Being busy it's ain't easy, days off are a luxury and some spare time is only a wish. But I had to be off for the last weekend. It was my best mates birthday, moreover, we do our bithday together since we were 17. Hence I've packed my gear and set off to Coleraine, Northern Ireland. The plan was aimed at a lot of a good craic! At some stage during the fun times on Friday night, Szymon came up with an idea to go for Belfast Giants game. As we played ice hockey ourselves, some time ago in Poland, we thought that this could be a great birthday present for both of us. I was excited! Haven't been on any game since they've closed the Dundalk's Ice Dome in 2009, where I've played for Dundalk Bulls. Yeah... blame the economy!
Ice hockey means a lot for me. It's a family thing, a big love. My father and uncle are players until today's day, for us this sport is something more then just a bunch of bad smelling fellas trying to catch a tiny rubber thing. Last time I went to watch a game, it was back in Poland, probably over 10 years ago. I've got very excited. I've missed that pre-game state of mind.
Awesome! Here I am again, on an ice hockey match with a simple mission - to demonstrate that a manual focus lens can be used in such a difficult setting like sport, morever, it's ice hockey, one of the fastest team sports in the world. Won't be trying to teach you all the rules of the game, but few informations might come essential to understand the topic. On the above picture, players gathered, in some certain way, around faceoff circle where referee starts the game. Where the hell is the puck? Difficult to find it, but it's exactly at the referee's (the guy in black and white striped jersey) "strategic point level". You can't see it, as it is black as ref's trousers are. Why am I talking about it when one can't even see it? Well, puck haven't fallen on the ice yet (as it was earlier released by the referee) and the player number 19 is already sprinting towards the victory, this is how quick this game is!
It's not only a quick game, but also a quite rough way of spending time. Fights, like this one on the picture above, are an often view and may involve even the whole team, including players on the bench as well as their bus driver in some occassions. While it is a big fun and an attraction for all of the spectators, for players it's not a game or a play. This is what I like about hockey, and at the same time miss in other sports. Have a problem with one of the players, number 67 got you annoyed? Sort it out instantly. I've done it myself a couple of times, what a relief it is!
It's also quite rough in the center ice as well as on the boards (no, they're not soft). Few seconds later Belfast Giants player (white jersey) was down on the ice, and one of the Coventry Blaze's players went on a penalty bench for two minutes. Minor penalty for tripping.
An ice hockey match is divided into three by 20 minutes periods, between these an ice re-surfacer cleans the ice for the ease of skating and passing the puck. The model above, produced by Zamboni is the most known and the most popular machine of that type, a Mercedes of re-surfacers.
For the second period I've went on the other side of the rink, where I found an unoccupied seat just in front of the boards. For a good while I was regreting that I took only my Nikkor 85mm with me, shouldn't have left the ultra wide angle lens in the bag. Well, it was pointless to cry over that, so I carried on shooting with what I had, while the puck and players kept on hitting the boards half an inch in front of me.
The rink was pretty much full, where the most of the spectators were whole families, kids and teenagers. Back in Poland, matches were a bit different in terms of spectators. I'd say more masculine and muscle if you know what I mean.
There in Belfast, the atmosphere wasn't tight. Pretty much relaxed I'd say. It's an evening out for the whole families. One might say, why would you be bringing an innocent little girl to a game like that? Because it's not only about hockey! It's the atmosphere, great fun and possibly a tradition.
What about that great fun? When I was younger, between the periods not much was going on. Over in Belfast I've got shocked. Their marketing and PR works at top speed. Every single second something was happening. Cookies, subs, pizzas and some other stuff was being thrown into crowd. It's not only the game, but it is much more! It's a great entertainment, especially for the kids and teenegers, who seems to be the clubs market target.
It's not a rocket science that if you make these kids like it, their parents are going to come over too. While the girl, a cheerleader from the picture, was throwing some stuff into the crowd, she made not only the kids happy but their fathers also... Yes! Marketing is everywhere!
Must say, that I've enjoyed the game a lot. Ice hockey is the coolest game on the earth! Hope that I'll get a chance to see Belfast winning on some other occasion, as that time, they've lost 3:0 on their own ground...
No wonder why the kids started to wash off their painted on the face club's colours. I'd get annoyed too if my team would loose in their home town, at their own rink and being a league leader. Had a great time at the game, pity it has ended so quick and we had to go back to Coleraine.
But I'm so glad that we've seen the game and that I took my camera with me. A totally new experience for me. In the last minutes of third period a security guard has approached me and pulled me away. He asked me what I'm doing here, who am I working for etc. I've got shocked! Showed him my Irish Ice Hockey Association card and minutes later I was speaking to the manager. After explaining her everything I was good to carry on taking pictures. Thanks a lot for that!
Rest of the gallery can be found on my facebook by clicking this link: Click!
And also a quiz! Question is, what shutter speed was the picture below taken at? Give your answer in comments. (Tip, have a look at the very end of the stick)
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