Hot dates

A quick run through the Tampa Bay Lightning's 2008-09 home schedule shows that I'll be making at least 25 trips over to Tampa to hound visiting teams in the months ahead.

All told, nine teams visiting from the Western Conference should help diversify the collection. Three teams -- the Blackhawks, Blue Jackets and Blues -- offer first-time hounding opportunities.

Here are my top five trips:

Saturday, Oct. 18 - Minnesota Wild: Despite having a ton of pucks, health reasons forced me to skip the Wild's visit last season. The early season appearance allows an opportunity for redemption.

Thursday, Nov. 13 - Detroit Red Wings: Though I'm expecting this team to draw a large crowd, the prospect of snagging some of the Wings' big names makes this too tempting to pass up. At the least, I need Marian Hossa to complete last season's Thrashers team helmet.

Thursday, Dec. 4 - Boston Bruins: This could be Patrice Bergeron's first visit to Humidity Bay in more than a year. His little buddy can't wait to see him.

Monday, Jan. 19, 2009 - Dallas Stars: Our Brad Richards collection wouldn't be complete without an autographed Stars puck. I'm sure, too, that I'll find something for Mike Modano.

Tuesday, Feb. 17 - Chicago Blackhawks: Hopefully, one Buffalo kid (me) will meet another Buffalo kid (Patrick Kane). If not, there's always Jonathan Toews, whose autograph would look good on a University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux puck.

The I-76 Series

Before the season started, I had Minnesota beating the Philadelphia for the Stanley Cup. Goodness, was I wrong with the Wild. The Flyers, however, are keeping my hopes for a .500 season, so to speak, on life support. It certainly doesn't look any easier against Pittsburgh, who just dispatched the Rangers.

If memory serves me correctly, a lot of people, especially those whose job it is to know such things, picked the Rangers to win it all. I guess I shouldn't feel so bad.

Either way, this Eastern Conference championship oughta be one whale of a series. The Flyers have knocked off some big teams in the Capitals and, most recently, the Canadiens. The Penguins, conversely, haven't really been tested. Plus, they hate each other.

With little more than 300 miles -- a five-hour ride and $17.25 in tolls -- separating these two more-grit-than-glitter cities, let me be among the first to call it the I-76, or Pennsylvania Turnpike, Series.

Scratched from the lineup

Between a sore lower back, cool temperatures, stiff northerly breezes and a little bit of laziness, I decided against going out for the Minnesota Wild this morning. As a result, there will be no hounding reports.

Yes, I'm disappointed in myself, too. I bought more than a dozen pucks for the trip and now they'll sit, gathering dust, until the Wild comes back to Tampa Bay.

Sorry, folks.

Sunday morning homily XXII

Having taken the past month off from hounding, I've had plenty of time to think during missed hounding opportunities about what the future holds for this hobby of mine. It's been a long 12 straight years of pounding the pavement, dealing with the weather and, yes, occasionally exchanging pleasantries with NHL players.

After getting the 1,500th autographed puck to the collection yesterday, I'm beginning to wonder whether it's time to try something new next season. Though I'll continue adding to the pucks, I'm looking forward to taking a more project-based approach -- working team jerseys, helmets and the random stick or two.

For the most part, finances will play a major role in the effort. Like most everyone else, the economic downturn is becoming hard to ignore. A gallon of gas spiked 16 cents within eight hours earlier this week. One station, in Tampa, was asking $3.399 a gallon. we're hearing, too, that prices will peak around $3.75 this summer.

Knowing that what little disposable income we have left will likely head toward bills next year (provided I'm not a victim of the associated downturn within the journalism industry), I'm thankful I have a host of hockey memorabilia that's suitable for signing.

The biggest reason why I'll be taking a more team-based approach next season is I'll be spending more time serving as a consultant, so to speak, for my little hound-in-training, Colin. At nearly 7 years old, he's not shy about asking, but his approach, which often includes cutting in front of adults, could use a little work.

Either way, I plan to keep pursuing this hobby in the years ahead. Some habits, I believe, are too much fun to break.

Trade junkie

Hopefully, I'm not alone in my thinking, but I look forward to the NHL trade deadline every season. I love watching the moves that teams make in their bids to, first, make the playoffs and, secondly, play deep into June.

Here, in Tampa Bay, the buzz is around shipping Brad "Dime-on-a-dollar" Richards some place, as long as he's willing to ignore his no-trade clause. If he doesn't move, there's talk that Dan Boyle, coming back from a freak accident earlier this season that sliced three tendons in his left wrist (is he damaged goods?) might get traded.

More than anything else, though, deadline-day trades create future hounding opportunities -- either for your hometown team as well as conference rivals that dominate the last quarter of the season.

5 Big Sigs

~ goalie Niklas Backstrom on a couple different Wild pucks;
~ Pavol Demitra, Marian Gaborik and Branko Radivojevic on the Slovakian team jersey;
~ coach Jacques Lemaire on the Montreal Canadiens legends jersey;
~ winger Brian Rolston on Wild, Bruins and Devils pucks; and
~ captain of the month Nick Schultz on a couple different Wild pucks.

Uh, I'm confused

Let's see if I got this right. A Dominic Moore jersey card, pulled from a 2007-08 Fleer Ultra Hockey 12-pack retail box, says he plays for the Minnesota Wild (which he does), but shows him playing for the Penguins. The two-color swatch? Well, that's from a Rangers jersey; with whom Moore, a Harvard grad, broke into the league.

It'll be a Wild year

With Pittsburgh's overabundance of talent, it's no surprise that the Penguins have become a popular pick to carry Lord Stanley's Cup late next spring. And then, this morning, as I slowly woke up watching ESPN's SportsCenter, hockey god/analyst Barry Melrose says he's keeping an eye on the New York Rangers.

Funny thing, though, I've heard/read very little about Anaheim successfully defending its championship run. Detroit, as always, is getting some buzz, but beyond that, hockey's mainstream media is making what appears to be safe and easy picks.

So now, less than 24 hours before the Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings drop the puck on the 2007-08 season across the pond in London, I offer these predictions. No picking with my heart nor head, but just a gut feeling.

And, as you'll see, I'm a little beyond the mainstream:

Eastern Conference
No. 1: Pittsburgh Penguins (Presidents' Trophy - 112 points)
No. 2: Ottawa Senators
No. 3: Atlanta Thrashers
No. 4: Buffalo Sabres
No. 5: Carolina Hurricanes
No. 6: Philadelphia Flyers
No. 7: New Jersey Devils
No. 8: Tampa Bay Lightning
Just missing: New York Rangers (Sorry, Chuck V.)

Quarterfinals:
Pittsburgh beats Tampa Bay, 4-1
Ottawa beats New Jersey, 4-2
Philadelphia beats Atlanta, 4-1
Buffalo beats Carolina, 4-3

Semifinals:
Philadelphia beats Pittsburgh, 4-3
Buffalo beats Ottawa, 4-3

Conference finals:
Philadelphia beats Buffalo, 4-2

Western Conference
No. 1: Minnesota Wild
No. 2: Detroit Red Wings
No. 3: Anaheim Ducks
No. 4: San Jose Sharks
No. 5: Dallas Stars
No. 6: Vancouver Canucks
No. 7: Colorado Avalanche
No. 8: Calgary Flames
Just missing: Nashville Predators

Quarterfinals:
Minnesota beats Calgary, 4-3
Colorado beats Detroit, 4-2
Vancouver beats Anaheim, 4-1
San Jose beats Dallas, 4-3

Semifinals:
Minnesota beats Colorado, 4-2
Vancouver beats San Jose, 4-3

Conference finals:
Minnesota beats Vancouver, 4-2

Stanley Cup finals:
Minnesota beats Philadelphia, 4-1

Individual honors
Art Ross Trophy (top point scorer):
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins, 114 points
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (perseverance and sportsmanship):
Brad Boyes, St. Louis Blues
Calder Memorial Trophy (top rookie):
Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals
Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP):
Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild
Frank J. Selke Trophy (defensive forward):
Jason Ward, Tampa Bay Lightning
Hart Memorial Trophy (league MVP):
Sidney Crosby
Jack Adams Award (top coach):
Jacques Lemaire, Minnesota Wild
James Norris Memorial Trophy (top defenseman):
Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
King Clancy Memorial Trophy
(leadership and humanitarian efforts):
Daniel Briere, Philadelphia Flyers
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (gentlemanly conduct):
Brad Richards, Tampa Bay Lightning
Lester B. Pearson Award (players' MVP):
Sidney Crosby
Maurice Richard Trophy (most regular-season goals):
Vinny Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning, 55 goals
Vezina Trophy (top goalie):
Niklas Backstrom
William M. Jennings Trophy (fewest goals scored against):
Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding, Minnesota Wild

Too Wild?

Now that the Minnesota Wild have unveiled their new RBK Edge jerseys, I'm left to wonder whether the Iron Range Red home version, left, a variation of last season's third jersey,
is more garish than the Phoenix Coyotes' brick red. The tie-down collar is cool, though. Too bad the road jersey lacks one.

Two teams unveil their new looks in the days ahead:

Chicago Blackhawks
Friday, Sept. 14 (last question in Dale Tallon Q&A)

St. Louis Blues
Saturday, Sept. 15