Sticking with it

Besides getting three autographed pucks from Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay's top 2009 pick, the biggest project for the Lightning's Young Guns camp was Colin's mini goalie stick. From a Beyond the Blueline event to a prospect scrimmage to hanging out at the team's hotel, the stick was a constant companion.

By camp's end Wednesday, Colin scored 22 autographs. They're weren't all prospects, either. How about Dave Andreychuk and Steven Stamkos? They're on it. Even Lightning GM Brian Lawton, a former No. overall pick, signed it. So are Hedman and Carter Ashton, the Bolts' other first-round pick last month.

Items like this are perfect for this type of hounding. Photos and cards may be hard to find. I prefer, too, to be selective with pucks at these type of events, only taking chances, so to speak, with No. 1 picks.

Still, no complaints. We added 94 autographs, including nine pucks, within a week. Not bad, considering it's the middle of July.

See Stamkos?

It was easy to see just how much Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos has matured in the past year. A year ago, he was the hugely hyped No. 1 overall pick, all smiles and full of confidence.

Then came Barry Melrose. What a mistake that was. To his credit, Stamkos showed that he did, in fact, belong in the NHL.

Now, with that sorry episode behind us, Stamkos appeared much more at ease Saturday night with his still-growing role with the Bolts. He knows it, too. Like free agent signee Mattias Ohlund, he'll help mentor 2009 top pick Victor Hedman as well.

The leap to the NHL from the OHL has been made. And Stamkos, I believe, stuck the landing.

Oh, yeah, he signed a new-look Canada puck for us.

If only for a moment

Over the next few days, we're hoping to get in a little hockey-hounding as the Tampa Bay Lightning holds its Young Guns camp at the St. Pete Times Forum. Of course, the top draw will be Victor Hedman, the Bolts' top pick at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal.

Beyond Hedman, though, there are a few more players who we'd like to add to the autographed puck collection -- namely, goalie Dustin Tokarski and defenseman Ty Wishart. After that, it's mostly cards for the rest of the players in camp.

Oh, yeah, we'll have a new Canada puck for Steven Stamkos, just in case he shows up over the next few days.

It may be summer, yes, but it's always hockey season here at Hound Central 4.0.

Update: Lots for the Lightning

Given all of the movements made by the Tampa Bay Lightning's new ownership last season, with the team drafting Steven Stamkos first overall and signing such free agents as Olaf Kolzig, Ryan Malone, Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts, the 2008-09 edition of the Tampa Bay Lightning provided the target-rich hockey-hounding environment.

Forget Vinny Lecavalier's abysmal season, a foggy Mike Smith, the revolving door on defense and, unfortunately, executive office in-fighting. The team, despite its foibles, still carried quality NHL players. Why that talent couldn't jell, that's not my job. That's a question better left to Lightning brass.

Still, hounding the Lightning provided a backbeat to the 2008-09 campaign. Trips were made in bunches, during training camp and clustered throughout the season. All in all, three Lightning-specific themes rounded out the collection: a team jersey, adding 32; a team helmet, a somewhat disappointing effort with only six signatures; and, of course, a bunch of pucks.

Going into last season, I figured to add 75 pucks from the Lightning alone. Didn't make it. Not even close:

Len Barrie (co-owner): Lightning and Kamloops Blazers

Brandon Bochenski: Lightning

Matt Carle: Lightning and San Jose Sharks (no longer with team)

Steve Downie: Lightning and Philadelphia Flyers

Steve Eminger: Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals new

Adam Hall: Lightning, Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins

Riku Helenius: Lightning

Andrew Hutchinson: Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes (no longer with team

Olaf Kolzig: Lightning, Lightning Prague Premiere game-dated, Washington Capitals new logo, Washington Capitals eagle, Washington Capitals original logo, 2000 NHL All Star Game, Washington Capitals 25th anniversary, 1998 NHL All Star Game, Rochester Americans, Portland Pirates and Tri-City Americans

(Editor's note: A special tip of Hound Central 4.0's battered Cooper SK600 to Olie the Goalie. For what it's worth, he's a class act.)

Oren Koules (co-owner): Lightning and Saw DVD cover

Lukas Krajicek: Lightning and Vancouver Canucks

Tom Kurvers (co-assistant GM): Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils (Never saw him)

Brian Lawton (director of hockey operations): Lightning and Minnesota North Stars

Vincent Lecavalier: Lightning three-stripe, Lightning Prague Premiere game-dated, 2009 NHL All Star Game, 2008 NHL All Star Game and Notre Dame Hounds (at left)

Claude Loiselle (co-assistant GM): Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils and Quebec Nordiques

Ryan Malone: Lightning

Barry Melrose: Lightning, NHL 2Nite, Los Angeles Kings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Winnipeg Jets (No longer with team)

Andrej Meszaros: Lightning

Vinny Prospal: Philadelphia Flyers

Kari Ramo: Tampa Bay Lightning-Norfolk Admirals (at left), Norfolk Admirals and Springfield Falcons

Mark Recchi: Lightning, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Montreal Canadiens and Kamloops Blazers

Gary Roberts: Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins

Matt Smaby: Lightning, Tampa Bay Lightning-Norfolk Admirals first year affiliation, Norfolk Admirals and Springfield Falcons

Mike Smith: Lightning, Lightning Prague Premiere game-dated, Dallas Stars and Utah Grizzlies

Martin St. Louis: 2009 NHL All Star Game

Steven Stamkos: Lightning, Lightning three-stripe, 2009 NHL All Star Game, Lightning Prague Premiere game-dated, NHL practice puck, Team Canada and Sarnia Sting

Rick Tocchet (interim head coach): Lightning, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes and Phoenix Coyotes geodesic design

Mike Vernon (special assistant to Brian Lawton): Lightning, Calgary Flames, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, San Jose Sharks and Portland Winter Hawks (never saw him)

Radim Vrbata: Lightning, Phoenix Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks and Carolina Hurricanes (no longer with team)

Wes Walz (assistant coach): Lightning, Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild inaugural season (at left)

Ty Wishart: Lightning, San Jose Sharks and Prince George Cougars (never saw him; hope to real soon)

I had no pucks for Jussi Jokinen (no longer with team), Jeff Halpern, Mike Lundin, Shane O'Brien (no longer with team) and Paul Ranger.

2008-09 Lots for the Lightning totals
Autographed pucks: 64
Autographed jersey: 32
Autographed helmet: 6
Autographed sticks: 2
Bottom line: 104 (or 10.3 percent of Hound Central 4.0's noncard autographs collected during the 2008-09 NHL hounding campaign)

Editor's note: This list originally appeared on Hound Central 3.0.

Boys will be boys

So, Tampa Bay's Ryan Malone is a guest on today's NHL Live!, the cameras and audio rolling, when his cell phone rings, interrupting the live interview.

Go ahead, say co-hosts Rob Simpson and Sam Rosen, take the call.

Who is it? It's Lightning teammate Steven Stamkos, calling from Tampa, telling Malone that he's watching the show.

More humorous than riveting, I'll grant you that, but it's further proof that Stamkos' confidence is growing.

Sunday morning homily XXIX

For a week devoid of hockey, I'm having a hard time remembering a better one in our time down here in Hockey Bay. From chasing trains to wearing 3-D glasses for a movie to watching race cars top 200 mph, we haven't missed hockey hounding one bit.

Yes, it was Colin's spring break last week. And though we didn't stray too far to home -- our work schedules had something to do with that -- we did the best we could to make it a memorable "stay-cation." Mostly, though, it was about spending time together and, hopefully, creating some memories:

~ Watching Colin's eyes light up as he heard the rumble of an approaching CSX freight train during our visit to the Train Depot Museum (shown above) in Dade City. It had been far too long since he'd seen a train;

~ Squirting some fruit-punch Powerade into his mouth during a break in our back patio hockey practices. Earlier in the day, we stumbled upon the final pieces of his rag-tag collection of goalie equipment. And you know we just had to try it out; and

~ Becoming more jacked-up about open-wheel racing by taking in the opening days of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Among the highlights was having a brief "He's so shy" conversation about Colin with Indy Racing League star Danica Patrick during a nighttime parade down St. Petersburg's Central Avenue.

As much as I try to make this blog about hockey hounding, it's just as much about spending time with one's family. Hockey and hounding play a big role in our lives, but it doesn't consume us. Comes close at times, I'll admit, but there's much more to life than that.

Believin' in Steven

Hound Central 4.0 offers a tip of its roughed-up Cooper SK600 to Lightning rookie Steven Stamkos for tying Tampa Bay's rookie goals record of 21 in his initial NHL season. With a few games remaining, perhaps Stamkos will catapult past Brad Richards for his own team mark.

It's hard to believe, isn't it, that a few people didn't believe that Stamkos, the No. 1 overall pick at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, wasn't ready for the rigors of a full season in the NHL. To be honest, his early play did nothing to dispel that notion.

Once he got into a training program, though, Stamkos has shown that he has the abilities to be a top-flight NHL player. I'm thinking, too, that he's only going to get better.

In a season full of disappointment, watching Stamkos make progress has been something to hold on to.

5 Big Sigs

It's the final week of the 2008-09 hockey-hounding season and two of the league's tougher teams -- the star-studded Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals -- are coming to town:

~ As always, getting Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby to sign Colin's Crosby #87 replica Penguins jersey;
~ Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin on Penguins and WJC-Russia pucks;
~ Washington's Alex Ovechkin on Colin's Ovechkin #8 replica Capitals jersey;
~ Washington's Nicklas Backstrom on a Capitals puck; and
~ Knocking out a Lightning team helmet during Thursday's red carpet festivities before the home closer.

Top Shelf: Lightning's Big Three

How do I know the Hockey Gods approve of hounding? When Tampa Bay's Vinny Lecavalier, from left, Marty St. Louis and Steven Stamkos sign 2009 NHL All Star Game pucks within 30 minutes.

All I can say is thanks.

Seeing doubles

Most years, I pick up two boxes of Rookie Class, Upper Deck's annual 50-card honoring of the NHL's latest stars-in-the-making. I'd put one set away and work the other through hounding opportunities. Given the economy, I wanted to buy just one set. That didn't happen.

The 2008-09 release, which I found at my local Target, had a little surprise inside it this season -- doubles. That's right, doubles. Though the box said a 50-card set, I picked up a few duplicates. I'm not the only one who has come up a card or two short of a full set.

While I certainly won't complain when a hobby box is stacked in my favor with, say, 85 Young Guns, I believe contents should deliver what's been promised.

To me, the term "box set" implies totality. A reasonable person should expect all 50 cards that make up the set.

Just like I got when I bought a second box.

At the least, they could have been of Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos, Columbus' Steve Mason or Boston's Blake Wheeler. Nope, mine were Detroit's Darren Helm and Carolina's Brandon Sutter.

Bottom line, and that's what it's all about with Rookie Class, this is a must-have for any hockey hound. It'll be fun set to chase down.

A cure for cabin fever

After spending nearly 12 hours Wednesday glued to my computer and TV for the NHL trade deadline day coverage, I needed to get out of the house today, heading over to Brandon, where the Lightning were practicing.

Fresh air, bright sunshine and nearly a dozen autographs combined to make the trip well worth the time.

Besides adding these pucks from assistant coach Wes Walz, left, and newly acquired defenseman Noah Welch, I focused my attention on a few work-in-progress team jersey projects:

Center Vinny Lecavalier and winger Evgeny Artyukhin on the Lightning team jersey;

Winger Vinny Prospal on the Lightning team jersey;

Interim head coach Rick Tocchet on the Lightning team jersey;

Assistant coach Mike Sullivan on the Lightning team jersey;

Goalie Mike McKenna, who's living out his dream, on the Lightning team jersey;

Right winger Marty St. Louis on the Team Canada jersey;

Rookie forward Steven Stamkos on the Team Canada jersey; and

Center Jeff Halpern on the Team USA jersey.

In a good mood

In a sense, I shouldn't have been surprised that Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos scored his first NHL hat trick Tuesday against Chicago. You can't help but notice how relaxed he looks in this photo -- taken by your truly during warmups and signed Thursday by Stamkos.

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's Win this auto contest for December. It wasn't until today, though, that we had our first two contestants.

I'm not going to beg, but all it takes is a short story related to Minnesota hockey. Of course, it's better if the tale relates to hockey hounding. Were they just as good in your NHL city as they were in Tampa? If so, that works. Who was good? Who wasn't? Did you get Gabby?

I'm not looking for Chaucier, Hemingway or even P.J. O'Rourke, either. Keep it to 100 words, more or less, please.

By the way, November's winner of the autographed Steven Stamkos Lightning promo card hasn't touched base yet. It looks like I'll have to revisit those entries.

If you're rmillerfan, though, send me an e-mail through my profile.

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" run out of items for the Lightning's top draft pick to sign.

A few hours later, as we made our way to our nosebleeds at the St. Pete Times Forum, my concerns were unfounded. The young center graced the cover of that night's free Lightning Ice Time game program.

Now, if you find yourself in the same situation -- lacking something for Stamkos to sign -- I know of a "generous" Ontario-based collector who is willing to trade his unsigned Stamkos cards for signed items.

Hopefully, though, you'll do what I did -- politely refuse the offer. Somehow, it just didn't seem like a good deal.

A local investment

It's every hockey player's dream -- getting drafted in the first round by an NHL team and earning, through contracts, bonuses and endorsements, your first million dollars.

But, what would you do with it?

Would you be like Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos and buy a house near some of his elder Lightning teammates and snap up a snazzy BMW to tool around town?

In November's Win this Auto contest, featuring this 5.5-inch by 9-inch team card signed by Stamkos, Hound Central 4.0 asked readers what they would do with their first million. And while there were plenty of good answers to choose from, there was one that stood out above the rest.

Congratulations to contest winner Rmillerfan, who shared his plans for his first million:

"I would spend my money by taking vacation to Colorado to see my cousin who I rarely every see and watch a live game of the Avs (my favorite team).

"Next I would buy a better home. Living with six people and one bathroom doesn't work.

"Whatever I had left I would donate to a local rink, so other kids can get the proper gear to wear when they first start out."

Though donating to charities earns bonus points, I like how Rmillerfan wanted to keep his money local and help some kids get a good start in their careers.

Now, if Rmillerfan would send me an e-mail (my address is on my profile page), I'll be more than happy to send along the card.

My most sincere thanks, too, to the 10 folks who took the time to enter November's contest. Don't forget, too, that December's contest, the fourth of the season, features a puck from Minnesota's Mikko Koivu. All you need to do is tell me your favorite Minnesota hockey story.

Stamkos wasn't in the cards

Alright, alright, I admit it. The only reason I bought another box of Upper Deck Hockey Series I on Black Friday was the off chance that I'd finally pull a Young Guns card -- the common-man's cardboard gold standard for rookie cards -- for Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos.

It didn't surprise me when I didn't pull one out of the first box I busted. Nope, that would have been too easy. Pulling Young Guns for Atlanta's Zach Bogosian and Los Angeles' Drew Doughty, however, helped ease the pain.

I felt certain, too, that a Stamkos Young Gun was in the works when the second box yielded Philly's Lucas Sbisa and another Doughty card. In a sense, my hunch was right. I did pull a Stamkos Young Gun card. It just wasn't the one I wanted.

Nope, I got the lovely parting gift of the Young Guns checklist card, where Stamkos shares space with St. Louis' Alex Pietrangelo and Doughty.

It was the third box, though, that broke my heart. Though it produced Young Guns for St. Louis' Patrik Berglund, the Isles' Kyle Okposo and Toronto's Luke Schenn, I was pretty disappointed that I hadn't scored a Young Guns for Stamkos.

With any investment -- sound or foolish -- I prefer to take the long-term view. Though I'm happy with the quantity of quality Young Guns I've pulled so far -- and this is a pretty deep and solid set -- I believe Stamkos possesses the most potential for long-term appreciation.

Will I buy more? Doubt it. I know when to walk away.

Oh, really?

Every time I hear that Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos is getting more difficult about signing, I watch the young man quickly dispel what is becoming nothing more than a urban legend here in Hockey Bay.

Sure, I suppose he might decline an offer to sign an inch-thick stack of bootleg 8x10s, but he certainly had no problem signing this 2008 NHL Draft program handout for Colin after Wednesday's morning skate.

A project piece, we hope to add Atlanta's Zach Bogosian (hopefully, he'll have recovered from a broken leg when the Thrashers visit in February ) and Toronto's Luke Schenn (on the right side of the program) later this season.

Stamkos fought?

Here's a Hound Central 4.0 tip of the helmet for Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos for taking interim coach Rick Tocchet's words to heart for the team to get more physical.

Stamkos' entertaining dust-up with the Rangers' Nikolai Zherdev last night shows that Hockey Bay's youngest son is, indeed, becoming a man.

Bravo, young man, for the show of character, though I believe you were drafted for your playmaking prowess, not your pugilistic skills.

Sunday morning homily XI

When it comes right down to it, the Nashville Predators taught Humidity Bay hounds a pretty valuable lesson on Friday.

Over the past few years, I believe we've come to expect that visiting NHL teams are always happy to come to the sunny south. Furthermore, we expect that they'll show their appreciation by willingly obliging each and every request for an autograph.

While that may have been the case early Friday morning when most of the Predators players (I keep hearing that defenseman Dan Hamhuis was particularly rough) signed before the team's morning skate, my own observations and reports from fellow hounds say the team wasn't as willing to put pen to paper or pucks later in the day.

In a way, I can hardly blame them. The closer you get to game time, the more you should be focusing on the task at hand, not worrying whether the visiting hounds have had their fill.

The lesson I'm taking away from hounding the Predators, and I suggest you might want to file this away for future hounding sessions, is that the best time to score autographs is before a team's morning skate. To me, the players seem much more approachable and it's always nice, from where I sit, to get things done sooner rather than later.

It's not to say that players won't sign after morning skates or before the game, but my experience has taught me to lower my expectations the closer you get to game time.

Anyone else care to weigh in?

Time's running out

With only a week left in November, your opportunity to win this autograph from Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos is narrowing by the moment.

So far, there are nine entries in the simple contest: Tell me, in less than 100 words, what you would do with the first million dollars you earned -- through contracts, bonuses and endorsements -- if you were the No. 1 overall pick at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Leave your answer in a message and I'll pick a winner early in December. Sounds pretty simple to me.

5 Big Sigs

With Colin's hockey game and my work schedule keeping us from hounding the Martin Brodeur-less New Jersey Devils, we'll have to settle for hounding the New York Rangers on Wednesday morning. These are at the top of our wish list:

~ Rangers and Canucks pucks signed by Markus Naslund;
~ a Rangers puck signed by Henrik Lundqvist;
~ Devils and Rangers pucks signed by Scott Gomez;
~ a Prague Premiere puck signed by Brandon Dubinsky; and
~ a baseball signed by Little League hero Chris Drury.

Another nice memento

It's not too often that you get the NHL's top draft pick to sign a game-dated puck of his NHL debut, but this Prague Premiere puck worked real nice for Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos.

I'd heard Stamkos was getting tougher with signing, but this was the second item Stamkos signed in less than a week.

A bit of advice, though: Stick to one or two items. Offering more than that will likely lead to getting shot down.

Nice hat

Who says you need pucks, photos or cards to snag an autograph from Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos? All Colin had to do Thursday was take his Sarnia Sting hat off his head and hand it and a silver paint pen to the Bolts' top 2008 pick. As you can see, Stamkos took care of the rest.

Change in habits

Any hound here in Humidity Bay knows that getting the Lightning players to sign after morning skates or practices is, at best, hot-or-miss. Sometimes, most every player -- including stars Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis -- will stop to sign. Other times, though, they'll drive right on by.

But from what Hound Central 4.0 correspondent Moody tells me, he gets the sense that the Bolts are a much better signing team on the road rather than at home.

Moody caught up with the Bolts yesterday down in South Florida, where they were practicing before tonight's tilt against the Sunshine State rival, the Florida Panthers. He reports that every player signed for the five or six hounds (a sizable crowd, he says) that were there.

Moody was quick to point out how nice St. Louis was yesterday. Not only did he take the time to interact with Moody's toddler, but he also signed a scored-goal puck from his MVP season and a 8x10 of himself and Moody's oldest child.

Lecavalier, on the other hand, signed, but didn't seem too thrilled about, Moody said.

Beyond Lightning rookie Steven Stamkos, who signed the two homemade cards shown above, others signing yesterday were Ryan Craig, Chris Gratton (a surprising four cards, given his inconsistentcy in Tampa), Jussi Jokinen, Olaf Kolzig (six cards), Lukas Krajicek, Andrej Meszaros, Matt Pettinger (four cards), Vinny Prospal and the slightly grumpy Rick Tocchet.

All told, Moody added another 29 autographs. Not bad, I'd say.