Going into my third day of being the tournament photographer of a Mite Hockey Tournament (boys and girls aged 6 to 8 yo). ; So, while my upstate NY neighbors have been enjoying the Spring weather, I've been in ice hockey rinks taking photos of these little guys. ; Not as cute as puppies, Jeff, but they are in their own way. Over 3K of photos and counting. ; See ya in a month! ; I got CDs and lots of photos to get out to the parents.
Paul, I watched the first half in the rink's office. ; My daughter sent me updates via text for the second half. BTW, I borrowed my friend's Nikon D700 and used my Nikon 70-200VR f/2.8 lens for all these photos. ; ISO's ranged from 1600 to 5000 depending on distance and lighting. ; Some photos of the bench area hit 6400. ; The photo of the father and daughter below was at 6400 with Noise Ninja applied. Here's some more photos from the tournament: 1. Quite the size difference between 6 and 8 year olds. 2. Stickhandling 3. A Dad and his daughter in the penalty box. 4. Save! 5. Penalty Shot (the puck went in. The puck is blue and lighter for this age group)
I wish I had learned to play when I was that small - I'm jealous when I see those kids who can already stick handle, skate backwards, and run on the tips...and I can barely go around in a slow circle to silly music at a local rink.
Me, too, Justin. ; I didn't start playing until I was 10 though I was good enough for our association's traveling teams by the age of 13 never had the skill to go any farther. ; Love the game and still follow it closely via my favorite team, the Montreal Canadiens (who owned the Cup during the 70's when I played). Photographing this kids was a way of giving back to the game and I hope I've captured some memories for them and their families.
Whew...very thankful for batch processing. ; About 2/3's done with the processing. ; Here are some more photos. I found it very interesting how when the puck is dropped and the teams are skating. ; The players rarely fell unless there was contact with another player. ; But, while waiting for faceoffs, gravity and skates would combine to bring them down. ; I was getting ready to take a nice on-ice portrait of this player when... These teams were all well-coached. ; I was impressed with the players positioning and spacing. ; However, put the puck against the boards and all bets were off. Coaches were very expressive when talking with their teams. ; I believe they did that to keep their attention. ; If they talked too long, players would start to loose interest. ; At this age bracket, boys and girls play together. ; Girls bring different colors to the game. As cumbersome as they were when standing, when skating, I could see the confidence and the player they will become. The goalies, who barely covered a quarter of the net or less didn't have it easy. ; Sometimes the puck would go over their head and still be a goal. ; This guy learned sometimes you don't go down on your knees against a team that shoots high.
Thanks, Paul. ; The blue pucks are lighter. ; They are like superballs, too. ; Some of the kids could really launch them.
Great stuff, Scott. ; Watching the kids play was everyone's favorite between-periods entertainment back when Indy had minor league hockey. A friend called games with this age group "Amoeba Hockey", since they tend to swarm around the puck like a bunch of amoebas. ; Of course, since New York is so close to Canada, I'm sure the skill level is higher.
Like the photo above, it was amoeba hockey at times but not as much as thought it would be. ; These were all-star teams made up of the best house league players and most knew to stay in position. ; Even good passing. Most teams had a two or three players who would be playing at the next level in the fall who did most of the scoring. ; A couple of really good goalies though the scores wouldn't show that. ; I hope they don't get discouraged and keep going.
That reminds me of the time I attended a three-day all-ages hockey clinic. ; We were put into groups according to our ability, and I was at least 30 years older than the rest of my group. ; It was frustrating since I was the only one who was really focused on what the coaches had to say. ; After that, I stuck to all-adult clinics whenever I was lucky enough to find one.
