All of the NHL's big names -- from Wayne Gretzky to Peter Forsberg to Martin Brodeur -- were in town. So were some of these forgettable contributors -- Theo Fleury, Dimitri Khristich and Sergei Krivokrasov. For a few days, Tampa was Hockey Central.
Unfortunately, I was nowhere near Tampa. We were in the Carolinas, two of the handful of folks who understood the game when the Hurricanes played at the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum. And, yes, we hounded the 'Canes.
Because I work in NHL cities, it's easy to concentrate on the "hometown" team. That's why, during the Lightning's 2006 preseason IceFest event, I reached deep into my wallet, fishing out two crisp $1 bills, and bought two sets of the game's helmet stickers.
Once I applied them to a helmet, a game-issued model plucked earlier from a bargain bin (it cost $20)at the AHL's Manchester (N.H.) Monarchs team store, a future showcase item of the collection was born.
The signing project began, in earnest, this season. And while the progress has been, at best, methodical, I know that it'll take a few years to fill it out. To date, I've gotten signatures from Atlanta's Alexei Zhitnik, who represented the Sabres; Boston's Marco Sturm, who represented the Sharks; Buffalo's Lindy Ruff, head coach of the World squad; New York's Jim Schoenfeld, assistant coach of the North America squad; and Toronto's Mats Sundin.
And while there are some players who I'm unlikely to get -- Eddie Belfour, winning goaltender Ron Tugnutt and Alexei Yashin come to mind -- I should be able to add a few more players this season -- Atlanta's Bobby Holik and Mark Recchi, Buffalo's Teppo Numminen, Minnesota's Pavol Demitra, Montreal's Roman Hamrlik, the Rangers' Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Martin Straka, and Pittsburgh's Darryl Sydor.
Until then, though, these will have to suffice:
Jim Schoenfeld, left, Lindy Ruff and Marco Sturm
Mats Sundin, left, and Marco Sturm
Alexei Zhitnik
This spot is reserved for Wayne Gretzky, who was the MVP of the 49th NHL All Star Game. Pretty fitting, don't you think?
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