Columbus Blue Jackets at San Jose Sharks 1/31/12

It was good news, bad news, good news at The Tank on Tuesday night. A rare series of events allowed me to shoot all three periods from the ice, but my own choices of which positions to shoot from put me at the Sharks defensive end for the whole game. Not the smartest decision given that the Blue Jackets are the worst team in the NHL and the Sharks have been scoring at a pretty good clip. So the bad news was that I was at the wrong end for each of the Sharks goals in their 6-0 win.

Shooting from the Sharks Head for the first period meant that I was in position to shoot the Sharks as they made their way from their locker room to the ice:

Sharks players walk down a hallway to the ice before the game.

Sharks goalie Antti Niemi had 30 saves for the shutout:

Sharks goalie Antti Niemi tracks a bouncing puck.

Blue Jackets left wing Colton Gillies skates in on Sharks goalie Antti Niemi.

I missed all of the goals, but I did manage to get Joe Pavelski’s high fives from the Sharks bench after his second-period goal:

Sharks center Joe Pavelski celebrates his second-period goal.

It was a rough game, with lots of complaining by the Blue Jackets:

Blue Jackets right wing Derek Dorsett complains to referee Brad Watson.

I’ve been using the fisheye when I’ve been shooting at the glass, and while not a high-percentage proposition, it can work out pretty well at times:

Sharks left wing John McCarthy bats down a bouncing puck.

Blue Jackets right wing Derek Dorsett and Sharks defenseman Brent Burns chase a puck into the corner.

So I missed all six goals, and remarkably the two fights that happened early in the game, and usually this would have me driving home mad. But the bad blood between the Sharks and Blue Jackets was seemingly limitless, and the third period featured one fight after another, all right in front of me. Here Dan Boyle goes to town on Derick Brassard:

Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle fights Blue Jackets center Derick Brassard.

Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle fights Blue Jackets center Derick Brassard.

After that fight, Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash had some words for Boyle who lost it again, and had to be held back by linesman Pierre Champoux:

Linesman Pierre Champoux keeps Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle away from Blue Jackets right wing Rick Nash.

With the game firmly in comedy territory, Sharks defenseman Colin White pounded on Blue Jackets right wing Derek Dorsett…

Sharks defenseman Colin White winds up to punch Blue Jackets right wing Derek Dorsett.

…and then had a laugh while being held down by an official:

Sharks defenseman Colin White smiles as he is restrained by an official.

Another scrum happened as time wound down, a bit far into the corner for me to shoot through the hole, so I picked up the fisheye and shot the action on the ice and in the seats at the same time:

Sharks and Blue Jackets players fight as fans watch on.

This will be the only post ever where I’m happy with the shoot having missed six goals and two fights. Count on that.

Pittsburgh Penguins at San Jose Sharks 11/3/11

I almost never get to shoot my Pittsburgh teams, so when the NHL schedule came out, I made sure I was shooting the Penguins vs Sharks. The Tank was thick with transplanted Pittsburghers wearing Crosby and Malkin sweaters, and the guy sitting next to my shooting position was even from the hood where I grew up. Stanton Heights, what. He insisted on buying me a beer, and when I politely declined, he finally said “Holding out for an ARRRRRN?”

Things started out well for the Pens, with two goals in the first few minutes:

Penguins center Evgeni Malkin celebrates with teammates after scoring a first-period goal.

Penguins center Evgeni Malkin celebrates with teammates after scoring a first-period goal.

This chased Sharks goalie Antti Niemi from the game in favor of Thomas Greiss who promptly stoned the Pens on shot after shot.

Sharks goalie Thomas Greiss kicks a shot away.

Sharks goalie Thomas Greiss kicks a shot away.

I enjoy James Neal’s game, crashing the goal and generally getting in the way:

Penguins left wing James Neal jumps to avoid a shot.

Penguins left wing James Neal crashes the goal behind Sharks defenseman Brent Burns and goalie Antti Niemi.

Here is one seriously mismatched fight:

Sharks left wing Brad Winchester and Penguins right wing Craig Adams fight.

Sharks left wing Brad Winchester and Penguins right wing Craig Adams fight.

The Sharks figured out how to slow Malkin down, mostly by putting him into the boards as much as possible:

Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray drives Penguins center Evgeni Malkin into the boards.

Penguins right wing Craig Adams holds off Sharks defenseman Jim Vandermeer.

After holding the lead for almost all fo the game, the Penguins couldn’t hold on, allowing the tying goal to Jamie McGinn late in the third:

Sharks left wing Jamie McGinn celebrates his game-tying third-period goal with forward Torrey Mitchell.

Fleury kind of fell apart towards the end, but made some saves to keep it tied:

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury dives to cover a rebound.

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stops Sharks right wing Martin Havlat.

But Ryane Clowe scored in the shootout, and that was that:

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stretches before the shootout.

The San Jose bench congratulates Sharks left wing Ryane Clowe on his shootout-winning goal.

After learning how to play without Sidney Crosby for almost a full year, it will be interesting to see how the Pens react to getting him back.

Buy Sam a Drink and Get His Dog One Too

Sabres goalie Ryan Miller kicks the puck away from goal.
© Matt Cohen 2011

Despite being the smallest of the major American sports, hockey is the
most exclusive, credential-wise. For every photo position along the glass,
there is one less seat for the team to sell, and shooting from above means
shooting from the stands. Since I don’t have any hockey in my portfolio,
I picked up a few of games covering the San Jose Sharks. Due to the
limited glass positions, I ended up shooting mostly from the stands with a
long lens, not exactly a recipe for creativity.

Still, I grew up in Pittsburgh in the Lemieux era, so I love hockey, though
I’m not sure that’s exactly what the Sharks are playing this season. The
hardest part of shooting these games was resisting the almost overwhelming
urge to use Mike Lange-isms in my captions.

Miller, the goalie for the US team at the 2010 Olympics, dives to make a
save in traffic.

© Matt Cohen 2011

Sharks right wing Dany Heatley trips before getting off a shot.

© Matt Cohen 2011

Sharks center Scott Nichol drives Sabres defenseman Shaone Morrisonn
into the boards.

© Matt Cohen 2011

Sabres defenseman Mike Weber and Sharks right wing Ryane Clowe trade punches.

© Matt Cohen 2011

© Matt Cohen 2011

Sharks center Joe Thornton battles for position in front of the Predators goal.

© Matt Cohen 2011

Predators goalie Pekka Rinne deflects a shot.

© Matt Cohen 2011

Sharks goalie Antti Niemi turns away a shot.

© Matt Cohen 2011

Predators defenseman Shea Weber and Sharks center Torrey Mitchell
race to a loose puck.

© Matt Cohen 2011

Heatley and Maple Leafs defenseman Mike Komisarek scuffle after the whistle.

© Matt Cohen 2011

Niemi makes a save.

© Matt Cohen 2011

Maple Leafs defenseman Mike Komisarek and Sharks center Torrey
Mitchell battle for a loose puck.

© Matt Cohen 2011

Sharks center Logan Couture watches from the ice as his teammates
scuffle with the Maple Leafs after a cheap shot penalty injured him.

© Matt Cohen 2011

Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic lines up a shot.

© Matt Cohen 2011

Maple Leafs defenseman Dion Phaneuf checks Couture into the boards.

© Matt Cohen 2011