Hockey Photo Of The Day |9| Janesville Jets

To me, this image just screams “BAUER AD“, but I checked with them, and they weren’t interested (in the slightest).  I took this while photographing for the Janesville Jets (NAHL) in 2012.  Unfortunately, I do not know the player’s name.  He was in the midst of an incredibly tight and fast turn, which is why the glass stanchion is in the image (very little time to get the shot).  My favorite part of it is that you can see his glove, stick, and part of the ice in his visor.

Janesville Jets | © www.aepoc.com

Behind the scenes of the Fighting Saints; with Doug Jorgenson.

Dubuque Fighting Saints

“My family had Minnesota Wild season tickets… I would go down to the glass to watch warm-ups and started catching myself looking to see what types of equipment the different players were using.  At the Professional level they can mix and match brands of equipment.  For example they could use Easton gloves and sticks and have a Bauer helmet, pants, and skates.  I noticed the connection the players had with the equipment guys during warm ups and that those guys helped them with everything they needed throughout the game.  Watching the Head Equipment Manager – Tony DaCosta and his assistants – Rick Bronwell and Matt Benz made me want to be them.“

That’s what Doug Jorgenson had to say when I asked him what got him interested in being an equipment manager.  Doug currently does the job for the Dubuque Fighting Saints, the top-team in the United States Hockey League, who just swept the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the first round of the 2013 Clark Cup Playoffs.  He goes on to say, “I love helping others and was never really great at sports where I could see myself making a career out of it, but still wanted to be part of a team.  So being an equipment manager, you get the best of both worlds.”

Cleaning the skate sharpener.

Jorgenson has a degree in Sports Management from the University of Minnesota, where he was the assistant equipment manager, under Lee Greseth, for the Men’s Ice Hockey team.  Being one of the best collegiate hockey teams in the country, there was a ton of competition for the job… but through persistence and not listening to the word “no”, he was able to get the position just prior to starting his Sophomore year.

Sparks flying as Doug sharpens another skate.

So, what exactly DOES an equipment manager do?  Well, Buffalo Sabres assistant equipment manager George Babcock says “nobody knows what we do unless we don’t do it.”  Doug feels that sentiment is perfectly accurate, because nearly all their work is done behind the scenes.  It’s their responsibility for each player to be safe each time they’re on the ice.  Hockey is a hell of a fast game, and if your equipment malfunctions, you run the risk of being seriously injured, or seriously injuring someone else.  First to the rink every day, and last to leave… that’s what it takes – nothing can be overlooked.  “When we go on the road and everyone’s in their hotel rooms, I’m out finding a laundry mat or fixing or sharpening skates.  There is a lot of responsibility that goes with the job but I think that’s what makes me take pride in what I do – you know you’re helping the team succeed and the players and coaches see the work you put in for them.  If I forget a jersey or socks, we’re going to look pretty goofy out there.”

Spare helmets and gloves.

Laundry and sharpening skates is a large part of the job, but there’s also a lot of ordering of equipment and taking care of a budget.  There’s a lot of sewing and small repairs to various types of equipment as well, along with polishing helmets and making sure the locker room looks good.  There is some downtime, but when the time comes to fix a skate or custom-fit some protective equipment, you need to get it done right away.  “In some ways it’s really different [playing in an opponent’s barn] because you don’t have the comfort that you’re used to when using your own equipment… but for the most part I have everything with me on the road so if something does happen I can fix it.  Also, some places you go there is very little space or you’re stuck in a hallway, so that really makes you work in tight spaces and not have the luxury to the space we have here in Dubuque.“

The “mystery machine”.

Me:  So what happens when the pressure mounts?  Can you describe a “crisis situation” that you recently encountered?

Doug:  We had a series in Muskegon, Michigan… playing the Lumberjacks in one of our first games this season.  During the first period with 16 minutes left, Matt Benning (#5) came to me just before a shift and said his left skate didn’t feel right.  I told him I’d look at it once the shift was over, and by then he couldn’t even put pressure on the skate.  Apparently all the rivets had popped out, and the back two copper rivets in his heel had both broken off.  At the next whistle I ran across the ice with him to the locker room to get it back together.  When something like this happens you need to get the player back as soon as possible because he is a major part of our defense.  Luckily I had the riveter out already because I fixed a rivet before the game – but I’d forgotten my box, and all my tools, on the bench!  I ended up being able to pull all the rivets the rest of the way out and then put two new copper rivets in the back which are more secure.  But wet skates don’t like to hold rivets very well because the insole of the boot is moist and not stiff.  Normally a 25 minute job, I ended up putting all new rivets in and coppers under 4 minutes and had him back on the ice.  It’s all about speed; you don’t want them to miss shifts.

Skates waiting to be sharpened.

Knowing that many NHL’ers are extremely picky about their sticks, skate blades, etc, I had to ask Doug who on the Fighting Saints is the most particular about their gear.  He said that every guy is particular or  superstitious about their gear because that’s just the nature of the game.  Some guys won’t need skates worked on all week until game day, and other guys get them done every other day.  He goes on to say, “Shane Sooth, our captain, is the least particular out of anyone on the team.  You could give him a wood stick and a pair of old skates that may not even be his size, and he would still go out there every day and play like everyone else.  It just all depends on player preference.”

Spare sticks.

One can argue that relationships are what life is all about, and I would agree with that on a large scale.  That’s precisely why Doug loves what he does.  “I love the connection I have with the players and the Coaching staff.  I get to know everyone on a pretty serious level, and you build that connection, and trust, to where they know they can come to you with anything – even if it’s not a part of hockey.”  He goes on to say, “I will do anything in my power to help any of our players or coaching staff out no matter what time of day.  I love being a part of the team, and going to battle each night with these guys and seeing them develop throughout the year and work for one another… it’s pretty special.  Everyone wants to be a champion at the end of the season, so you put in as much effort as possible to make sure that happens.  I love what I do, and wouldn’t trade it for the world, even though you run on very low sleep.”

Fighting Saints equipment duffel bag.

I took the liberty of asking some of the players about Doug’s role on the team as well.  Center Evan Janssen said, “Dougie is a beauty, and an unbelievable guy to have around.  He takes great care of us.  Anything we need done, he’s on it right away.  On average he probably sharpens close to 60 pairs of skates throughout the course of a week“.  Forward Jarrid Privitera states that “He’s at the rink before any of us even wake up; he’s always working to benefit our team and make sure all our equipment is the way we need it in order to perform at our best.  You can always count on Dougie to brighten up the mood and make the boys laugh.  And come game time, he’s always aware of what’s going on the ice, so if we break a stick, he’s ready with our other one when we need it.”

Watching the guys practice.

Mike Szmatula says “He loves his job and the team.  He’s always laughing and making us laugh… he is as important as any player, and we all love him.”  John Stevens echoed the same things as the other players, but also added that “Doug brings a great attitude to the rink, and that makes you excited to come in every day.“

Milwaukee Admirals

The 2012-13 hockey tour is still going strong, and on January 6th (2013) I was photographing for the Milwaukee Admirals taking on the Grand Rapids Griffins.  In case you missed the previous entries in my hockey tour posts, you can find them here by team (Greenville Road Warriors, Cincinnati Cyclones, Dubuque Fighting Saints).  Anyhow, prior to the game starting, I had the opportunity to walk freely around the arena to scope it all out, meet some of the Admirals staff, and they even invited us to head down to the media room for a catered lunch, which was unexpected, and quite good.  Back to the hockey… this was actually the first time in a long time that I was able to shoot through a photographer window in the glass, and believe me, I took the opportunity.

The view from the photographer window at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

In the past eight months or so, I have become a bit “goalie-centric”, you could say.  Photographing a number of hockey camps, including one for Dallas Stars goalie coach Mike Valley, but also for Goalies Inc. Hockey School, and High Performance Goaltending.  Being that the window in the glass was in the corner, and BEHIND the goal line (see image above), I figured it might be tough to get some good shots of the goalies, but I was determined.  I stayed in the (very cramped) area with the window for two periods, which was pretty uncomfortable, but worth it.

Milwaukee Admirals right winger Juuso Puustinen.

Prior to the game, I was shooting warm-ups from the penalty box.  I was told I was able to have the door open to allow me an unobstructed view of the ice, but one of the penalty box attendants highly suggested I keep it shut, as the players love to whip pucks at the boards to warm up.  Not two minutes after he said that did a puck come hurling towards us and smack into the glass, leaving my ears ringing for a few minutes.  Turns out  –  Good advice!  Shortly after that, I snapped this image of Griffins defenseman, and alternate captain, Nathan Paetsch.

Grand Rapids Griffins Nathan Paetsch being funny during pre-game warmups.

During the first period, I was able to get a few great shots of the Griffins goalie Petr Mrazek.  The best of the lot is shown below:

Grand Rapids Griffins goaltender Petr Mrazek making an outstanding save.

The second period yielded some good images of Ads goalie Jeremy Smith too; pictured below:

Milwaukee Admirals goaltender Jeremy Smith following the play in the corner.

Milwaukee Admirals goaltender Jeremy Smith.

As much as I love shooting goaltenders, it’s not all I shot in Milwaukee … I concentrated on tight player shots as well.  Using the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L (non IS, if you’re keeping track) is paramount in getting those shots.  Here are a few:

Milwaukee Admirals defenseman Scott Valentine just before a faceoff.

Admirals defenseman Ryan Ellis chasing after a puck, with Michael Latta in the background.

The game went into a shootout, which I decided to capture from a little higher up (first row of the second deck).

Admirals goaltender Jeremy Smith poke-checking Gustav Nyquist on his shootout attempt.

Admirals Ryan Ellis skating in on Petr Mrazek.  Ellis ended up scoring on his shootout attempt.

Another great time photographing hockey, and my first experience doing so in the AHL.  One thing I really grabbed from this was that shooting hockey without glass between you and the action is damn near essential.  If you can do it, DO IT.  If not, you’ll just have to position yourself in a good enough position that the action comes directly at you.

Scott Kelby’s “The Challenge of Shooting Hockey”.

While searching google today, I found an article written by Scott Kelby about his findings on photographing hockey.  Scott is an outstanding pro photographer, and trainer of all things Photoshop.  Check out his images here, and his Photoshop training here.

Below is the article he wrote.  Please also view the article on his site here.

_______________________

Welcome to my world (well, as of late).

This is the small hole in the glass you get to shoot through when you’re shooting hockey (The NHL made the holes smaller recently to protect the photographers and players). The one here is from Saturday night at the Tampa Bay Times Forum (the arena where the Tampa Bay Lightning play their home games).

I’ve talked with other photographers shooting hockey, and they tell me they would kill to have any hole in the glass, because they have to shoot through the glass, which is often 1-inch thick and almost guarantees their shots won’t be nice and sharp, so I really shouldn’t complain.

Here’ the view if you angle  your camera in that hole as far as you possibly can and shoot blindly down the rink (I say blindly, because it would be kinda hard to fit your head in a position that would actually let you look through the viewfinder, but I thought I’d at least show that not matter what, you’re not getting a shot of the other goal, so you’re only going to get the goal you’re positioned right in front of).

The Challenge (Warning: football metaphor coming):
Shooting from the position I was assigned (the shooting positions are assigned before game time by the team photographer, and you stay in that position the entire game), it lets you basically shoot from the back of the goal you’re in front of to the blue line (before you reach center ice). In football terms, that would be like having to shoot from the 5-yard line all game, and you can only shoot from the back of the goal to the 15 yard line. But, you can’t shoot all the end zone, because there’s a big net covering part of the end zone. Because you can only shoot when their action in front of you, it always seems like all the action is at the other goal (which you can’t shoot at all from your position, so you just sit quietly and watch the game).

Dave Black to the rescue
I had really been struggling through the last couple of games, and while I made some progress in game two, I wanted to continue improving (which I knew would eventually come the more games I shot), butDave Black (the magical wizard of sports photography) was down here at our studio taping some classes for Kelby Training Online, so I tracked him down to get some advice for shooting Saturday night’s Lightning game against the Washington Capitals, and of course, he was a huge help.

Football messed me up
Well, not just football, but for most sports we shoot wide open; usually at f/stops like f/2.8 or f/4, but Dave suggested that I try shooting at f/8, which kind of freaked me out, until he pointed out that in Hockey the fans are right at the glass, and unless I was zoomed in really tight, they were going to be in focus anyway (and I wasn’t going to get those super soft totally out-of-focus backgrounds with the crowd just 2 feet from the players on the boards, which totally made sense. He mentioned that I might have to crank the ISO and I might only get up to f/5.6 but that would help my focus issues, and boy did it ever. Huge difference!

(Above: An iPhone shot taken by the usher of me hand-holding my 200-400mm f/4 from the Mezzanine level shooting position. I had to bump the fill light massively as the original shot had me as a silhouette). 

Take the 400mm! (I don’t need it! Yes you do!)
Besides shooting from ice level, we also have the option of shooting overhead (just over the glass) from the Mezzanine level, and I was going to take my 300mm, but Dave thought it might be too short and recommended that I take the 200-400mm instead. Of course, I briefly (and stupidly) argued with Dave, telling him low to the rink the mezzanine level actually was, but once I got there and started shooting (hand held no less—no monopod), I realized (as expected) that Dave was right. I shot out at 400mm the entire time.

It’s like cheating!
I will say this—shooting from above the glass, unobstructed, with a clear view of both goals and pretty much the entire rink was a blast. It was also pretty much like cheating, because you can see everything so darn well. You can follow the play pretty easily and you’re probably not going to miss a goal, so if reporting the news is your goal, it’s perfect. The only problem is; your shots look like you took them from the stands. The just don’t have the impact and feel the ones at ice level do, which explains why I was the only guy shooting from the mezzanine. So, while it great for catching everything, you’re not going to come back with shots that have the impact you want. I only stayed up there one period, and then I went back down to my tiny hole in the glass.

(Above: Lecavalier scores [note the puck behind the goalie] to help the Bolts win 2-1).

Progress Report
Dave’s tips (all of them, not just the two I mentioned here), really helped a lot, and I turned in my best shots yet (but of course, I’m still nowhere near happy with them, but at least things are going in the right direction). My timing is getting better and I’m getting just much more comfortable with my setting and surroundings.

Note to Self: Don’t look at their screens
In the photo room at the end of the night, I made the mistake at looking at Lightning Team Photographer Scott Audette’s shots as they were being uploaded (he is just sick at shooting hockey, and gets incredible shots despite the fact that he can’t shoot high speed because he’s firing strobes overhead. His timing and composition are astounding), and I saw some of Mike Carlson’s shots (he shoots for AP) and although he’s not firing strobes, his shots totally kick butt. He has the perfect shooting position on the ice — he’s behind the goal and to one side, and from there he can shoot end to end no sweat (with a 300mm lens pressed against the hole—he crops out the edges of the hole in post).

Looking at their shots can really bum you out, because I’m not getting shots anything like theirs, so I’ve got a long, long way to go, but hey, at least I made some progress (thanks to Dave and more practice), and that’s all I can hope for at this point in my hockey-shooting journey.

 

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