Well worth the effort

Every time I hound the Ottawa Senators, the team moves up a notch among the best-signing teams in the NHL. Most of the team, even big names like Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza, are willing signers. Others, like Ray Emery and Chris Neil, aren't. As a whole, though, the team is pretty handy with a Sharpie.

Tuesday morning, as most of the team walked to its morning skate at the St. Pete Times Forum, I snagged another 20 autographs, including these pucks from (left to right) Mike Fisher, Chris Phillips and Wade Redden.

The card collection grew, too, as these four, signed by (left to right) Dean McAmmond, Brian McGrattan (a Binghamton Senators card, no less), Andrej Meszaros and Antoine Vermette, were among 15.

Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson, who seems to be getting tougher with each season, was a strict one-per at game time, my sources tell me. My chance came Monday, and I missed. Oh, well, they'll be back.

Despite the miss, I can't complain. Two trips, over two days, netted another 34 autographs.

Apparently, I was fortunate to get an autograph from Emery on Monday. He didn't sign at morning skate or game time on Tuesday. Maybe he doesn't sign on game day.