T-Birds Fall to Portland in Teddy Bear Toss Game
Well now, isn’t this a pleasant surprise? Another edition of Bird Watching! I do have to apologize for the long breaks in between this post and my last one; my quarter is very busy with three classes and a lot of work at Seattle University. But I have the time now, and I’ve got the photos from an always-special game: the annual Teddy Bear Toss game!
Every year, many (if not all) WHL teams hold a Teddy Bear Toss game where fans bring teddy bears to donate to charity—the Thunderbirds give the bears to the WARM 106.9 Teddy Bear Patrol which gives them to local firefighters and other emergency responders to give to children in times of crisis. The best part about the Teddy Bear Toss, though, is seeing all the bears thrown onto the ice after the first T-Birds goal. But before we see the bears thrown to the ice, the players must be introduced…
The Thunderbirds’ starting lineup is introduced to a capacity crowd at the ShoWare Center Jan. 28.
Canon 7D, 2500 ISO, 40mm, f/2.8, 1/640
A couple of stuffed animals have great seats for the beginning of the game. They didn’t even get to watch a full period, however, as Connor Honey opened the scoring for the Thunderbirds with seven minutes left in the period.
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 80mm, f/2.8, 1/800
Before that, though, the Thunderbirds had a couple of other decent shots on goal…
Defenseman Dave Sutter takes a shot on the Portland goal early in the first period.
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 73mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Center Connor Sanvido watches as Portland goalie Mac Carruth saves his shot in the first period.
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 90mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
As said before, Connor Honey put the Thunderbirds on the scoreboard with his first goal as a Thunderbird. Just as the celebration started on the ice, the teddy bears went flying…
Fans toss their stuffed animals onto the ice after Connor Honey’s first
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 53mm, f/2.8, 1/800
Here’s a cool shot I got while the stuffed animals were being thrown on the ice. I like this photo a lot because while you can still see the fans, including a couple bears that hadn’t been thrown over the boards yet, you can also see the ice starting to get littered with animals in the reflection off the glass. It all made for a nice shot.
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 30mm, f/2.8, 1/800
Being a Seattle/Portland rivalry game, the match was littered with hard hits and checks into the board. Here are a couple photos of those hits including part of a Luke Lockhart string…
Center Justin Hickman is about to slam Portland defenseman William Wrenn into the boards in the Portland zone during the second half.
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 28mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Center Luke Lockhart jostles for position with Portland defenseman Troy Rutkowski.
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 28mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
The jostling turned into a good ole-fashioned check later on…
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 28mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Unfortunately I wasn’t in position to get Honey’s first WHL goal, but I did have a nice viewpoint on what could have been his second…
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 40mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 32mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Portland’s William Wrenn blocks a shot late in the second, resulting in a loose puck in front of the Portland net.
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 35mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
And we’ll move to the third period, where I took my normal spot of between the benches. Although I missed left winger Chance Lund’s goal, I did get a good shot of him celebrating with Hickman…
Chance Lund and Justin Hickman celebrate Lund’s goal in the third period.
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 155mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
For that weekend of games, center Justin Hickman wore a wireless microphone for Q13 Sports. I wanted a photo that showed the mic and ended up with this beauty. Unfortunately, I cannot tell where it is on him. Can you spot the microphone?
Justin Hickman returns to the bench after a shift during the third period.
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 135mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Here’s newly-acquired right winger Dillon Wagner escaping from being pinned into the boards by Portland defenseman Derrick Pouliot. Wagner, a former Winterhawk, was claimed off waivers back in early January.
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 195mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
During warm-ups before the game, I noticed something different about the Thunderbirds players: they weren’t wearing the typical dark blue helmet, they were sporting white lids for this game. I’m not sure when exactly the white helmet entered the Thunderbirds’ unifomr options, but it certainly does look pretty slick. Here’s a shot of the helmet on the bench, as modeled by right wing Seth Swenson.
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Right winger Branden Troock tries to get at a rebound in front of Portland’s Marruth in the third period.
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 170mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
And for our last photo, let’s check out one final hit by Justin Hickman…
Hickman stands up Portland defenseman Joseph Morrow late in the game.
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 135mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Unfortunately that’s it for photos for this post. Hopefully it won’t take me so long to post again, and I hope to see you all down at the ShoWare Center real soon!
‘Til next time, Go T-Birds!
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