Perfect sense, I hope

Here's a bit of advice. If a team's television analyst is a Hall of Famer, like Denis Potvin is for the Florida Panthers, it's ...

Busy afternoon

In a perfect hounding world, I'd attend every morning session, especially those on Saturday mornings Time and time again, this window of...

Different looks

We're all familiar with the Florida Panthers logo, aren't we? Not the one with a palm tree and hockey stick crossed over a blazing s...

Thanks, Stiller

It's always nice whenever we score a hat trick of pucks from an NHL player. This time, it was Florida's Cory Stillman who signed th...

Waving the flag

Every so often, the luck of a schedule launches a run on a particular item. After adding four players from the Avalanche earlier this month,...

Can't say that I have

I'm curious. Have you ever seen Florida's Tomas Vokoun ever turn down a request for an autograph? I haven't. Ever. He is, by fa...

For NHL Network viewers only

Are you as tired of the NHL Network's Take Me Out to the Ballgame commercial for tomorrow's Winter Classic as I am? I used to like ...

Stop back later

Nope, I haven't forgotten about this blog. The Goofy Dude and I went fishing with some buddies near Dunedin Causeway earlier today. Yes,...

For Lightning fans only

Though we haven't attended every Tampa Bay Lightning game where these mini-bobblehead refrigerator magnets were given away, I'm thin...

Sunday morning homily XV

For some people, having a birthday around the holidays can be a bad thing. It can be easy to forget amid the excitement of Santa's arriv...

In any language ...

... from the Hound Central 4.0 family to yours: ~ Merry Christmas! ~ Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok ( Czech ) ~ Hyvaa joulua (...

Christmas Eve homily

Christmastime down here in Hockey Bay is a whole different bird than, say, Up North. For one, it doesn't snow. Correspondingly, Jack Fro...

Finally, some entries

You know, I thought the opportunity for a puck signed by Minnesota's Mikko Koivu would draw quite a few entries into Hound Central 4.0...

Double-duty, not dipping

To some folks, it's nothing more than double-dipping. To us, though, it's putting our time and efforts to good use. What am I talkin...

Release the Hounds

A few weeks ago, Tampa Bay's Vinny Lecavalier was nice enough to sign a replica Notre Dame Hounds jersey for one of his younger fans d...

No need to worry

After Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos signed this 2008 NHL Draft preview magazine last Thursday, I lamented that we had "officially...

They all wear No. 37

No, I swear, these aren't chicken scratches on the back of Colin's Little League baseball jersey. Instead, it's an autograph fro...

Puck No. 1,700

Over the past four-plus years, I've received a number of autographs from Colorado's Andrew Raycroft . The first came from his days w...

The kitchen sink

When you score 83 autographs from a single team, it's a tad difficult to know where to begin. Do we play up the 33 cards that Colin and ...

Calling an audible

I'll admit, my intentions were to have Philadelphia's Matt Carle sign this University of Denver puck while he was a member of the T...

First timer

In doing my prep work for visiting teams, I take extra time to focus on the players that I've never gotten an autograph from. In the cas...

I can only wonder

It's not that I'm complaining that Colorado's Ryan Smyth signed only one of the two pucks presented to him last Thursday, but I...

Happy with five

You know, there are some times, as well as teams, where working a regulation-sized helmet doesn't make much sense. In the case of the Av...

Avalanche of autographs

To be honest, snagging Colin's Colorado Avalanche jersey was an afterthought, something for him to wear as we attended the game time sig...

Waving the red, white and blue

For the past couple of seasons, this Team USA jersey has been collecting dust in the vault. Aside from Boston's Phil Kessel , who put hi...

Double figures

Slowly, but surely, the Slovakian team jersey is beginning to fill up. Colorado's Peter Budaj ( far left ) and Marek Svatos ( below bo...

Why we go to games

Is it just me, or does Dave Mishkin , the Tampa Bay Lightning's radio play-by-play guy, sound like a wounded animal whenever the Bolts m...

Can Burke help the Buds?

There's nothing like the Toronto Maple Leafs to ignites passion in all hockey fans. For lovers of the Buds, Toronto is the center of t...

New roost

A recent house-hunting trip to Georgia's biggest city allowed Moody, Hound Central 4.0's roving Southeast correspondent, an opportun...

Sunday morning homily XIV

From the on-paper talent, a quick-witted coach to the promise of the No. 1 overall pick, this season down here in Hockey Bay had all the mak...

Review: Upper Deck NHL MVP

When it comes to Upper Deck's affordable 2008-09 NHL MVP product, two things are guaranteed: You'll get a decent amount of rookie o...

Littered

Can someone from Upper Deck please tell me why a early-December release like NHL MVP shows players now with different teams? It's not to...

My God wears skates

If I needed proof there's a special connection between Boston's Patrice Bergeron and my son, Colin, it came when I pulled this card...

One too many?

Someone at Upper Deck must be a big fan of Toronto's Jason Blake . That is the only reasonable explanation why Upper Deck's 2008-09 ...

Commercial breaks

It's not that I pay a whole bunch of attention to television commercials. Like most others, I'll use that 90- to 120-second window o...

See what I get for thinking?

Gee, I thought at least one person who be willing to share a hockey story from Minnesota in exchange for this Wild puck signed by Minnesota...

Hockey Quiz No. 5

I know everyone is busy and all, with the holidays fast approaching, but if you're in need of a hockey-related diversion in the weeks ah...

Did you hear me?

If you happened to be listening to or watching the NHL Network's NHL Live! show this afternoon, chances are you witnessed my internation...

One last thing

I'd be remiss if I didn't show one final item that Boston's Patrice Bergeron signed for his biggest fan in Florida -- the brim ...

Stepping up

As hard as I tried, I simply couldn't master the logistics Saturday. Or, if I could, the window of opportunity was too small, making the...

He's a big fan of these cards

Want to know why it's a good idea to ask hockey teams for fan packs? Well, sometimes you receive a set of team-issued postcards that wor...

Sunday morning homily XIII

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then I'll let this photograph of Colin with Boston's Patrice Bergeron , his best NHL buddy ,...

A whole bunch of Bruins

At first glance, an untrained eye, or a newbie visitor to Hound Central 4.0, might not be impressed with the quality of autographs shown in ...

Born in the USA

So, you think you know about hockey. Okay, I guess I believe you. Here's a quick quiz, though, to see just how much you know. Can you te...

A cardinal sin

The last thing I wanted to do Thursday was make my mark upon Boston Bruins legend John Bucyk , or any other player. A slip of my normally tr...