That's my boy

I was proud as punch Tuesday night when I learned that Colin got told to "slow down" during an open skate at the Tampa Bay Lightning's Ice Fest at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. Even better, I believe, was Colin's response: "Never!"

Keep them in mind

There are very few people whose lives haven't been touched by cancer. My grandfather, Roy, who sacrificed his retirement to raise a grandson, died of lung cancer. I'm sure you know someone, too.

That's why I'm asking you to do what you can for Goalies Against Cancer 2010. It's a certainly worthy venture. At the least, take a look at the cool masks that Leblanc Designs made for the Maestas brothers. Words of encouragement would be nice, too. Thanks.

Check this out

Hockey Hounds Universe kicked off a new feature -- Brag Book -- earlier today. In Brag Book, hockey hounds can show off their bounty from hounding adventures. In this case, it's Al, Hound Central 5.0's senior Toronto correspondent, who gets things rolling with an impressive array of items signed by Toronto Maple Leafs players.

Warmup act

In a way, NHL training camps are a hound's training camp. It's our time to get back into the game, check the schedule and think about another hockey-hounding campaign.

What's even better, though, is taking advantage of opportunities, especially knocking out a quick project. When Tampa Bay's Vinny Lecavalier signed this 8x10 last Sunday at the Lightning's training camp, it made fairly short work of a really sweet piece.

Dallas' Brad Richards, a former Bolt, and Tampa Bay's Marty St. Louis signed it only weeks ago. It helped catching Richards, who won the Conn Smythe during the Lightning's Stanley Cup season, as he was skating with some of his old teammates in late August.

Always a reason

Any hockey-hounding opportunity, from Canadians juniors right on up to NHL teams, always has a gem or two just waiting for any enterprising hound.

Just ask Mike, Hound Central 5.0's resident Ontario Hockey League expert, who snagged this 8x10 and puck from Windsor's Jack Campbell at a recent Windsor Spitfires practice.

Campbell, the 11th-overall pick by Dallas in the 2010 NHL Draft, backstopped Team USA to a gold medal at the 2010 World Junior Championships.

Threads: Vincent Lecavalier

It wasn't all that long ago that I'd read jersey swatch cards featuring uniforms from the Tampa Bay Lightning weren't all that common. The team, it seems, wasn't keen on sharing the goods with hockey card manufacturers.

Granted, it may have been found on eBay, rather than being pulled from a pack, but this jersey card from the Bolts' Vinny Lecavalier is a good start to dispelling that myth.

Vinny signed this card for Colin last Sunday during the Lightning's training camp. Even though he'd signed one card (shown below) for Colin, Vinny honored the kid's request to add to our Threads collection.

Victor Hedman and Dustin Tokarski were among the others who signed cards for Colin on Sunday.

Handy items

When it comes to training camps, there's no limit to the items that hockey hounds can get signed. Beyond 8x10s and cards, as well as a handful of pucks, jersey swatch cards are one of the first items to make the wish list.

Over the past week, Tampa Bay's Adam Hall, Mike Lundin and Marc-Antoine Pouliot added to our growing Threads collection, one of Hound Central 5.0's primary projects for the 2010-11 hockey-hounding campaign.

While Hall and Pouliot signed individual cards, Lundin kicked off a work-in-progress project featuring NHL defensemen. Only after Atlanta's Tobias Enstrom, Dallas' Matt Niskanen and Vancouver's Kevin Bieska sign it will the 2 on 2 Jerseys card, part of the 2008-09 NHL MVP set, be complete.

Enstrom and Niskanen are scheduled to visit Hockey Bay this season. Bieska, a reported toughie on hounds, will have to wait until the Canucks return to Florida.

Making his debut

Check out Colin's first-ever blog post at Hockey Hounds Universe. Though I may not be the most objective source, I think he did a fine job. He'll be writing for Hound Central 5.0 soon enough.

Wasn't expecting this

Last Thursday, on the day before the Tampa Bay Lightning open its training camp for the 2010-11 season, the usual, albeit small, cast of Hockey Bay's hounding characters found its way over the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon.

After exchanging "How was your summer?" pleasantries, we got down to the task at hand, scoring autographs from Lightning players. My late arrival, I'd been told, meant I'd missed Lightning star Steven Stamkos before the start of the informal skate. Though I was disappointed to not have been in the right place at the right time, I was thankful that I missed getting the unusual scribble that Stamkos had doled out.

That all changed, thankfully, about two hours later when Stamkos, tooling around in his convertible, slowed down and asked a handful of us gathered in the parking lot if he'd missed any of us earlier in the day. Immediately, I spoke up, snagged this photo and walked up to Stamkos.

As you can see, he was more than happy to oblige my request that he personalize the photo to Colin. The signature, too, was much better than what I'd seen earlier in the day.

Something to read

The last thing I wanted to do after introducing Hockey Hounds Universe was to send any visitors to a nearly blank page. That problem's been solved, I believe, with the blog's first hockey-hounding-related post.

Looking ahead

I can say, with the utmost degree of certainty, that there won't be a Hound Central 6.0 for the 2010-11 hockey -hounding season. Instead, we're trotting out a new concept, called Hockey Hounds Universe, that will serve as a repository of hockey-hounding information, insider knowledge and an opportunity for other hounds to show off their efforts.

Once the season gets rolling, you'll find occasional posts from some familiar Hound Central 5.0 names -- Moody, our senior correspondent; Al, our man in Toronto; Mike, our Ontario Hockey League expert; and yours truly, Puckhound. Colin, my hound-in-training, will even become a contributor.

We'll also be making a bigger splash in social media. We already have a Facebook page up and running. So, please, friend us. Through Twitter, we hope to file live tweets from hounding sessions. That dusty, old YouTube account might get a workout, too.

In the days ahead, I'll be reaching out to hockey hounds who contributed to last year's "Your Turn" project, gauging their interest in providing 100- to 150-words posts, as well as a couple pictures of signed items, on a monthly basis.

If you're interested in becoming one of our correspondents, and we are actively seeking those in most pro hockey cities, feel free to drop me an e-mail. Be prepared, though. I'll want a writing sample. Understand, too, I'm a big fan of deadlines and won't have time to track down people for posts. If you're serious, I'm definitely listening.

As for HC5.0, it will live on. I'll still file occasional posts, though I'll be making far fewer hounding adventures this season and focusing only on specific projects. One of those may include a book that culls the best from the past five hockey-hounding campaigns.

As always, I appreciate the time that people spend here. That's why I can't walk away. Thanks, folks.

Certainly worthy

It's always nice to get fan mail or, in Hound Central 5.0's case, comments. Here's one I'd like to share with everyone:

"Hello, I've been an avid reader of your blog for a while and I thought you might like to check out a fundraiser me and my brother are doing involving hockey against breast cancer.

"I would email you, but I'm not exactly sure how I go about doing that on here (it's probably something really obvious...lol).

"Anyway, just thought you might want to give it a look and perhaps stick it at the end of one of your posts sometime? Either way, thanks and I hope you do 6.0 next season!"

Well, guys, I hope this is a little better than that.

At first, I was a bit skeptical. Now, after waiting a few weeks, I realize I'd made a mistake. This effort, called Goalies Against Cancer 2010, is the real deal. USA Hockey is involved. So is Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller, through his Steadfast Foundation. So, too, is the Susan G. Komen Passionately Pink for the Cure organization.

Two hockey-playing, Colorado-based brothers, Joey and Brandon Maestas, are the goalies behind the scenes, working hard to help bring hope to the fight against breast cancer. If you can, help them out with one of their fundraisers. I've elected to donate $25. Thanks.

As for Hound Central 6.0, we'll have to see. Something else might be in the works. You'll know when we know, but it's coming soon.

Hotlanta's hopping

I was able to make a quick trip by the Duluth, Ga., training facility to check in on the Atlanta Thrashers. Really glad that I did. Pretty much the whole team, as well as a few prospects, were there getting in some skating before camp opens.

We showed up a bit early for the Thrashers and saw a goalie out on the ice. It turns out to be Dave Caruso, a current New Jersey Devils prospect and former Ohio State Buckeye. He was kind enough to stop and talk with us for a couple of minutes before heading out to catch a flight to New Jersey.

The Thrashers then entered the ice for a little scrimmage. It's my opinion that these guys shouldn't be taken lightly this year.

As the players exited the ice (almost all at once), it got a bit crazy stopping them. I decided I would ask them as I was able to get to their page in my binder. The ones I missed, well, I'd just have to wait for another day.

Those who stopped to sign:

Akim Aliu on an 8x10;

Ben Eager on an 8x10;

Evander Kane on an 8x10, expressing dissatisfaction with Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke;

Arturs Kulda on an 8x10;

Rich Peverly on an 8x10;

Chris Mason on a practice puck; and

Head coach Craig Ramsay on a card.

Craig Ramsay being at the rink was a bit of a surprise, because I thought the coaching staff wasn't allowed to meet with the players until the start of camp. The entire coaching staff, as well as new general manager Rick Dudley, once a Buffalo Sabres teammate of Ramsay's, was on hand in the locker rooms, but not on ice.

Hmmmmmm!