chuckography

Hockey 101 for Goalies

You could say I am a hockey fan.

I go to cheer on our local team - The South Carolina Stingrays - and learned to keep my eye on the puck.

The black flying objects DO come into the stands and a souvenir is not worth much if it hits you hard in the face.

Over the years I have seen some exciting games and it all comes down to getting the puck into the net.

Past the goal tender or The Goalie.

He skates back and forth on the crease, his patch of ice in front of the net. Defensive. Alert. Agile.

He is prepared to reach high and low, stretch in any direction with his stick and gloves to keep the puck out of the net.

My Photography Group meets the second Wednesday of the month at the Carolina Ice Palace.

Our meeting room looks out onto one of the two rinks where youngsters learn the basics of hockey. And more.

Leagues play there all year long and, in the summer, it's refreshing to step into the chilled space of the Ice Palace.

On a cold night, as we recently experienced for several days, the meeting room was a little bit cold.

The highlight of each meeting is Show & Tell when member photographers project their images up on the big screen and tell about how it was taken and others ask questions or add pointers.

I admit I was distracted watching the Goalie relaxing atop the net.

He was thirsty and sipped from his water bottle.

I assumed the game had not started yet or his team was very good at keeping all the action at the other end of the rink...attacking the other net.

Poor goalie down there!

But, as I turned my attention back to images on the screen, I could hear the commotion as the coach got the actual practice session started.

The youngster took his proper stance in front of the net and started batting away shots on goal.

All was right with the hockey world again out on the ice.

At our meeting, the crowd applauded the presentation and another photographer's work flashed on the screen.

(Click on the photos for more detail.)

Obviously I keep my Canon SX260 with me most of the time.

The 20x zoom lens made these shots possible from inside the meeting room.

Didn't have to capture fast action with this guy.

Labels: Carolina Ice Palace, chilly during Summer, defending the crease, goal tending, hockey goalie, Stingrays, watch the puck

posted by chuckography @ 5:04 PM