Telling the truth

Any hound who tells you that they don't want an autograph from Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby is one of two things: crazy or lying. That's why I took the calculated risk Wednesday by heading over to Tampa to hound the Penguins.

First, I knew the game-day crowd would be huge, unruly and likely leave me in a grumpy mood. Second, I figured being part of a small group could increase my chances of nailing that elusive autograph. Experience tells me the first hypothesis will pan out. The second, however, proved to be false.

Though our group of five collectors saw Crosby, we all went home empty-handed. Thanks to hotel courtesy vans and his innate ability to dodge autograph seekers, Slick Sid lived up to my low expectations.

Still, though, I can't complain. Pittsburgh's other megastar, Evgeni Malkin, made a point a signing. So did plenty of other Penguins, allowing me to I add another 28 autographs to the collection. Among the highlights:

~ eight pucks, including those shown above, from left, Kris Letang, Jordan Staal and Petr Sykora;
~ 17 cards, including those shown below, from left, Erik Christensen, Ryan Malone (signed four cards), Jarkko Ruutu (one-per) and Ryan Whitney (one-per);
~ two cheapskate cards from rookie call-ups Ryan Lannon and Ryan Stone; and
~ Winter Classic winning goalie Ty Conklin on the American-born goalie stick and a University of New Hampshire puck.