadri and Nikolai Kulemin;

Bottom row: Joffrey Lupul, Jay McClement, Colton Orr and James Reimer; and

David Clarkson, from left, Tim Gleason (who had been recently acquired in a
trade from Carolina) and the ever-increasingly affable Dion Phaneuf. (Really.)

Plus, Cody Franson signed these four.

Hounding report: Carolina Hurricanes

It's not that it has never happened before, but when it does, it's worth mentioning. Many times this season, when my sidekick, Colin, joined me for hounding, he would go out and hand my fanny to me. Really, I don't have a problem with it. I'm more than happy to pass along the baton.

However, he does have a habit, and I wonder where he got it from, of celebrating his hounding victories over his old man. So, that's why I feel little guilt in playing up this simple fact -- I scored more autographs from the Carolina Hurricanes than he did just four days before Christmas.

All told, we snagged 45 autographs that day, with Colin scoring 19 on the team sheet, shown above, complete with signatures from Cam Ward, Alexander Semin, Jeff Skinner and Jordan, but not Eric, Staal. Now, do the math.

So, let my bragging begin:

Two pucks from Anton Khudobin and Ward;

Nearly two-dozen cards, including:

Top row: Patrick Dwyer, Justin Faulk and Nathan Gerbe;

Bottom row: Tim Gleason, Jay Harrison and Justin Peters; 

Top row: Tuomo Ruutu and Jeff Skinner; and

Bottom row: Jordan Staal and Jiri Tlusty.

Mike Komisarek signed four cards ...

... as did Manny Malhotra, who, like Ottawa's Erik Karlsson, further

lends credibility to my theory of a bell curve in hockey hounding.

Early on, when Malhotra was a top prospect with the New York Rangers, he wouldn't get within 10 feet of a Sharpie and, honestly, wasn't very nice in shooting us down. Since then, Malhotra, who has faced considerable adversity in his career, is one of the nicest and most cordial players in the NHL. 

But, I digress. The day's haul also included these items:

Alexander Semin adding to the Threads collection; and

Brett Bellemore signing one of my cheapskates cards.

Hounding report: Tourney time

Just after the Christmas holidays, Colin and his Tampa Bay Jr. Lightning Pee Wee A White teammates played in a tournament down in Estero. Around the same time, there was a college hockey tournament taking place at the same rink, which is also home to the Florida Everblades, the East Coast Hockey League affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Given that Colin's game schedule meshed with the teams' practice schedules, he was able to score 123 autographs from the five teams -- all within a 24-hour window -- on team sheets, making it one of this hockey-hounding campaign's highlights:

Florida Everblades - 17 autographs

University of Cornell - 25 autographs

University of Maine - 25 autographs

Princeton University - 28 autographs

University of New Hampshire (Colin's favorite team) -- 28 autographs