Find the time

As I've said countless times before, any hockey hound worth his or her salt needs to make an effort to hound the Florida Panthers. Doing so will only add to your collection.

Between the team's stars -- Olli Jokinen, Jay Bouwmeester, Tomas Vokoun and Stephen Weiss -- and its role players -- most notably Jozef Stumpel, Mike Van Ryn and Richard Zednik -- the Panthers are one of the NHL's most approachable teams.

And let's not forget about Hall of Famer Denis Potvin, who provides color commentary during Panthers' TV broadcasts.

Weiss, who signed the Young Guns stick (above), and Vokoun have quickly become my favorite Panthers players. Weiss is always pleasant, refreshingly candid and always willing to strike up a conversation (We discussed the source of two bandages on his left eyebrow - "I don't know who did it," he told me. "It might have been one of my teammates.").

Quite simply, Vokoun, the Panthers' biggest splash in the free-agent market this summer, is a signing machine. I nearly apologized for having only two pucks for him to sign.

A word of caution, though, on Nathan Horton. Apparently, the Panthers young forward will go to great lengths to avoid even the smallest pack of hounds. Yesterday, he ducked out a back door of the hotel on his way to the morning skate. Only one person, who was late in arriving, crossed his path and received an autograph. Still, though, Horton is the exception to the rule.

And though I missed Jokinen (I only had cards for him), opting instead for a puck from Zednik, I was pretty pleased with adding another 22 autographs to the collection.

Besides a pair of pucks from Potvin, others signing (top photo) were, clockwise from top left: Gregory Campbell, Florida Panthers; Richard Zednik, Florida Panthers; Tomas Vokoun, Milwaukee Admirals; and Vokoun, Montreal Canadiens.

Cards shown (above):
Top row - Jay Bouwmeester, Brett McLean and Branislav Mezei;
Bottom row - Ruslan Salei, Jozef Stumpel and Mike Van Ryn.