Expect a crowd

By Keith
Hockey Hounds Universe correspondent

Growing up a Chicago Blackhawks fan, I make just about every effort to see them in action when they play my Nashville Predators. And while I’m always decked out in Preds gear and rooting for a Preds win, I still consider myself a Hawks fan and am always trying to add to my ever-growing collection of autographs.

This year was no different, but with them being the defending Stanley Cup Champions, my wife, myself and a good friend left Memphis super early to secure a place before the team made its walk over to the arena for the morning skate.

Upon arrival, we knew our hunches of a crowd had proven true. Coupled with their Stanley Cup victory was the added complication of this being a weekend game. In short, a LOT of people had shown up, including numerous dealers with boxes (BOXES!!) of blank souvenir sticks, 16x20s and pucks in hand.

I’m told by others that Nashville is one of the most hound-friendly situations in the league, and I think the word is getting around, as there are an increasing number of dealers actually traveling into town for these opportunities with the hotter teams in the league. The crowd was large enough for hotel staff to take numerous trips out to reinforce rules that are usually overlooked.

This trip also brought about an aspect to hounding I had yet to encounter—team-employed security personnel. The team began trickling out a few at a time, with most of the players being escorted by a gruff-looking gentleman in a nice suit with a Blackhawks logo pin on his lapel. Every player stopped and signed on their walk over to morning skate, but the quantity of signatures varied greatly by player.

Very few players signed for anyone on the return walk from the arena (security personnel made it very easy for the players to avoid the hounds). And because most players rode the bus from the hotel to the arena at game time, the afternoon was even less fruitful for hounds.

Luckily, this season is more of a cherry-picking endeavor for us, so we’re not necessarily shooting for every player or even every superstar. We were able to get signatures on pucks from Marty Turco, Corey Crawford, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Tomas Kopecky, coach Joel Quenneville, and former player/current radio color man, Troy Murray.

The primary goal of the day was accomplished, with my wife getting team captain Jonathan Toews to sign a replica of his Team Canada jersey with one of the nicest signatures I’ve seen from him. Duncan Keith continued to serve as my white whale, as I was once again unable to secure him on a Team Canada puck.

Of course, that just gives me a goal for their next visits in January and February.