Road act

On a day when I didn't think I would bother hounding the Florida Panthers, I was again reminded why the team is considered one of the better road-signing squads. Other than Nathan Horton, most every player took the time to sign at the team's hotel before Saturday's game.

What was surprising, however, was learning from a couple of South Florida hockey fans that always isn't the case on the Panthers' home turf. I had two fans tell me that they scored more autographs in a single afternoon in Tampa than they had all season down in Sunrise.

If that's the case, then, I'm glad the Panthers travel to Tampa four times a year.

I must pass along, too, that I whiffed on an attempt to score puck No. 1,500. Carrying only two pucks (Florida and Team Canada) on Saturday, the team's TV color guy, Hall of Famer Denis Potvin, did not honor my repeated requests. Oh, well, it would have been nice.

Either way, though, we added another 18 autographs to the collection, including a nice wallpaper image from Jay Bouwmeester and a couple of players on Hound Central 3.0's latest project, a Slovakian team jersey.

Cards, from left, shown above: Bryan Allen, Gregory Campbell, Olli Jokinen and Stephen Weiss.