Can't have it both ways, Marty

So, Marty, you ask Lightning fans to remember all of the years you put in before you selfishly demanded a trade because Stevie Y initially left you off the Team Canada roster. I'm sure there are a few Lightning fans wondering why you didn't do the same before you left the team in the middle of a playoff hunt.

If those years meant so much to you, what's another few weeks?

Up until your childish actions, I told Colin to watch you play, that you were an example for little guys like him to follow. Heck, your Lightning sweater was the first one he had. So, yes, he will remember those lessons.

The last lesson you taught him, though, and the one he'll remember, is that it's not right, as a team player and its captain, to place yourself above your team. A true leader doesn't do that. You did.

As a hockey dad, I'd like to thank you for that final and valuable lesson. Just another reason why he wears #37, not #26.

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: Boston Bruins

Aside from the potential "drama" of a snub from his favorite NHL player, Boston's Patrice Bergeron, the two-part hounding adventure for the Bruins, interrupted by one of Colin's games, went as well as could be expected.

Primarily, the team was staying at a downtown Tampa hotel, one that has become more favored by visiting NHL teams, that employs a more vigorous defense against hounds. That doesn't mean, though, that you can't get autographs, it just means it takes a little more work. As a result, the bar of having a good day lowers.

That's why, despite getting 15 autographs, we'll chalk up the Bruins' visit, way back in mid October, to be a good day, with greater emphasis on quality than quantity as well as the first appearance of the 2013-14 hockey-hounding campaign of Colin's team sheets.

Signing picks were, from left, Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and Jarome Iginla.

In what was the biggest surprise of the day, Shawn Thornton signed multiples, including these three cards.

Among those signing the team sheet, shown above, were Bergeron, Gregory Campbell, Jordan Caron, Chara, Iginla and Thornton.

The Hockey Life: Great save, Patrice

Save for two years out of the past nine, the annual highlight of our hockey-hounding season has been getting  a photo of Colin with his favorite NHL player, Boston's Patrice Bergeron. Sure, the autographs we get are nice and, as always, are welcome additions to the collection. What we're really after, though, is what you see above.

It's a chance, as it has always been, for a young hockey player who, like many others, dreams of playing in the NHL to meet his idol. Even if only for a few moments, the memories created last a lifetime. For Colin, Patrice, whom he calls Petey, is the reason why he wears No. 37.

As hockey parents, it's our job to do whatever we can to support our child's dreams. Yes, we stress the value of education and remind him often that good grades and a college degree in a growing field will most likely take him further in life than most anything else. Within that, one of the lessons we preach -- in life as well as in hockey -- is being in the right place at the right time.

That's why we found ourselves in Tampa early Saturday morning, waiting and watching for the Bruins. Seeing Patrice, or so we thought, would be a good way to start a hockey-filled day and provide some motivation, through an invitation to Patrice to come watch Colin play for the Pinellas P.A.L. Stars later that day. After an hour of waiting, however, we weren't so sure.

Though Colin stood near the hotel's entrance and called out to Patrice as he headed to the team's bus for the morning skate, Patrice walked past without acknowledging his little buddy. Colin called out again, but Patrice didn't even look back before climbing aboard the bus and settling into a seat near a window close to where we were standing. Even waving at him drew no response. Needless to say, Colin was bummed.

"I was heartbroken," he told me later.

A quick stop at the Krispy Kreme on Kennedy Boulevard, as we headed to Oldsmar for Colin's game,  helped eased some of the disappointment, but I could still tell it was bothering him. To him, Patrice is his buddy. Actually, to Colin, he's more than that. He's someone else to look up to.

Patrice is one of the the first NHL players that Colin, then 4 years old, really first spoke to at any length, back in September 2005 outside the Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington, Mass. Since then, they've shared a hug during Patrice's first trip to Tampa following that horrific hit he took in 2007. They've talked about school and hockey as they walked down trolley tracks while Patrice made his way to a morning skate. Heck, they're even on a hockey card together.

All of that, I suppose, has led to an expectation that they'd have their annual moment, so to speak, on Saturday morning. And, when it didn't happen, especially when we missed last year because of school, the disappointment was shared among the three of us. I told Colin he'd have another opportunity to see Patrice later in the day. Deep down inside, I knew (or, at least, hoped really hard) that it wouldn't happen again.

Thankfully, and I do mean this, Patrice more than made up for it as the Bruins left the hotel for the game against the Lightning. He apologized to Colin, decked out in his "Keep Calm and Bergeron" T-shirt, for not speaking to him earlier in the day. They also engaged in a conversation in French. He even signed Colin's team sheet and a Stanley Cup champions puck.

Even better, we got what came for, getting the traditional photo. By the smiles on their faces, I'm thinking the day turned out just fine.

The Hockey Life: Back to my roots

When the abbreviated 2013 NHL season schedule came out, and I was penciling in a hounding schedule, the next 10 days drew my immediate interest. It's a span when two NHL teams near and dear to our hockey household will pay a visit to Hockey Bay.

For Colin, this Thursday will be the big day. The Boston Bruins, his favorite team, and Patrice Bergeron, his favorite NHL player, will be in town. Once again, he might miss a day of school so he can spend the morning, at the least, trying to rack up more autographs for the collection. We'll see. If not, I might drag myself out for them. Since winning the Cup, though, the team hasn't been the friendliest

Having said that, he and The Missus do have tickets to the game. At the least, hopefully Colin can get down to the glass during warmups and see his old buddy Patrice. I'll have to pass, as it'll be my first day back after nine days off.

Next Tuesday, it'll be my turn, when the Buffalo Sabres, the team I grew up rooting for, pay a visit to Hockey Bay. It's a time to put some pucks I bought on our road trip back home last summer to good use. It's funny, here I am, more than 50 years old, and I still get pumped up to see the Sabres.

Of course, I wish the Sabres I'd see were the ones from my youth. Danny Gare. Gil Perreault. Rene Robert. Rick Martin. Jim Schoenfeld. Jerry Korab. Brian "Spinner" Spencer. Don Luce. Donny Edwards. Larry Playfair. Still, today's edition, even if they're not having the best of the seasons, brings back fond memories.

Going into this abbreviated season, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about hounding. It had been a long time, since last April, that I'd been out. And, I'm ashamed to say, I still have items to put away. But after a few trips so far this season, it hasn't been all that hard getting back into the groove.

In the days ahead, you'll see some more of the rewards of our early season efforts. I'll get around posting the results of trips out for Winnipeg and the Rangers. I'm sure, too, we'll head out for a few more teams,

In the meantime, I hope you're enjoying the return of my hounding posts. When I started this blog, the theme was going to be more than hounding. And while I believe I've held up that end of the bargain, I don't want to give up what originally gave me my voice.

If not 37 ...

We won't know whether Colin will get to wear 37 on his Brandon Jr. Bulls jersey until next week, when the team has its first official practice of the season and we complete all of the paperwork.

If 37 is available, that'll be his number, an homage to Boston's Patrice Bergeron. But if it isn't, we've kicked around a couple of options:

~ 73, for the obvious reason;

~ 18, in a nod to Tampa Bay's Adam Hall, who makes his NHL living the hard way;

~ 9, for Florida's Stephen Weiss, another of Colin's NHL buddies; and

~ 19, for Ottawa's Jason Spezza, another NHL player who has made an impression on Colin.

So, what do you think? Will any of these work? As always, suggestions are welcome.

Bruins swag

Any trip back to New England wouldn't be complete without paying a visit to Colin's "Uncle Johnny" in Nashua, N.H. Furthermore, any visit to Uncle Johny's wouldn't be complete without his sharing of Boston Bruins memorabilia. 

As we've learned, saying "no" is out of the question. Instead, we truly appreciate his generosity.

Besides the Bruins Patrice Bergeron jersey, complete with a 2011 Stanley Cup champions patch, that Colin received, we also were given, among other items, a sample Massachusetts "Invest in Youth Hockey" license plate signed by Bruins legend Cam Neely and a signed photo by Neely appearing as Sea Bass in Dumb and Dumber.

We also received this game-used stick signed by Bruins goalie Tim Thomas:

Gee, I wonder where all of the red paint on the back of the stick's shaft came from? A net, perhaps?

Though Thomas may have worn out his welcome in Boston, this stick will have a home here in Hockey Bay.

Once again, thanks Uncle Johnny.

Addendum: On a side note, Colin scored some Stanley Cup champion bargains at the Bruins Pro Shop inside the TD Banknorth Garden, too. A hat, T-shirt, Stanley Cup banners magnets, street sign and a pin for under $30.

He's glad he waited a year to buy the souvenirs, as he likely saved himself close to $70 over all of those gotta-have-it-right-now prices that others paid.

Birthday surprises

It's no secret that the Boston Bruins' Patrice Bergeron is Colin's favorite NHL player. That fact has been chronicled many, many times. What was a secret, though, was that three game-used sticks were headed Colin's way.

I'd heard a few days ago that "Uncle Johnny" up in New Hampshire was sending Colin a hat trick of sticks for his birthday. Well, the package arrived Thursday afternoon. And once Colin finished his shooting practice (10 rounds of 17 pucks each), he was able to see what the odd-shaped box contained.

Needless to say, but I'm doing it anyways, Colin was pretty psyched when he saw what was within. Not only was there a stick from Bergeron's NHL rookie season, shown above, but the package also contained this signed stick:

  

Bergeron used this stick, which he verified within his autograph, against the Ottawa Senators
on Nov. 11, 2006, at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston. 

All three of the stick blades. Note, too, that the top stick, from the 2003-04 NHL season,

is all wood, not made of composite materials

All three sticks, as Lisa noted, are different in height, an adjustment Bergeron made during his career.

The unsigned stick, shown on the far left, was broken, but repaired nicely by "Uncle Johnny."

Colin now has four game-used Bergeron sticks, with three being signed. His first one, a Christmas present in 2005, is a pretty funny story.

The bottom photo shows Bergeron's name imprinted on the shaft of each stick.

One more for the books

Let's be honest, shall we? When we headed out to get Boston's Patrice Bergeron to sign Colin's rookie card earlier this week, it wasn't the only one we hoped he would sign. Also sitting atop our to-do list was this card, another custom created by Brett, that was Colin's reward for winning a friendly wager after the Bruins won the Stanley Cup last summer.

Sure, Patrice may have missed the spot designated for his signature, but it's still a keeper that will also find a place of prominence in the display case. Given that it's one of only two or three copies, it's certainly a scarce card that will be prized within our personal collection.

Colin also gave Patrice a copy of this card.

All told, Colin now has three custom cards, all done by Brett, that Bergeron has signed.

That didn't take long

Once again, being in the right place at the right time, even while nursing a cold, meant completing what has quickly become my favorite hockey card ever.

A big thanks to Boston's Patrice Bergeron for signing the card and graciously accepting a copy, and to Brett, the hockey card designer extraordinaire.

This card will soon get prime placement in one of our display cases.

The Hockey Life: Catching up

I was heading out of the house Saturday, heading into work, when the big envelope jutting out of the mailbox caught my eye. At first, I thought it was some marketing piece from a car dealership or developer, trying to pique by interest with something other than a form letter. Upon closer review, though, I knew it was something special.

The first hint came at the addressee. Rather than me or The Missus, it was addressed to Colin. And instead of a Florida-based return address, this parcel came from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Within seconds, I knew who it came from. The mystery, however, was what was inside.

From past experiences, I had a good idea that it would be cards of some form. Once Colin opened the mailing package and the bubble-wrapped envelope inside, it became crystal clear -- Colin had his rookie card (shown above, front back back), showing him from his days with the Pinellas P.A.L. Stars, and his best NHL buddy, Boston's Patrice Bergeron.

Now, I've seen some of Brett's custom-card work before and, let me tell you, this guy does top-shelf work. He takes his time and gets things right, rather than just slapping them together and shipping them out. In this case, he definitely has a winner.

The package arrived just in time, too. With Boston playing the Lightning this Tuesday, we have an opportunity to get this card signed, as well as give Patrice a copy of this and another card Brett made for Colin. We just hope that Patrice, who missed some time in today's game in Pittsburgh, makes the trip south and himself available.

More than anything else, we'd like to thank Brett for producing this card for Colin. Wherever hockey takes Colin, be it a rec league or elsewhere in the years ahead, this card will be his best ever.

Slackadaisical, I am

Over the past year (well, actually, 16 months), I've let autographed hockey pucks sit around our home office. For a variety of reasons, I haven't had the time or gumption to put them away. That all changed this weekend.

Over six hours yesterday and today, I chronicled and stored 132 pucks before running out of puck cases with 45 remaining. Of the 177l, the only one I couldn't identify was this Team Canada puck.

I've checked old postings here and at Hound Central 5.0, but haven't been able to figure out who signed it.

I'm hoping that someone can help me with it. If you recognize the signature or have a good idea who it might be, I'd sure appreciate the assistance. If not, I'll likely erase it. And, that, would be a shame.

Beyond that, only three or four pucks will find their way into the home office display cases - Detroits Pavel Datsyuk, on a Russia puck; Tony Esposito, on a Montreal Canadiens old-logo puck, Nicklas Lidstrom, on a Red Wings puck; Steve Yzerman, on a 2001-02 Red Wings Presidents' Trophy puck.

To date, the autographed puck collection stands at 3,247.

It's official

With the 2011-12 regular season and tournaments out of the way, today marks the end of Colin's first campaign in travel-team hockey. It's the Tampa Bay Jr. Lightning Squirt A's end-of-the-season party today at a teammate's house over in Hillsborough County.

Rather than ice skates, the kids were asked to bring their roller-hockey skates, helmets and Lord knows what else. I would've joined Colin and The Missus, but I have to head into work in less than an hour. From what I read in RSVP emails, it sounds like there's going to be some good food, including some "famous" salads. Wish I could have made it.

Oh, well, it's all a part of my life as a hockey dad.

Hounding haul: Boston Bruins

To say that we were disappointed by the Boston Bruins a couple of weeks ago would be an understatement. It wasn't that Colin and I scored only eight autographs. Really, that was to be expected. Any time a team wins the Stanley Cup, the players become that much tougher -- from a signing standpoint -- during the next season.

No, our disappointment centered around not being able to see Boston's Patrice Bergeron. Besides having a card to share with his best NHL buddy, Colin also had some pretty big news -- that he'd be skating as the Lightning Dream Kid before the game and, if Patrice started, would be sharing the ice with him during the national anthem.

As we headed home after the Bruins morning skate, I reminded Colin that Patrice has been pretty good to him over the years. The novelty of having one of his biggest fans in Florida, though, might be wearing off, too. To his credit, Colin handled the letdown in pretty good fashion.

Besides, the Bruins come back in March. It's likely, too, that Colin could have another case of Bruins flu. Maybe then, he'll get to ask Patrice, who started the game for Boston, if he noticed him on the ice during the anthem.

Cards signed by, from left, Gregory Campbell, Joe Corvo, Milan Lucic and Tyler Seguin.

Milan Lucic signed the one and only puck we could add to the collection.

Nathan Horton added to the Threads project.

The Hockey Life: My big adventure

Editor's note: This post is Colin's first for The Hockey Life.

Last week, when my one of my favorite hockey teams, the Boston Bruins, and my best NHL buddy, Patrice Bergeron, came to town, I was excited because I’d get to be the Lightning Dream Kid and skate before the Tampa Bay Lightning game.

After getting dressed in my gear and putting on my Tampa Bay Jr. Lightning jersey (I really wanted to wear my Bruins Bergeron jersey, but they wouldn’t let me)., I got to watch the warmups from the Zamboni tunnel.  As the players skated around, all I could think about was what I would have to do in just a few minutes.

Before hitting the ice, when I got to skate to the Thunderstruck song, my only thought was “don’t fall.” I  concentrated on the music and lights and doing my best.

Once on the ice, I really didn’t hear the crowd and the noise and kind of tuned it out. For my first lap, I was told to skate behind the first net and in front of the second net, but without thinking, I nearly skated behind the second net because that’s what I do in practice.

After my second lap and ending up at center ice with the spotlights on me, it felt amazing. There were so many lights. There were white lights, silver lights and blue lights. It looked really cool when they were shining through my cage. By then, I could hear the crowd. It was cheering so loudly, too, that it was amazing.

I then skated over to the Lightning bench and waited for the players to give me fist bumps as they came on the ice. It was really fun getting fist bumps, but some of the head taps from players surprised me. The ones that surprised me the most were three in a row from Vinny (Lecavalier), then Marty (St. Louis) and then Stammer (Steven Stamkos). It seemed like they patted me on the head like they do their teammates after they score a goal. Really, it didn’t bother me at all

During the national anthem, I got to stand next to any of the starters I wanted. Since Adam Hall, my favorite Lightning player is hurt, I stood next to Nate Thompson, one of my other favorite Lightning players. I didn’t know how to hold my helmet and other gear, so I looked around how to do it. By the time I figured it out, the anthem had started.

During the anthem, I accidentally hit goalie Mathieu Garon’s pads a couple of times with my stick. After the second time, he looked down and gave me a look. After that, I kept better control of my stick. Even though I wanted to laugh a little and say “I’m sorry,” I kept my mouth shut during the national anthem.

Later, after taking off my hockey equipment, I certainly felt like I wanted to pass out. I felt so stressed, because I kept myself together so tightly, and relieved that I had done it without falling, it felt like my vision was blurry for a couple of seconds.

After drinking some Fierce Grape Gatorade, I felt better. I just sat there and let my heart rate settle down. One time I put my hand over my heart and it was like dit-dit-dit-dit-dit-dit-dit-dit. After a while, I calmed down.  After my Dad packed my gear into my hockey bag, we headed upstairs and joined my Mama and friend Sofia to watch the game.

To sum up the night, from skating the laps to getting fist bumps from the players to standing on the blueline with one of my favorite Lightning players to watching the game with my family and friend, it was the most perfect night I could imagine.

I hope I get to do it again someday. If I don't, it's something that I'll remember for the rest of my life.

Well worth the gamble

During last season's Stanley Cup Finals, Colin and Brett, one of Hound Central's most faithful readers, made a friendly wager on the outcome of the series.

If the Canucks won, Colin would make one of his hand-drawn team sheets and get it signed for Brett. If the Bruins won, Brett would make Colin a custom hockey card of his favorite NHL buddy, Boston's Patrice Bergeron.

Well, we all know who won, don't we? And, in case you forgot, it was Bergeron who scored the Cup-winning goal.

Late last week, Brett came through, holding up his end of the deal, sending Colin not one, but two of his custom cards. Once again, Brett created a pretty nice card, if you ask me. Like I've said before, I won't be surprised if some card manufacturer reaches out to Brett and tap into his top-shelf abilities.

Colin will use one to add to his autograph collection and give Petey, as he calls him, the other card. They should be quite the collector's item, too, as they'll be the only two cards like that in existence.

Editor's note: The scans, for some reason, don't do the card justice. Trust me, it looks far better than this.

Someone's gonna be psyched

Just heard from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Colin will skate as the McDonald's Dream Kid before Tampa Bay's game Tuesday, Jan. 17 against the Boston Bruins.

Kinda ironic, isn't it, seeing that his best NHL buddy, Patrice Bergeron, will look up and see No. 37 on the Lightning blueline during the anthem?

Getting the one he wanted

Here it is, the last day of Colin's summer vacation. And while he's all ready and packed for the first day of school, we made a special trip out to our local Target to pick up a few more things.

At the top of the list was a birthday present for one of Colin's new buddies, Christopher, whom he "taught" how to skate over the summer. We also picked out a new Lego Star Wars set, a reward for Colin's very good behavior over the summer.

The last thing we picked up, which officially marks the beginning of our hockey-hounding season, were four fat packs of the 2011-12 Victory hockey cards. A low-end product, it's become a staple of our efforts to trim the hounding budget.

One card out of the 144, though, drew the biggest smile of the day. Midway through the last pack, Colin got the card he wanted: Boston's Patrice Bergeron.

"That's going on top of the stack," he told me. "Right where it belongs."