The Hockey Life: Week 17

For Colin, one of the best parts of going to a Lightning game is hanging out down by the boards, before and during warmups. He'll go off by himself, survey his surroundings and escape into his own little world. If there's a new issue for the game program, like there was last Sunday, he'll bury his nose in it until the lights come up, the music starts to blare and the players hit the ice.

The real reason he heads down there, though, is to snag pucks. Rather than crowd into the Lightning's side, where fans stack up three to four deep, he prefers the visitors side. Not so much that he'll root for them, but there's often less competition for a player's gracious gesture. Some times it works, some times it doesn't.

There have been a few times, like last Sunday, when he shares the wealth. Though St. Louis' Vladimir Sobotka clearly intended to flip him a puck, his aim was a bit off and another little boy scooped it up. Though I thought he'd be disappointed, my little man surprised me.

After the little boy's mom walked over and tried to give him the puck, Colin told her that it was OK. Her son could keep it. He told her he'd gotten pucks before, and it was good to see another kid get his first puck during warmups.

Yeah, he's my kid, but I'm not sure too many others would've done the same thing. He may not always be the best behaved, and his hearing is a bit selective (ask The Missus, not me), but he's got a heart of gold.

Going solo

Of all the times I've waited outside the St. Pete Times Forum after a Lightning morning skate, I can't recall ever getting an autograph from Steve Downie. Mostly, it's because he's usually with Steven Stamkos, who seldom, if at all, stops at those times.

That changed Thursday, when Downie appeared at a St. Petersburg motorsports dealer for a 90-minute, meet-and-greet signing session. After walking away with seven autographs, including the four cards shown above, it'll be a long time before we'll need to have anything else signed.

I'd heard through the Hockey Bay hounding grapevine that he'd sign multiple autographs during these appearances. After getting ours and watching some folks make multiple trips through the line, there's no doubt in my mind.

Even better, as gritty as he plays on the ice, he was pretty friendly with fans. When Colin told him about how he got yelled at for skating too fast at a mall rink, Downie looked incredulous.

"What's up with that? You got yelled at for skating fast?" he asked Colin. "Dude, that's just wrong."

With just a few words, I'm thinking Downie gained two new fans.

Quote of the week

"It's easier on the body, but I don't get the same buzz."
Bill Clement, a former NHL player and announcer, on the difference between his two occupations.

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.

Red carpet treatment

For the past few seasons, the Tampa Bay Lightning have held a red carpet pregame walk before the final regular-season home game. Provided you get their early enough, it's a good opportunity to score some late-season autographs as the players make their way into the St. Pete Times Forum.

In Colin's case, you managed to snag a ringside seat, so to speak, to snag 11 autographs on a 2009-10 team yearbook before the Bolts hosted the Florida Panthers. Though he doodled a bit on the cover, as kids sometimes do, the yearbook helped Colin cap off another full season of hockey-hounding.

The biggest score on the cover came from center Vinny Lecavalier. Joining the Lightning captain were winger Teddy Purcell, center Nate Thompson and the team's mascot, Thunderbug.

Other Bolts who stopped to sign the program:

Center Steven Stamkos;

Right winger Marty St. Louis;

Right winger Steve Downie;

Center Zenon Konopka;

Goalie Mike Smith;

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund; and

Defenseman Mike Lundin.

We'll likely add to the yearbook if the Lightning holds a summer prospects camp here in Hockey Bay. Should it take place, and we haven't heard otherwise, perhaps Colin can add autographs from these players: Carter Ashton, Mitch Fadden, Johan Harju, Riku Helenius, Alex Hutchings, Jaroslav Janus, Alexander Killorn, Vasily Koshechkin, Richard Panik, Kevin Quick, Dustin Tokarski, Dana Tyrell, Ty Wishart, James Wright and Michael Zador.

If not, there's always training camp, right?

Darn good reason

I failed to mention in my earlier post the reason why, with all the Tampa Bay Lightning players so willing to stop, the girls were only able to get slightly more than a half-dozen players.

Simple. They were going for the big score. They asked many guys for a stick.

Much to our surprise, too, several were willing.

Some players gave the regular answers "We're not allowed" or "This is my only one" as he stood with two sticks in his hands.

By no means am I putting them down. It is their right and I respect every answer given.

Still, though, Steven Stamkos left behind this Bauer Supreme gem, which I quickly picked up and added to our collection.

As usual with Lightning goalies, neither wanted to be outdone.

Mike Smith (above) and Antero Niittymaki (at left) offered up these specimens. When asked, both acted as if it were an honor to give up their tools of trade and smiled while doing so.

The best one of all, though, came from Lightning rookie James Wright. Most of us here at Hound Central 5.0 have heard that he is Mikayla's favorite player. As her Daddy, I can neither confirm nor deny that she may or may not have a small crush on him.

(Editor's note: I can, but don't dare say.)

As Wright came off of the ice, he walked right over to her and started up a conversation. Mikayla gave him a few letters that she wrote to him and a friendship was born. He stayed and talked to her for about 15 minutes or so and let her know how much he appreciated the letters.

Backstage pass

When it comes to hounding, the golden rule is being at the right place at the right time. It also helps, too, when you can snag unfettered access to the players. Just ask Brett, one of Hockey Bay's up-and-coming hounds, who loaded up on autographs following the Oct. 22 game between the San Jose Sharks and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Brett, who joins the ranks of Hound Central 5.0 correspondents, filed this report:

After the Sharks and Lightning game, I was lucky to get a guest pass and wait where the players exit the St. Pete Times Forum.

The first obstacle was talking the Lightning employees at guest services into letting me run to the car and get my hounding bag, stuffed with photos, cards and pucks. After getting back into the Forum, I headed down to the area.

While waiting, I wasn't sure how it would be at first. I debated whether it would be better just waiting at the Sharks hotel for them to return. Thankfully, I made the right choice by staying inside. I asked one of the guards how it is for autographs, and they said as long as you call them over, they should sign for you.

The first player out was former Lightning defenseman and current Sharks player Dan Boyle. He quickly came over and signed for anyone who wanted him before joining up with about 30 people who were waiting for him, leaving three people asking for autographs.

Next out was Lightning defenseman Matt Smaby, who is always good for signing whenever and whatever items you want.

Then a group of Sharks came out, including Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Rob Blake. They all walked over and gladly signed what was presented to them. One of the last players out was Dany Heatley, who signed three cards before heading to the bus. The only Sharks player who refused to sign was Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who said, "Not now."

Other Sharks players who signed were Ryan Vesce, Ryane Clowe and Doug Murray.

The Lightning players were equally impressive, too. Among those signing were Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier, Marty St. Louis, Victor Hedman, Ryan Malone, Andrej Meszaros, Drew Miller, Stephane Veilleux and Alex Tanguay.

This was a great time, and the players are a lot more down to earth and seem happy to stop, talk, and sign autographs.

Malone, I would have to say, left the biggest impression on me. Not only did he sign everything I had, but he stayed a few minutes after signing and just talked with me.

All in all, this was one of my most memorable moments and showed me what class acts hockey players truly are.

Gallery: Lightning informal skate

Among the Tampa Bay Lightning players who've gathered this week in Brandon for informal workouts include, from left, Ryan Craig, Marty St. Louis, Jeff Halpern, Steven Stamkos, Adam Hall and Andrej Meszaros.

Lightning captain Vinny Lecavalier, right, talks to new teammates Kurtis Foster, left, and Todd Fedoruk.

Victor Hedman, the Bolts' 2009 No. 1 draft pick, didn't look out of place in Wednesday's session.

No, Tampa Bay's Jeff Halpern isn't reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. He's explaining a drill during Wednesday's skate.

Goalie Antero Niittymaki, a free-agent signee, follows the puck during Wednesday's session.

Victor Hedman, left, talks to teammate Adam Hall during Wednesday's session.

We're on YouTube

One of Hound Central 5.0's goals this hockey-hounding campaign is to increase the multimedia aspect of the blog. Consider the HockeyBayHound channel at YouTube as the first step.

Among the initial five videos:

~ the 11 Tampa Bay Lightning players who attended an informal practice this morning at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon;
~ a pretty nifty save by goalie Antero Niittymaki; and
~ a slick stickhandling drill by Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos.

Going forward, expect more videos as Hound Central 5.0 chronicles the upcoming campaign. In the next few weeks alone, the Lightning will hold its rookie camp (Sept. 8-11 at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon) before the Bolts' training camp opens Sept. 12

Adding depth

We've reached a point in our collection for Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos where we can begin to diversify. For the past year, pucks have been our primary platform. This season, though, we'll turn our attention to cards and photos.

As you can see, we added a couple of cards this morning. Stamkos signed these after another informal workout with a handful of teammates at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon.

I was hoping that more players would have skated this morning, but it was the same crew as Wednesday. Besides Stamkos, only Adam Hall, Andrej Meszaros, Antero Niittymaki, Mattias Ohlund and Matt Walker hit the ice.

I hear, though, that the rink will get a bit more crowded next week, as more Tampa Bay players will start attending these informal workouts.

He's ready to play

Let's be real here. It's a roll of the dice any time you head out to hound pre-training camp skates. Honestly, you never know who's going to attend. Mostly, it's the new faces and guys within something to prove.

It's rare, I'd say, when one of a team's top stars shows up so early.

In Tampa Bay's case, it was Steven Stamkos, who survived and, ultimately, thrived in, his rookie NHL season, who was taking part in Wednesday's informal skate with a handful of teammates.

To commemorate the event, the second-year center, who set the Lightning's rookie goal record (23) last season, signed this Lightning puck.