March Madness On Ice

After covering the NCHC Frozen Faceoff last weekend at the Target Center, I was back on the college hockey scene this weekend covering the NCAA West Regional for St. Cloud State University at the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul.

With the help of fellow photog Brad Rempel, I had a remote hung in the catwalk for the two games on Saturday that featured Minnesota vs. Robert Morris and St. Cloud State vs. Notre Dame. I didn’t need to shoot the first game, but remote cameras must be hung in the arena before fans arrive, so I was set up and ready to go by 3 p.m. for the 4:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. games. Since the remote was set up and I had nothing better to do, I enjoyed the first two periods from the press box while triggering the remote a handful of times.

At the end of the second period, I headed back down to the photography workroom to devour some cheesecake and prepare for the nightcap between St. Cloud State and Notre Dame.

I typically like my remote straight above the net, but the NCAA logo behind the net was very enticing and also helped to tell part of the story in each photo.

Along with the remote, I shot the first/third periods between the benches (which was great for some goal celebration shots) and the second period/overtime in the corner hole where St. Cloud State was shooting.

Opening faceoff of the second period before taking a nice jog to the corner hole.

Goal celebrations at the college level almost automatically result in some emotional, awesome images as you’ll see throughout the rest of the blog.

From the bench…

…and from above, St. Cloud State defenseman Andrew Prochno saves a goal.

Goal celebration, missing teeth and the golden dome.

#shiny

From there it was off to overtime. Since they switch ends after the third period, I was back to my second period shooting location…the corner hole.

St. Cloud State forward Nic Dowd with the shot to send the Huskies to the regional finals.

The goal, as seen from above, was kind of boring.

I may have gotten ‘the shot’, but as with a lot of sports photography, you need to have a lot of luck as well. Although I am generally happy with most of my celebration images following the goal, it was frustrating to be blocked by players and the net during the initial reaction. Bad luck for the win.

After that, it was all smiles…

…and you could not have put Notre Dame goalie Steven Summerhays in a better location to help tell the story of victory and defeat, all in one.

Victory.

Following the late night win, St. Cloud State took on the №1 team in the country, in-state rival and former WCHA rival (thanks B1G hockey) in the West Regional Semifinals on Sunday evening with a trip to the Frozen Four in Philadelphia on the line.

Not much went right for the Huskies as the Gophers booked their ticket to Philadelphia with a 4–0 victory.

Even though I was shooting for St. Cloud State, as a photographer, it is hard to not shoot the moment at hand, whether it is ‘your’ team or not. If it happens, I am going to shoot it. Theoretically, you could always shoot some dejection of the team you are working for, and I have a handful, but a university or team will almost never publish photos that give off a negative vibe.

After a period in the corner hole, I shot the second period from above to change up the angles a little bit from the game against Notre Dame.

All eyes on the puck.

Huskies fan or Gophers fan, if you were watching this game, this was one of the prettiest goals you will see.

Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. The difference in photos of St. Cloud State between the two games are on opposite ends of the spectrum, but that’s sports for you.

Maroon and Gold.

And they’re off to the Frozen Four.

Sad to see the careers come to an end for seniors Kevin Gravel, Nic Dowd, Cory Thorson and Brandon Burrell. I’ve had the opportunity to cover these guys do what they love for the last four years, and just like that it all ends. I wish them nothing but the best.

Opponents. Rivals. NHL Draft Picks. But at the end of the day, brothers. Michael (left) and Jonny (right) Brodzinski.

Celebration remants scattered on the ice.

Best of luck in Philadelphia and take down the team formerly known as the Sue!

Thanks for taking the time to check out my final (most likely) blog of the 2013–14 hockey season. Shooting baseball for the next six months sounds good to me!

‘Welp, see ya later.’