Finding some time

Trips to the Tampa Bay Lightning's practice facility as well as downtown Tampa over my extended weekend yielded more than a handful of notable autographs.

The Bolts' practice rink, in Brandon, sells game-used sticks. I picked up a couple of goalie sticks, from Sean Burke and former Bruin John Grahame and a wooden game from Fredrik Modin. The bill? A measly $51.

After the practice, only Burke signed his stick. Grahame and Modin were in Italy, representing their nations at the Winter Games.

Don't believe, though, that Burke was the only player to sign. Though Darryl Sydor and Timmy Taylor drove past, a handful of players, most notably Cup-winning goal-scorer Ruslan Fedetenko, who signed Lightning and Philadelphia Flyers pucks as well as a miniature replica of Lord Stanley's hallowed Cup.

Craig Ramsay, a former Buffalo Sabres forward and now an assistant coach with the Lightning, signed a Bolts puck (shown above) for the 950th of my collection.

The best part of the day, though, was having Lisa and Colin with me. They flew down to do a little househunting (we're leaning toward St. Petersburg or Bradenton) and we made some time to watch the team practice and get some autographs, specifically on Colin's new Lightning jersey.

On Monday, only a few hours after putting my wife and son on a Boston-bound plane, I was the only hound waiting for the Florida Panthers to check in. Notable signers included Joe Nieuwendyk, who signed Calgary and Dallas pucks, and Hall of Famer Denis Potvin, who signed a couple of cards.

With any luck, I'll be able to score a few from the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators this weekend. It seems that teams from north of the border (defined as any place where snow stands on the ground and the daily highs are measured in the teens) like to stay after the games, especially when their next games usually take them to Miami.

In the meantime, though, keep an eye out for Colin as he serves as a bench assistant for the Bruins during pregame warmups this Thursday against Atlanta.

Getting back at it

Aside from wearing T-shirts and shorts in Florida's balmy winter, the lure of chasing a new home team (and hopefully adding a dozen or so pucks to the collection) is more than ample motivation for making my second hounding trip as a sunburned resident of the Sunshine State.

Adding to the buildup leading to Saturday's planned trip, weather permitting, to the Tampa Bay Lightning's practice facility is that I'll be joined by my wife, Lisa, and son, Colin, down for nine days from New Hampshire.

More than anything, the trip to watch the open practice will hopefully provide a quick-fix cure to a serious case of hockey withdrawal brought about by the Olympic break.

Imagine that

Here I am, down here in tropical Florida (finally!) and who will I be briefly chasing this weekend?

Why, none other than Stan Mikita, a Hall of Famer from the Chicago Blackhawks. He's signing at a golf store and, apparently, there are no fees. Thankfully, I found a couple of Blackhawks pucks and he signed the one at left for me.

Later that day, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are holding a fan fest, where players will be signing. Though I can't name but a few players (Rocco Baldelli comes to mind) it'll still be worth a stop before heading into work.

Getting a life

Now that I find myself down in sunny Florida amid the NHL's Olympic break, how can a hound possibly be expected to get ramped up over nothing to do. In fact, maybe it's time to slow down.

Not only do I have a new job to learn, but I also have find a new house once we close on our house in New Hampshire. It's a damn shame, I suppose, that these "trivial" life matters are being viewed by others as an inconvenience to my hockey-hounding efforts.

I'm also getting very tired of having to repeat this for certain people. Some people, like myself, have lives beyond hounding. If hounding is your life, I'm sorry, but you really need to get a new one. Hounding is better suited to being a component, not a mandate.

I'm sorry if some people can't understand this. Perhaps, it's best to close a chapter of my life and look forward to new ones.

One down . . .

As promised, my first hounding trip in Florida was done while wearing a T-shirt and shorts. A consistent northwest wind, though, necessitated a windbreaker.

This past Saturday marked the inaugural voyage to Tampa for the sole purpose of hounding. After finding the Washington Capitals in a downtown Tampa hotel, getting my gear together and taking a leisurely drive into the city, my efforts were rewarded.

Besides snagging two autographed pucks (shown above) from uber-phenom Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals and WJC 2005-Russia) , I also scored pucks from Eric Fehr (Hershey Bears and Brandon Wheat Kings), Olaf Kolzig (Capitals) , Brendan Witt (Capitals) and Dainius Zubrus (Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers).

For the record, Witt, a defenseman for the Capitals, signed my first puck in Florida.

At day's end, I went home with 30 autographs, including cheap-skate cards from Fehr, Mike Green and Brooks Laich. It was fun, too, catching up with Brian Sutherby, who spent the 2004-05 season playing for the AHL's Portland Pirates.