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.

Whale of a time

By Commonkid
Hockey Hounds Universe correspondent

For those who don't know this, the Whale Bowl was a series of games lasting over a week, played outdoors at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn. It started with college and high school games, but the two big games were both on Saturday, Feb. 19.

The first game featured the Boston Bruins Alumni vs. Hartford Whalers Alumni. Joining them were the Hanson Brothers from the hockey cult classic Slap Shot. The alumni game was followed by the Connecticut Whale meeting the Providence Bruins in an American Hockey League game.

The hounding started Friday afternoon at the hotel where many of the players were staying for the weekend. First one I saw was Derek Sanderson, who asked for directions to the parking garage. We ran down to the walk-in entrance, getting him to sign before he got on the elevator. This worked for Brad Park and Reggie Lemelin as well.

The hotel, however, wouldn't let us wait inside. It was good luck that the weather was not all that bad, about 40 degrees out during the day.

On Saturday, we got to the hotel around 9 a.m. and some players were there already. The weather turned nasty, however, and it didn't get over 15 degrees with wind gusts up to 40 knots. For three of the dealers, this was too much. They paid for a room so they could wait inside. This turned into waste of money as security relented and let us all in about 30 minutes later.

Even at the game, it was good luck to get autos, as you could go out between the games and get the alumni as they left. Only four people were out there.

For the two-day total, I scored 117 cards, 28 8x10s and 16 pucks. I'm hoping they do this next year as well.

Besides Hall of Famer Brian Leetch, shown above, others signers included:

Whalers legend Ray Neufeld; and

Bruins legend Derek Sanderson.

Whole new world

By J.R.
Hockey Hounds Universe correspondent

What a contrast between hounding outings. The “big top” was gone, I didn't see anybody on the trapeze and, most importantly, there were no clowns present (although I did see a woman wearing really bad makeup rushing to work). The last time I hounded an NHL club was when the Buffalo Sabres were in San Jose to play the Sharks and it was a circus.

Fast forward a few weeks and you have a totally different atmosphere. Apparently, the Phoenix Coyotes don't have anybody on their roster worth arriving at the hotel before the morning skate. I say this because for quite some time I was the only person there.

Generally speaking, if someone affiliated with the opposing team wants to take a cab to the arena, a hotel employee stationed outside the lobby doors will call for them. A taxi then appears within a moment or two. However, head coach Dave Tippett and two other staff members walked over to where the cabs park.

I raced over to him and he signed three cards for me. After I thanked him, I noticed assistant coach Ulf Samuelsson about 15 paces behind Tippett. I bolted back to my bag to grab a puck, raced back to the taxi area and caught Samuelsson just in the nick of time. He signed it, but I unfortunately missed Sean Burke, who was behind him, and I didn't have another puck on my person.

Many minutes passed before another collector finally arrived at the hotel. We made small talk while waiting and he was disappointed to learn that the coaches had already left.

Soon after, Shane Doan came out of the hotel with six of his teammates. This is where having additional collectors on site could have helped, as we couldn't stop everybody. I had to make a quick judgment call and approached Doan, allowing his teammates to stroll to the bus parked on the street.

This was my first time meeting him and I can honestly say that he is the nicest player I have encountered thus far. He willingly signed a puck for me, a team photo for the other collector, then two cards for me. And he did it with a smile. Therefore, I tip my cap to you, Mr. Doan, for being such a fan-friendly player.

Other players to sign for me were Michal Rozsival, Kyle Turris and Jason LaBarbera.

As LaBarbara finished signing two cards for me, I noticed that television analyst Tyson Nash had already climbed the first two steps of the bus. I called him and he immediately turned around and signed a pair of cards. I also apologized for asking him to sign after technically being on the bus. He said it was not a problem and was glad to do it.

I am also glad I packed an extra Rangers puck just in case general manager Don Maloney made the trip to San Jose. He did and kindly signed the puck.

On the other hand, I must admit I did not recognize Keith Yandle (absolutely no excuse) and Ilya Bryzgalov (tiny excuse, he had a beard). Lee Stempniak also walked right past me while I was searching for something in my bag. Oh well.

All in all, it was a fun and relatively successful outing. Although I am sorry I did not see any elephants or "The Human Cannonball."

Signing pucks, shown at top, were:

Top row: Michal Rozsival and Shane Doan; and
Bottom row: Ulf Samuelsson and Don Maloney

Signing these cards were:

Top row: Dave Tippett; and
Bottom row: Kyle Turris and Shane Doan.

Also signing cards were Jason LaBarbera, top row, and Tyson Nash.

From cards to a classic

By Commonkid
Hockey Hounds Universe correspondent

Doing the American Hockey League here in Springfield, Mass., and Hartford, Conn., I get to see how different collectors go about getting things done. Most here go the card route, with some adding a few 8x10 pics and a few pucks thrown in.

With most collectors trying to get nine boards done, that can get pricey as even the lowest-priced rookies can add up. Sometimes, I think a 8x10 costs less.

Another difference is how they present them to get signed. The old standard here is a piece of cardboard and photo corners, though some will use tape as well. A second way is to cut out nine pocket pages, but this is rare. On trips to Boston, I see more photos then cards and a lot of them get sticks or other team stuff signed.

With the NHL's collective bargaining agreement the way it is, many new opportunities for us hounds of the AHL have opened up. Players like Wade Redden, shown above, in Hartford and Jay Pandolfo in Springfield, who recently retired, mean that a lot of us are now able to players that unless we traveled to a NHL city would never have gotten.

The Connecticut Whale, a recent name change from the Hartford Wolf Pack by new ownership, are having an outdoor game, called the Whale Bowl 2011, against the Providence Bruins in February. For the two weeks leading up to it, many high school games as well as some college games have been scheduled.

The highlight for me comes Feb. 19 with a Hartford Whalers-Boston Bruins alumni game. To help promote the it, the team is bringing in former Whalers players for signings. In the past, the team has brought in Pat Verbeek and Nick Fotiu, shown above. Coming up will be two former Bruins stars Rick Middleton and Rejean Lemelin.

Among the rosters for the alumni game are Brian Leetch, Brad Park, Ken Linseman, Ken Hodge and Don Marcotte for the Bruins and Nelson Emerson, Gordie Roberts, Darren Turcotte and Dave and Wayne Babych for the Whalers.