Gone camping

Florida hounds camp a bit different than typical folks. Instead of the deep woods, we venture into the concrete jungle. Instead of birdwatching, we keep an eye out for hockey players. Most importantly, instead of a musky old tent, we rough it at the Marriott Waterside in Tampa.

All in all, it was still a good time spent with my little girls and our pals, Ron and Colin.

I used last week's Tampa Bay Lightning Young Guns development camp to hone my skills for finding non-NHL photos for players to sign. In my opinion, I did pretty good.

That will be the theme for the upcoming season when I hound. I will make an effort in my 8x10s to only use college, juniors and international photos.

Andrew Agozzino: Camp invitee

Carter Ashton: 2009 first-round pick

Mark Barberio: 2008 sixth-round pick

Brock Beukeboom: 2010 third-round pick

Brett Connolly: 2010 first-round pick

Mitch Fadden: 2007 fourth-round pick on game-used jersey

Scott Jackson: 2005 second-round pick by the St. Louis Blues (Photo also signed by Fadden)

Radko Gudas: 2010 third-round pick

Joe Hartman: Camp invitee

Alex Hutchings: 2009 fourth-round pick

Brandon Hynes: Camp invitee

Adam Janosik: 2010 third-round pick

Jaroslav Janus: 2009 sixth-round pick

Jim Johnson: Norfolk Admirals coach

Zane Kalemba: Camp invitee

Alex Killorn: 2007 third-round pick

Tom Kurvers: assistant general manager, at the time of this camp

Jonathan Lessard: Camp invitee

Tim Marks: Camp invitee

Matt Marshall: 2007 fifth-round pick

Brendan O'Donnell: 2010 sixth-round pick

Richard Panik: 2009 second-round pick

Kevin Quick: 2006 third-round pick (Go Blue!!)

Geoffrey Schemitsch: 2010 fourth-round pick

Dustin Sylvester: Camp invitee

Dustin Tokarski: 2008 fifth-round pick on a game-used stick

Dana Tyrell: 2007 second-round pick

Pat Verbeek: Lightning head pro scout

Luke Witkowski: 2008 sixth-round pick

Ty Wishart: 2006 first-round pick by the San Jose Sharks

Michael Zador: 2009 fifth-round pick

Teigan Zahn: 2010 seventh-round pick in the greatest fight photo ever!

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.

Hounding help

I was unable to make the trip to Clearwater as I had hoped in order to solidify my acquisition of Norm Beaudin, a member of the original World Hockey Association Winnipeg Jets.

I asked Puckhound if he would mind, since young Colin skates at the arena where Norm owns a hockey store. In turn, Ron employed the help of Mrs. Puckhound, and, as you can see from the results . . .

Norm, who scored 103 points as a rookie linemate of Bobby Hull in 1972-73, was more than happy to apply his penmanship to these two photos.

Many thanks to the Puckhound family for helping me out with this small project.

The Yzerman Project

When it comes to Hall of Famers like Steve Yzerman, I have little time for any other hockey-hounding platform, so to speak, than pucks. I don't want him to sign any cards, posters or 8x10s. Nope, all I want are pucks and, once I'm done with them, the Team Canada jersey.

With this dozen of pucks, I'll have my work cut out for me this season. It's hard enough to get 12 autographs out of most players, let alone a hockey hero like Yzerman. And, no, I don't expect him to sign all 12 at one time.

Still, though, I'm up for the challenge, making The Yzerman Project the centerpiece of my 2010-11 hockey-hounding efforts. I hope to make a sizable dent, with Colin's help, by knocking out the top row during the Lightning's upcoming rookie camp. After that, I'll be happy with two at a time during the course of the season.

The lineup:

Top row: Tampa Bay Lightning official game puck, 2010 Winter Olympics hockey champions, Detroit Red Wings and Team Canada;

Middle row: Tampa Bay Lightning, Detroit Red Wings big logo, Red Wings 2002 Stanley Cup champion and Red Wings 2002 Presidents' Trophy; and

Bottom row: Red Wings 1998 Stanley Cup champions, Red Wings 1997 Stanley Cup champions, Red Wings 2008 Stanley Cup champions and Canada souvenir.

Packing for camp

Like any good Boy Scout, I'm as prepared as I can be for the Tampa Bay Lightning's upcoming (July 10-14) prospects camp down here in Hockey Bay. The hockey-hounding bag is packed with the following items that we hope to get signed within the next week:

Tampa Bay Lightning and 2010 NHL Draft pucks for Brett Connolly, the Bolts' top pick in June's draft;

Lightning and Norfolk Admirals pucks for goalie Dustin Tokarski; and

Cards for Carter Ashton, Connolly and Alex Hutchings (top row) and a trio, including a Threads card for Tokarski.

Hockey in summer

I must admit, the Tampa Bay Lightning's prospect camp, scheduled to begin Saturday, has got the hockey-hounding juices flowing. May not get a lot, but it'll be good to add a few more pucks to the collection.

First, though, we have a couple of Florida State League games on the agenda, including our only road trip of the season, across the Sunshine Skyway to Bradenton, to watch the first-year Marauders play the Charlotte Stone Crabs.

Last week, we kept ourselves busy with a game in Dunedin and a rain-out in Tampa. See how we did at Baseball Mondays. Someone, and I'm not saying who, got his first autograph of our 2010 Summer of Baseball.

Safety first

Given that today's been a mostly cloudy day with sporadic showers, we decided to celebrate July Fourth at home tonight. Colin's still a bit young for firecrackers and Roman candles, so he's comfortable with sparklers.

He's wearing his biking helmet so he "doesn't get hit in the head from falling fireworks."

On the ice

I know it was 3-on-3 play over half a rink, but it was pretty cool watching Colin score 10 points (five goals and five assists) in the 30-plus minutes I got to take in after work yesterday. Sources tell me, though, that his effort picked up noticeably upon my arrival.

He started his squirts (9-10) summer scrimmage season, meaning at least five hours of ice time each week, until school resumes in mid-August. Back-to-back hourlong practices on Tuesdays, too.

We're not sure what we'll do in the fall. I'd rather have him play a few more seasons of recreational hockey, maybe another 25-30 games or so, within his specific age group. That way, he can work on skills and game sense before, hopefully, making any jump to travel leagues.

Ultimately, his talent, not deep pockets, drives this decision. I'm old school. I believe a player must earn a spot on any roster.