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

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: Florida Panthers

This was a day when hockey cards dominated the hounding haul. Of the 35 autographs that members of the Florida Panthers added to the collection, all but one -- a Saint John Sea Dogs pucks signed by Jonathan Huberdeau -- were hockey cards. And, honestly, that's not a complaint.

Like I've always said, the Florida Panthers are among the most approachable teams to hound in the NHL. While some may say that's because they haven't enjoyed much success, I prefer to look at it as they understand their obligation to hounds and fans.

Signing the cards, shown above, were:

Top row: Brian Campbell, Scott Clemmensen and Erik Gudbrandson;

Middle row: Quinton Howden, Jonathan Huberdeau and Tomas Kopecky; and 

Bottom row: Jakob Markstrom, George Parros and Tyler Strachan.

All told, five Florida players signed four cards each during their visit to Hockey Bay earlier this month:

Marcel Goc,

Tomas Fleischmann, 

Dmitry Kulikov,

Filip Kuba; and 

Peter Mueller.

The Panthers trip capped a four-team (Buffalo, New Jersey and Tampa Bay as well), eight-day run that saw us add 50 

Up next: Hall of Famer Denis Potvin

Put to good use

When I bought this Saint John Sea Dogs puck back in 2006, I thought it would serve as a nice keepsake for the team's first season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. But when I saw that alum Jonathan Huberdeau was playing for the Florida Panthers this season, I found a much better use for it.

Huberdeau, drafted third overall in 2011, signed it during the Panthers' trip to Hockey Bay earlier this month.

Up next: Panthers team report