Ayuh, I've been to Maine

With Team USA and Sweden opening training camps in and around Portland, Maine, later this week (April 24-30) for the upcoming World Championships, I'm going through a rather severe case of hockey homesickness. And it's not just because of the missed hounding opportunities.

No, I'm a big fan of Portland. It's a cool city. Old, brick and granite buildings. Lots of 'em. Commercial Street separates a working waterfront and a bustling downtown. Expect trendy gift shops and the requisite prices. The restaurants could be better, but there are some brew pubs, namely Three Dollar Deweys, worth visiting, too.

My favorite thing to do in Portland, and this should come as no great surprise, was hockey hounding. Many a winter's night, after making the 45-minute, mostly back-road ride to Portland to take in the game, I stood outside the Cumberland County Civic Center, snagging autographs from then-AHL stars Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Jason Spezza and Eric Staal.

Portland is, by far, the easiest place I've ever collected autographs. The players' entrance fronts Spring Street. At game time, most walk down from the hotel or parking garage. Post-game, the bus parks right outside the doors.

Who's worth hounding? How about these players?

Team USA: Buffalo's Jason Pominville and Drew Stafford, Carolina's Tim Gleason, Chicago's Patrick Kane, Edmonton's Tom Gilbert, Los Angeles' Dustin Brown and Patrick O'Sullivan, New Jersey's Zach Parise and Phoenix's Peter Mueller and Keith Ballard.

Team Sweden: Ex-Islander Kenny Jonsson, Los Angeles' Erik Ersberg and Vancouver's Alexander Edler. It's too bad such players as Vancouver's Markus Naslund and the Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik declined their invitations.

Even though I can't be there, here's hoping that someone takes advantage of this opportunity. I'll bet that some of Boston's hounding crew will be there. If not, they'll miss out.

Early spring chores?

We received these cards from Chicago's Patrick Sharp in today's mail. It made we wonder about something. Do you think Chicago's absence from the NHL playoffs has anything to do with its arrival? I suppose it does.

Sharp, part of Round 3 of Hound Central 3.0's TTM project, is the third current or former member of the Blackhawks to return signed cards. The others? Duncan Keith and Tuomo Ruutu, now with Carolina.

The Habs have it

It seems that fans of the Montreal Canadiens have discovered this little old blog of mine. How do I know? That's easy. As the latest Hound Central 3.0 poll wound down, there was a last-minute push in picking the Canadiens to win the Stanley Cup.

That's not to say, though, that it was a landslide. It seems, too, that other visitors felt that another team, one not made available within the poll's choices, would end the season skating laps with hockey's hallowed hardware lifted to the heavens.

I was a bit surprised, too, that the Detroit Red Wings, who finished the 2007-08 regular season with the league's best record, didn't fare better in the poll. Then again, winning the Presidents' Trophy, which the Red Wings did for the sixth time, does not automatically guarantee success deep into June. Just ask the Buffalo Sabres.

Who's going to win the Cup? It's hard telling. Montreal does appear to be pretty stout, especially with rookie goalie Carey Price doing his best imitation of another rookie goalie who once led the Habs to the promised land. Still, though, I'm sure folks in other corners of the hockey universe, especially those in Pittsburgh, might beg to differ.

Question: Who will win the Stanley Cup?

Montreal Canadiens: 23 out of 49 votes cast (46.9 percent)
Another team: 17 out of 49 (34.7 percent)
San Jose Sharks: 4 out of 49 (8.1 percent)
Ottawa Senators: 3 out of 49 (6.1 percent)
Detroit Red Wings: 2 out of 49 (4 percent)

Sunday morning homily XXVII

There's just something about waking up early on a Sunday morning.

To sit on the back porch, a freshly brewed cup of coffee in hand, and watch the sun's rays peek through the branches of black walnut and oak trees. To watch worker honeybees flit from flower to flower, performing their missions. It's relatively quiet, too, with only the songs from birds filling the backyard.

With Florida's warm weather gaining steam, I know the months ahead will limit these opportunities. It's just too darn hot most days to enjoy the best of what the balmy Sunshine State has to offer.

Still, though, we're likely getting our last reprieve of cool, dry air over the next few days. Now that we've been down here a few years, I'm thankful I know enough to enjoy it.

Even if it means waking up early.

Football, in an arena?

As much as I'd like to take in our first Tampa Bay Rays game of the season, we're heading over to Tampa later today to check out the Tampa Bay Storm in our first-ever Arena Football League game.

From what I hear, the game's pretty exciting and the talent level improves each year. Sure, it's not the NFL, but the sports does produce lots of scoring and, as a result, excitement.

Given the lack of both during Lightning home games this season, I'm hoping that holds true.

Crowned

Hound Central 3.0 extends its congratulations to Boston College for winning the NCAA men's hockey championship last night. For the Eagles, who beat Notre Dame, 4-1, to claim the title, it is their third national championship.

One more win

Just a quick note to wish the Notre Dame men's hockey team the best of luck tonight as they play Boston College for the NCAA national championship. The game, on ESPN, starts at 7 p.m. EST.

All the way from San Jose

Colin always gets a thrill whenever he receives any sort of mail. Most times, it's a card from his Nana and Babop, back in New England, with a couple of dollars for a treat from the neighborhood ice cream truck.

Now, when he told me that he got some mail yesterday, I'll have to admit that I got a little excited, especially when he said it came from San Jose's Matt Carle, part of the fourth round of Hound Central 3.0's TTM project this season.

In my book, Carle, a former Hobey Baker Award winner, has the potential to be a star defenseman in the NHL.

Crowning the Kings

In less than two hours, we'll learn what team will have the luxury of picking first overall at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft later this year.

If it we're up to Hound Central 3.0 readers, however, it would be the Los Angeles Kings, and not the doormat Tampa Bay Lightning, that would win the Steven Stamkos Derby.

In one of the closest polls ever here at Hound Central 3.0, 18 of the 35 voters picked the Kings, the Western Conference's cellar dweller, to get the No. 1 pick. Seventeen readers picked the Lightning, who finished with the league's worst point total.

With the draft lottery taking place at 8 EST tonight (it's televised on Versus, so check your local listings), we'll all learn just who will get the coveted pick.

Will the top pick be Stamkos, the Sarnia Sting center who's projected to step right into the NHL next season? A lot of people believe his name will be called first on June 20 at Scotiabank Place in Kanata, Ontario. Then again, it could be a defenseman: Peterborough Petes' Zach Bogosian or the Guelph Storm's Drew Doughty.

I guess we'll have to wait, won't we?

Question: Who will get the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft?

Los Angeles Kings: 18 out of 35 votes cast (51.4 percent)
Tampa Bay Lightning: 17 out of 35 (48.6 percent)

Update: The Lightning did, indeed, win the lottery for the first overall pick at the 2008 NHL Draft.

Patrice's back!

That cheer you heard about 10 minutes ago emanating from Florida came after Colin and I learned that Boston's Patrice Bergeron, a favorite here at Hound Central 3.0, has been cleared to participate in the NHL playoffs.

Patrice, who sustained a serious concussion during a game last October after a cheap hit from behind by Philadelphia's Randy Jones, said he wouldn't play in Thursday's series opener against the Montreal Canadiens.

Still, though, for Patrice to be cleared medically for the playoffs has got to be a big boost of confidence for himself, the Bruins and their fans. Especially for two, down here in Florida, who have neither the Buffalo Sabres nor the Tampa Bay Lightning in the playoffs.

Sunday morning homily XXVI

Now that the hockey season has mercifully concluded down here in Tampa Bay, one might think that the withdrawal symptoms would be kicking into overdrive by now. Thankfully, that isn't the case.

I suppose taking the past week off from work, a move that coincided with Colin's spring break vacation from school, played a major role. And while we didn't cross everything off of our to-do list, we kept ourselves busy, and out of trouble, by hanging out together.

Sure, we did the hockey thing on Monday, hounding the Atlanta Thrashers and the Tampa Bay Lightning and taking in two periods (A brewing head cold meant I couldn't tolerate the Lightning's lackluster play and the incessant scoreboard-driven cheering any longer) of Tampa Bay's final home game of the 2007-08 season.

As the lights of the St. Pete Times Forum diminished in my rear-view mirror that night, I knew the activities and lessons of the days ahead (some planned, others impromptu) would help with the transition:

~ Helping to teach the Goofy Dude that learning to tie one's shoes is the last official test of successfully making the leap to Big Boyhood;
~ Getting our Indy Car fix at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg;
~ Teaching him right from wrong, namely that one returns a purse found in an empty shopping cart outside a Wal-Mart;
~ Keeping a promise to fly a kite, even if it was a bit too windy;
~ Giving Colin a personal tour of his father's first tour of duty in Florida;
~ Going to a movie theater and watching Horton Hears a Who!;
~ And, yes, we went ice skating a couple of times.

Now, had finances allowed us to travel to visit family or attend some of Florida's big-name theme parks, I'm sure we would have created a different set of memories. Still, though, I believe we had a pretty fun week of vacation. At least that's what Colin keeps telling me.

Classy Calgary

A nice touch by the Calgary Flames to line up and shake the hand of Vancouver's Trevor Linden following last night's game. Though it hadn't been announced officially, there were few people inside the GM Place last night who didn't know that the contest would be Linden's last in the NHL.

Once the final buzzer sounded, ending the Canucks' season, there were the Flames players, including 50-goal scorer Jarome Iginla, lining up to congratulate the player who many Vancouver fans believe defines the Canucks.

I may be wrong, but I don't recall that act of respect ever happening in other sports.

Looking ahead

After a couple days of getting back to work, my plans for hockey over the next few months will focus on cataloging the past few weeks of hounding and reorganizing all things related to hounding.

I doubt I'll revisit Baseball Mondays, last summer's project that focused on baseball hounding efforts. Simply put, it's just too blasted hot from mid-April to September to stand outside and try to collect autographs.

Instead, I hope to get in more ice skating, especially with Colin, and some fishing. Hounding is only a hobby, not a business. Life is far too short to not have fun.

Goin' racing

While I'm more than happy to call it quits for the season, Colin still had a little hounding left in him earlier today as we attended the opening day of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

After the morning practice sessions, Colin was able to score some autographs from a couple of IndyCar Series drivers and a car owner.

Making Colin's day were, above from left to right, driver Dan Wheldon, car owner and driving legend Michael Andretti (shown below, signing Colin's shirt) and driver Milka Duno.

Finishing strong

Just because the Tampa Bay Lightning suffered through an extremely disappointing season. Hound Central 3.0 wasn't about to let that get in the way of the final hounding session of the 2007-08 NHL season.

No, sir. Not us. Not when the team provides a red-carpet (really!) opportunity to snag some autographs from the hometown heroes. And though fans had to endure a muggy reminder Monday that summer's right around the corner, it proved to be a fine way to cap another season of hounding.

As you can see, Colin did quite well with another of his hand-drawn team sheets. Notable sweat-soaked signers included Vinny Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Dan Boyle and Jeff Halpern.

Even Puckhound got into the act, getting Boyle, Filip Kuba, Mike Lundin and Jason Ward, among others, to sign these cards . . .

. . . and Halpern and Junior Lessard, winner of the 2004 Hobey Baker Award, as well as new goalie Mike Smith, to sign these pucks.

By day's end, Hound Central 3.0 added another 33 autographs from the Lighting to the collection. If you add the 34 autographs we scored from the Atlanta Thrashers earlier in the day, the last trip of the 2007-08 produced a total of 67 autographs.

Not bad, if you ask me.

Last of the lot

Up until a magical meeting with the Notre Dame men's hockey team this season, Puckhound would follow the exploits of the Fighting Sioux of the University of North Dakota.

A top-shelf college hockey program, it has produced the likes of such NHL stars as Ed Belfour, Jason Blake, Zach Parise, Doug Smail and Jonathan Toews.

As a result, I bought a bunch of North Dakota pucks a few years ago. After Tampa Bay's Matt Smaby, who left North Dakota early to sign a pro contract, signed this puck, I now have to pick up a few more.

Adding value

Amid pictures of baseball clinics, patio hockey and the aftereffects of blue cotton candy, our latest packet of photos from the corner drugstore also included this of Tampa Bay defenseman Paul Ranger's autographed rookie-season, game-used gloves.

I received the gloves as a birthday present from the Mrs. in early December. But it wasn't until a month ago that I got around to having Ranger sign them for me.

Given Ranger's potential to become a top-level NHL defender, I'd like to believe that these will become a top-shelf collectible.

One more thing

I'd be remiss if I didn't share with you another autograph from Monday's effort for the Atlanta Thrashers. Though I needed a couple of players, I was fortunate enough to add goalie Kari Lehtonen to the Thrashers team helmet.

Smiles, all around

Thanks to a balky printer that, for the time being, is reluctant to print magenta and cyan, I wasn't able to print out a team sheet for Colin to use Monday when we hounded, for the fourth time this season, the Atlanta Thrashers.

While I fretted about my lack of technological skills to solve this problem, Colin took some markers and solved the problem himself, showing his resourcefulness by creating his own hand-drawn team sheet.

As his ever-doting daddy, I was rather proud of his artistic talents and ambition. The Thrashers, including such big names as Ilya Kovalchuk, Kari Lehtonen and Mark Recchi, saw the beauty within, too. More than one of the 17 players to sign complimented Colin on his interpretation of the team's logo.

I'm sure, too, that after a season of signing the same pucks, pictures, cards and jerseys, it's a bit refreshing to see something different, especially an item drawn by a star-struck kid who couldn't care less whether a player was a fourth-line center or a seventh defenseman.

Inspired by Colin's efforts, I turned my attention away from cherry-picking Atlanta's big names and took a team approach, landing a few veterans and a rookie on pucks (including the 250th of the season) and adding to the diversity of the autographed card collection.

All in all, between Colin's team sheet and my assorted items, Atlanta's players added another 34 autographs to the collection on what, because Tampa Bay didn't make the NHL playoffs this season, was our final hockey-hounding adventure of the 2007-08 season.

Cards, shown above, from left: Tobias Enstrom, 2007-08 UD NHL Rookie Class; Eric Perrin, 200304 Cardset Finland; and Chris Thorburn, 200506 AHL Top Prospects.

Primary objective

Of all the things I could've brought Monday to have Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk sign, this card here sat atop the list.

Sure, it would have been nice to add him to the so-called Young Guns stick. There's also an old-style Thrashers sweater sitting in one of our closets, too.

But what I really wanted was to have Kovie sign this card from the lockout-induced 2004-05 UD Hockey All-World edition set. Besides, I'll have plenty of time to get those items signed next season.

End of the road?

Over the years, I considered myself fortunate whenever I was able to get a single autograph from Atlanta's Bobby Holik and Mark Recchi. Holik would sign, but was strict one-per. Recchi, however, often proved elusive.

That's why I was a little dumbstruck Monday when each signed two pucks. Even more surprising, was Holik's question whether I wanted him to sign the Rangers puck.

It makes me wonder about one of my long-held beliefs about a player's signing habits: the closer they get to retirement, the nicer they are toward fans.

Top row: Mark Recchi
Bottom row: Bobby Holik

Season milestone

Say what you will about Atlanta's Todd White, but all I'll ever say is that he signed the 250th puck of the 2007-08 season before Monday's game against the Lightning.

From my point of view, he's certainly puckworthy. Not only has he averaged better than a half-point a game in 10 NHL seasons, but the former Clarkson University star was a finalist for the 1998 Hobey Baker Award.

Two good reasons

One of the few things to look forward to during late-season games are the chances to score autographs from call-ups.

And, while some of the call-ups are getting their gratuitous cup of coffee, others give team management a preview of coming attractions.

Atlanta's Boris Valabik is one of these players. A 6-foot-7 defenseman, Valabik was the Thrashers' No. 1 pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. That alone is deserving of a puck.

Having him sign the Slovakian team jersey, however, was a bonus.

What do you think?

When Tampa Bay's Mike Smith signed the 258th puck of the 2007-08 campaign (and the 1,533rd of the collection) during a red-carpet ceremony Monday before the Lightning's final home game of the season, it's safe to say that Hound Central 3.0 had a pretty decent season of hounding.

That total, however, doesn't include all of the cards, helmets, jerseys, sticks and team sheets we got signed this season.

Go Irish!

A quick shout-out to the Notre Dame men's hockey team making it to the 2008 Frozen Four from April 9-12 in Denver. Given the competition (Michigan, North Dakota and Boston College), it won't be easy, but it'll certainly be rewarding. It wasn't all that long ago that we got to meet the team.