New blog for Puckhound

C'mon now, did you really think I'd stop blogging about hockey and hounding? well, I haven't. If that disappoints you, well, oh, well. If it doesn't, feel free to check out The Hockey Life.

It'll be a little different that the Hound Centrals. A little less on hounding, but a lot more about living the hockey lifestyle.

With Colin embarking on another season of travel hockey, making the Tampa Bay Jr. Lightning Squirt A squad for the 2011-12 campaign, I'll share what it means to be a hockey parent.

It's a wrap

By Puckhound
Hockey Hounds Universe editor

Now that the 2010-11 hockey-hounding campaign has ended down here in Hockey Bay, it's time to pull the plug on this experiment. Though I'd hoped for more participation from others, throughout the North America and more specifically here in Hockey Bay, we never reached the level of interest, including my own, needed to continue this endeavour.

I'm appreciative of all of the Hockey Hounds Universe correspondents who made significant contributions to this blog this past season. Speaking on behalf of them, we extend our heartfelt appreciation for those of you who stopped by. We hope you found this information helpful.

Going forward, we only wish you all the best in your hockey-hounding adventures.

As always, folks, thanks for all of your support.

Useful, I'll tell you

By Puckhound
Hockey Hounds Universe editor

I had this Lowell Devils pucks kicking around the stockpile, when I remembered that Florida Panthers goalie Scott Clemmensen came up the the AHL team's parent club, the New Jersey Devils.

A little research showed that Clemmensen played a few games in the Massachusetts mill city during the 2206-07 and 2008-09 seasons. Not wanting to let this puck collect any more dust, I made it part of the late-season push to top 2,300 autographed pucks for the collection.

Double duties

By Puckhound
Hockey Hounds Universe editor

Though I'm not in the running to win our fantasy hockey league, instead settling for the consolation round this week, I must thank Pittsburgh's Tyler Kennedy for his late-season efforts in cementing our solid finish.

A late-season pick-up off the waiver wire, I was lucky enough to add him to the Florida Kings roster about the time he went on his scoring run. Last week, with the Pittsburgh Penguins in town, he was nice enough to have him sign these four cards, too.

Outreach efforts

By Puckhound
Hockey Hound Universe editor

Like most NHL teams, there's always an effort to reach out to the community. It's not just about getting fannies in seats. It's about showing that the team cares.

Last week, members of the Tampa Bay Lightning alumni and staff members took part in a charity game benefiting the families of three St. Petersburg police officers. Before the game, they had a signing session.

Though we volunteered our time, raising nearly $200 selling raffle tickets, we made sure we took a few minutes to add to the collection. Signing the team card, shown above, were former players Dave Andreychuk, Brian Bradley, Chris Dingman and Stan Neckar.

We also got these cards signed:

Dave Andreychuk, captain of the 2004 team that won the Stanley Cup; and

Brian Bradley, the Lightning's first All-Star.

Certainly worthy

By Puckhound
Hockey Hounds Universe editor

Earlier in the 2020-11 season, I found some American Hockey League pucks on clearance at the league's website. Seeing that the New York Islanders visit Hockey Bay twice a season, I figured it wouldn't hurt to snag a couple of Bridgeport Sound Tigers pucks.

I finally put them to good use earlier this week, when defenseman Travis Hamonic, left, and left winger Jesse Joensuu, a couple of second-rounders, made the trip to Hockey Bay. Perhaps I should've held out for Kyle Okposo and Andrew MacDonald, but I'll take these. A second-round pick is definitely worthy of adding to a puck.

Take a career approach

By Puckhound
Hockey Hounds Universe editor

Over the years, I've employed a tactic that often results in getting four cards signed at one time. If a player has had a long career in the NHL, chances are you can find him wearing uniforms from four different teams. It worked for Ottawa's Sergei Gonchar during the Senators' recent trip to Hockey Bay.

Trading hat tricks

By Puckhound
Hockey Hounds Universe editor

Sometimes, within the hockey world, the stars align for an NHL player. Not too long ago, it happened for Tampa Bay's Teddy Purcell, when he logged his first-ever hat trick.

The following day, Purcell made a public appearance at a motorsports dealer in Brandon, Fla. To commemorate the occasion, we had Purcell, who broke into the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings, sign this trio of pucks.

The puck on the far right, honoring the NHL's Hockey for Huggies campaign, carries special significance. It was a fundraising giveaway, so to speak, before the game when Purcell logged his hat trick. What better way, I thought, to remember Purcell's achievement?

Rounding 'em up

By Puckhound
Hockey Hounds Universe editor

Unless this is your first rodeo, cowboy, it's fairly common knowledge among established hockey hounds across North America, maybe even Sweden, that New Jersey goalie Johan Hedberg is a more-than-willing signer.

If you didn't know this, though, consider yourself duly informed.

These three pucks, obtained during the Devils' recent visit to Hockey Bay, are proof that Hedberg will sign more than one item.

Brag Book: Phoenix Coyotes

Hound: Puckhound, Hockey Hounds Universe's editor
Hounding opportunity: Phoenix Coyotes trip to Hockey Bay
Where: Westin Harbour Island hotel, Tampa
When: February 2011

Let the bragging begin:

Sean Burke, top, and Andrew Ebbett;

Vernon Fiddler, top, and Lee Stempniak; and

Kyle Turris.

International flavor

By Puckhound
Hockey Hounds Universe editor

Want to know the quickest way to add depth and variety to your autographed puck collection? Well, that's easy. All you have to do is use these national souvenir pucks.

That's exactly what I did during the Detroit Red Wings recent visit to Hockey Bay. While I carried at least two pucks for most big-name player on the roster. I changed my approach when I saw that the players were only signing one item each.

Still, after getting, from left, Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen and Tomas Holmstrom, there's little room to complain.

Oh, yeah, I nearly forgot. The Holmstrom is puck No. 2,250 of the collection.

Useful items

By Puckhound
Hockey Hounds Universe editor

If you're a regular reader of my blog, Hound Central 5.0, you're familiar with my so-called cheap skate cards. They're my homemade cards I often use for NHL rookies or call-ups.

Over the years, they've come in quite handy. Just look at this one for Sergei Bobrovsky, a rookie goalie for the Philadelphia Flyers. After having him sign a puck during the Flyers' first visit to Hockey Bay, I didn't want to use any of his rookie cards when the Flyers visited last week.

They may not be pretty or employ any cutting-edge design principles or programs. In fact, I use an old Microsoft Word program for them. But they work. And, really, that's all I ask.

Adding depth

By Puckhound
Hockey Hounds Universe editor

Some of the first autographs we ever added to the collection came from the Carolina Hurricanes, back when the team moved from Hartford to North Carolina. At the time, we watched them play at the Greensboro Coliseum.

A few years later, when we were living in New England, we got to watch some of the Hurricanes top prospects, including goalie Cam Ward, play in Lowell, Mass., during the NHL lockout of 2004-05. As a result, we've added quite a few from him.

We don't let that stop us, though, from deepening the collection. During Carolina's recent visit to Hockey Bay, Colin scored the 8x10 wallpaper image, shown above, from one of his favorite NHL players.

I took it upon myself to add these pucks, the 10th and 11th (all but one are different) that Ward has signed for us. It'll take another All-Star Game or a trade to make it an even dozen.

Putting in the time

By Puckhound
Hockey Hounds Universe editor

Don't let long lines get in the way of adding to your hockey autograph collection. Scoring these two pucks from Tampa Bay's Steve Downie at a recent appearance at a Hockey Bay motorsports store was well worth the 45 minutes we stood in line.

We haven't mad much luck over the past few seasons getting to to stop after morning skates, so we took full advantage of this opportunity to add a few more pucks to the collection.

Only days earlier, we added some pucks from Lightning teammates Adam Hall and Nate Thompson at another public appearance.

That'll teach me

By Puckhound
Hockey Hounds Universe editor

One of the quickest ways for Hockey Hounds Universe's visitors and page views to fall off a precipice is to not post any new content for a week. For a variety of reasons, from work to freelance efforts to a little thing called the Detroit Red Wings, kept me from doing that.

Well, I've learned my lesson.

Hopefully, I'll make amends this week, as we try to catch up with all the hockey-hounding that's taken place down here in Hockey Bay. Beyond that, you can expect a couple of posts from north of the border as well as other correspondents checking in from their outposts.

Who knows, maybe even Moody, fresh off of celebrating the one-year anniversary of Moody's TTM Blog, will file one. It's been a long time, hasn't it?

Change in plans

By Puckhound
Hockey Hounds Universe editor

One desirable trait among hockey hounds is flexibility. Though it's always good to have a plan, you also need to be willing to stray from it anytime opportunity presents itself.

Take last Tuesday, for instance. I had every intention of offering Buffalo Sabres captain Craig Rivet this Montreal Canadiens puck with the hopes of getting it signed. That plan, though, changed.

When I recognized former NHL defenseman Brian Engblom walking down the sidewalk, I called an audible and had him sign it instead.

Engblom was in town with the Versus hockey broadcast crew, which would later televise the Buffalo Sabres-Tampa Bay Lightning game. In a first for the network, Engblom, serving as an analyst, worked the game at ice level, standing between the team's benches.

Born in the U.S.A.

By Puckhound
Hockey Hounds Universe editor

Though NHL lineups are dominated by Canadian-born players, there's a growing presence of American-born players. Down here in Hockey Bay, the Lightning have quite a few, including Adam Hall and Nate Thompson.

Hall, from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Thompson, out of Anchorage, Alaska, signed these two U.S.A. souvenir pucks last Wednesday following a live radio show at a McDonald's in Tampa.

Three-for-three

By Puckhound
Hockey Hound Universe editor

Every NHL team has what hockey hounds would consider, at the minimum, its Big Three. Not only are they a team's best players, but they all reside atop any hound's wish list.

In the case of the Philadelphia Flyers, in town to play the Tampa Bay Lightning, it would be Jeff Carter, Chris Pronger and Mike Richards. I was lucky enough to have them sign this trio of Canada-related pucks.

Oh, yeah, now I remember

By Puckhound
Hockey Hounds Universe editor

Amid all of the NHL teams visiting Hockey Bay, it can be easy to forget that there's plenty of hounding opportunity right under my nose. They're called the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Every so often, usually on of the days off when I put in a full day of hockey hounding, I'll try to catch the Bolts after their game-day morning skate. Some days are better than others, as Vinny Lecavalier, Marty St. Louis and Steven Stamkos don't always stop. Still, you can always count on a handful to sign.

Signing cards on my most recent visit were:

Top row: Brett Clark, Victor Hedman and Mike Lundin; and
Bottom row: Mattias Ohlund, Teddy Purcell and Matt Smaby.

Blasts from the past

By Puckhound
Hockey Hounds Universe editor

When culling cards for a visiting team, it's a good idea to remember all of the specialty sets you've likely accumulated over the years. From league-specific juniors sets to the Rookie Class offering that Upper Deck used to put out, they're an easy way to offer something beside the latest card releases.

These two, for goalie Steve Mason and forward R.J. Umberger, came in handy last week when the Columbus Blue Jackets visited Hockey Bay. They'd been sitting around for a few seasons, as we don't see the club on a regular basis.

The team's last trip, in March 2009, focused more on pucks, as I added two dozen to the collection.