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.

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.

Well, well, well

It was more than a hunch that our last day of Colin's summer vacation yesterday might include getting some autographs from NHL players. What I didn't know, though, was that it would involve Dallas' Brad Richards and Tampa Bay's Marty St. Louis.

But that's exactly what happened, as we took in the final minutes of an informal workout by a handful of NHL players at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon. Richards, a former Bolts player, and St. Louis were among those skating. Other confirmed sightings were Tampa Bay defensemen Brett Clark and Mattias Ohlund.

Colin hustled to have Richards and St. Louis sign the pucks shown above. St. Louis, who was in a downright jovial mood, signed the new 2004 Stanley Cup champions puck in the top left corner. Richards signed the others.

I didn't get shut out, either, as Richards and St. Louis signed this photo, showing Tampa Bay's old Big Three celebrating Canada's championship in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Now, all we need is for Vinny Lecavalier to complete this photo.

Look familiar?

A week ago, I knew the 2010 Tampa Bay Lightning Young Guns camp would get the hockey-hounding juices flowing. Baseball's been fun. So have Colin's summer hockey scrimmages. But I've started to look forward to these development camps.

Think of it as the Midsummer Lure of the NHL (or close to it) Rink.

More than anything else, the camp was a fun break, a time to hang out with Colin, watch some hockey, learn some more skating drills and, whenever possible, add to the autograph collection.

Because the wish list wasn't too long, it was pretty easy to knock out:

Brett Connolly, the Lightning's No. 1 draft pick last month, inked the obligatory Tampa Bay Lightning and 2010 NHL Draft pucks. Though this isn't a knock on the kid, there's far less buzz this season that in the past two prospect camps with Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman.

Goalie prospect Dustin Tokarski signed this pair of pucks. He must have thought I wanted more than one signature on each puck. That can be the only explanation for signing off to the side, though his signature, as you can see below, isn't all that big.

Cards signed by Carter Ashton, Connolly and Alex Hutchings (on an Ontario Hockey League All Star set card) and a trio of cards, including one for the Threads collection, from Tokarski.

Of course, these weren't the only items signed over our two visits to the St. Pete Times Forum.

Perfect sense

As hard as I try, I can't think of any reason for Colin not to use a team sheet any time we go out hounding. C'mon, just look at this one. In less than 45 minutes, Colin scored autographs from 28 of the 32 Tampa Bay Lightning prospects (plus one coach), including top 2010 picks Brett Connolly, Brett Beukeboom and Adam Janosik.

Team sheets are perfect for these kinds of opportunities.

Other notable signers, per Lightning fan standards, were former 2009 draft picks Carter Ashton and James Wright. The Norfolk Admirals, the Lightning's AHL affiliate, are represented by Mitch Fadden, Jaroslav Janus, Richard Panik, Kevin Quick, Dustin Tokarski, Dana Tyrell, Ty Wishart and former Admirals coach Jim Johnson.

Swell-ter time

So, how hot did it get outside the St. Pete Times Forum on Wednesday at the Tampa Bay Lightning's Young Guns prospect development camp? How about 102 degrees? Is that hot enough? It was for us.

Rather than brave the heat, though, we took refuge in an air-conditioned vehicle, set at a comfortable 78 degrees, emerging only as opportunities for autographs approached. As you can imagine, the heat, humidity and an approaching thunderstorm were topics of conversation:

"No, this happens every afternoon, about this time, from June to who knows when," I told goalie prospect Dustin Tokarski. "That's why you're called the Lightning."

"Yes," I told Lightning scout Pat Verbeek as he signed this puck, "it's always this hot during the summer."

Beyond the weather, and specific Young Gun projects, Colin and I gathered a nice array of souvenirs, including four pucks from the Lightning's new GM Steve Yzerman and a team sheet, during camp.

For as many of these that were available during the camp, I didn't see too many people getting them signed by Brett Connolly, Tampa Bay's top pick, at sixth overall, at the NHL Entry Draft last month. It's my guess, too, this is one of the first Lightning pieces showing Connolly.

A few months ago, I stumbled upon a sale at the American Hockey League's website and picked up a handful of Norfolk Admirals pucks, the Lightning's AHL affiliate. Goalie prospect Jaroslav Janus, left, and defenseman Ty Wishart signed this pair.

After the scrimmage, Colin had some prospects, including Carter Ashton (above "Tampa"), 2010 third-pound pick Adam Janosik (in silver at bottom of logo), Richard Panik (below the "28"), and Dustin Tokarski (left of logo) sign this team card.

The camp was also a time to plug a few gaps in specialty card sets, like this 2009-10 AHL Top Prospects card for Ty Wishart, who played last season for Norfolk.

Nice guy, that Guy

Not that it's a bad thing, but Guy Boucher, the Tampa Bay Lightning's new coach, is a pretty chatty guy.

Making an appearance at a Hockey Bay restaurant a couple weeks ago, he spent quality time with fans -- sometimes as long as five minutes -- during a post-radio-show autograph session.

Like this puck and promotional card, Boucher showed a personal touch. In our visit, we talked about Colin's hockey and the need for role players on teams. Boucher's son, a year younger than Colin, plays, too.

"Hey, maybe you two will play against each other this season," he told Colin.

Dinger's new card

It's nice to see Chris Dingman using an updated card for his Tampa Bay Lightning promotional efforts.

Having your name on Lord's Stanley's Cup twice is a big deal. Especially this one, his second, when he won it in 2004 with the Bolts.

It's a step up from an earlier card.

And, yes, that's an uncapped Sharpie chicken-scratch. Remembering to recap the pen proves elusive, at times, for a certain 9-year-old who remains nameless.

No worries, Phil

You never know when hockey hounding is going to create a lasting memory. Take last night, for instance.

After Moody's, Hound Central 5.0's senior correspondent and resident TTM guru, tipped us off that Hall of Famer Phil Esposito would be at a Chili's in Tampa, we decided to take that in, rather than attend a minor league baseball game up the road.

Really, it wasn't that difficult of a decision. Any time you have the chance to get an autograph from a Hall of Famer, it's certainly a worthy reason for changing plans.

Esposito, the special guest during a Lightning radio show, didn't disappoint, signing a bunch of autographs. In our case, it was this book. Worn out from playing street hockey for nearly an hour in the late-afternoon humidity, I sent Colin up to get Esposito's book signed.

"You're not going to let him read this, are you?" Esposito asked from across the restaurant, knowing full well the book contains salty language and, ahem, adult exploits.

"No, not anytime soon," I replied. "Maybe in five years or so."