Right back at it

It's always nice climbing back in the saddle after taking an extended break from hounding, thanks to the Tampa Bay Lightning being on a road trip. What makes it even nicer, though, is capping off a good night of hounding by filling in some blanks the next morning.

In this case, the Philadelphia Flyers get all of the credit.

After snagging 28 autographs after the team checked into its Hockey Bay hotel last night, I filled in a few blanks with another 12 this morning. All told, we added another 40 autographs, including a dozen pucks, to the collection.

For the record, I must state that Philly's Big Three -- Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne and Mike Richards -- stopped to sign most of the time. Gagne signed multiples; Carter and Richards stuck to one-per.

Beyond that, most everyone else (Antero Niittymaki and Scottie Upshall seemed a little skittish) made sure the Flyers lived up to their reputation as a decent signing team.

The only disappointment? Hall of Famer Bob Clarke didn't make the trip.

Those signing cards were, from left, Aaron Asham, Riley Cote, Paul Holmgren and Antero Niittymaki.

Signing pucks, shown at top, were, from left, Andrew Alberts, Joffrey Lupul and Luca Sbisa.

Among the other highlights:

~ Sixteen players and coaches who signed Colin's team sheet:
~ a pair of pucks each from NHL Network commercial "tough guy" Braydon Coburn and Gagne;
~ Carter, Gagne and Richards on the Team Canada jersey;
~ Martin Biron on the 200th puck of the 2008-09 hounding campaign; and
~ an inquisitive Matt Carle on three pucks.