T-Birds Outlast Everett in Shootout
Hello again, T-Birds fans, and welcome back to Bird Watching. Again I have to apologize for the delay between this post and the last one, I was busy during the Christmas break and didn’t find the time to put together some photos for you. No matter now, though, as hockey’s back, I have a day off and photos to show off!
For this edition of Bird Watching, we’ll examine the T-Birds’ shootout win over Everett last week. Rather, we’ll check out the shootout victory over the Silvertips that took place in Kent on Dec. 27, seeing as the teams played to the same result at Everett the next day. On the 27th, the Thunderbirds kicked off the second half of the season with two points that could prove crucial in the playoff race later on in front of a sold out ShoWare Center crowd. Onto the photos!
I don’t get many photos of goalie Daniel Cotton since it’s normally Calvin Pickard between the pipes for the Thunderbirds, so when I learned Cotton recently got a new mask, I jumped at the chance to snap a few photos of it. Hopefully I’ll get to see it in action one of these games, but until then, here’s a shot of the back of it.
Goalie Daniel Cotton shows off his new mask—and assures anyone behind him of his identity— during warm-ups before the game Dec. 27.
Canon 7D, 2000 ISO, 155mm, f/2.8, 1/1600
As mentioned before, the T-Birds and ‘Tips played in front of a sold out crowd of 6,150 that night, the best crowd of the year. I wanted to get a nice shot showing the entire bowl, but unfortunately I don’t have a wide enough lens to get that shot. WPS photographer Brian Liesse did, however, and he was nice enough to let me use the HDR image he took of the entire bowl in this post. Thanks Brian!
Photo by Brian Liesse, Washington Prep Sports
Nikon D5000, 500 ISO, 11mm, f/2.8, 1/60
Right winger Burke Gallimore tries to sail a rebounded puck past Everett goalie Kent Simpson halfway through the first period.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 155mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
The Thunderbirds had a goal waived off in the first period. I didn’t catch the reason why it was waived off, so unfortunately I can’t give you all an explanation, but I can give you a photo of the play that didn’t happen…
Gallimore (top) and center Sean Aschim crash the net and send the puck past Everett’s Simpson. Unfortunately for the T-Birds the goal was disallowed and the score remained 0-0.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 140mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
The game would remain at 0-0 for the rest of the period. Now onto the second!
The newest Thunderbird, right winger Connor Honey, brings the puck up along the boards during the second period.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 35mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
For part of the second period, I tried out a new position right in front of section 107. As well as giving me a different angle than I’m used to for the second, the move gave me less-damaged glass to shoot through (the glass to either side of goals will always be clearer than the glass right behind it as pucks don’t hit the side glass nearly as often) and allow me to use my 70-200mm lens, which provides a better quality of photo. Moving, for this game at least, gave me a good amount of shots, much more than I normally get in the second…
Right wing Branden Troock is knocked over in front of the Everett goal by Everett defender Evan Morden. (Note: this could be the play that earned Morden an interference minor, but I’m not sure)
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Left winger Marcel Noebels watches as Simpson deflects a shot wide of the goal late in the second period.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
With just seconds left in the period, Marcel Noebels found himself on something of a breakaway—there was only one defender between him and the goal, but that defender was on the other side of the ice. He fired a shot at Simpson, who couldn’t freeze the puck before Burke Gallimore arrived to threaten the goal…
Everett goalie Kent Simpson tries to freeze the puck before it can rebound to an awaiting Burke Gallimore…
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Simpson did manage to freeze the puck and stop play, but not before Burke was able to try and knock the puck away from the Everett goalie.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
That’s it from the second period. During the period, Gallimore one-timed a pass from defender Evan Wardley into the back of the net for a Seattle goal. It was Gallimore’s 15th goal of the year, and Wardley earned his first WHL assist for the pass. Noebels was given an assist as well. Now onto the third period, where I took my normal spot between the benches…
Noebels maneuvers around the outstretched-reach of Everett defenseman Dominik Bittner for a shot on frame.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 115mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Defenseman Brad Deagle brings the puck into the neutral zone during the third period.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 115mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Left winger Chance Lund clears the puck out of the Everett zone in the third period.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 98mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Honey carries the puck over the center line.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 78mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
By now you’re probably thinking, “Wow, Kyle got a lot of photos of people carrying the puck that night.” You’d be correct: I did get a number of clean shots of the T-Birds possessing the puck tonight. Why? I don’t know, but I always like getting stock photos of those I don’t normally catch in images, so I’m not complaining too loudly. Here’s one more, this time of defenseman Shea Theodore.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 35mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
And in case you were worried about the lack of goalie Calvin Pickard in this post so far, don’t worry. Here he is doing his best impression of a brick wall.
Goalie Calvin Pickard makes a stick save on an Everett shot during the third period.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 135mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
The shot I didn’t get, however, is a photo of the goal Everett scored to even the score at one in the third period. Since no one likes to go home with a tie, how about we go to overtime?
Center Luke Lockhart dives for a puck in the opening stages of the overtime period.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 98mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Pickard stops a shot from Everett left winger Joshua Linquist.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 150mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Neither team scored in overtime, so the game was sent to a shootout. The Thunderbirds’ coaching staff, (from left to right) assistant coach Darren Rumble, head coach Steve Konowalchuk, and assistant coach Steve McTaggart, got together and decided who would take the shootout attempts for the T-Birds.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/800
They decided to send center Colin Jacobs out first, and he vindicated that choice by sending the puck past Everett goalie Kent Simpson. Josh Birkholz and Joshua Winquist for Everett didn’t see the same success, however, and it was up to Cody Fowlie to get one past Pickard in order to extend the shootout. That didn’t happen.
Pickard sends Fowlie’s shootout attempt sailing wide of the net, clinching the victory and two points for Seattle.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 145mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
With the game won, Pickard threw his arms up in celebration as the rest of the team rushed out to greet him.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 195mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
And again, Colin Jacobs and center Tyler Alos found and congratulated each other on the win.
Canon 7D, 1600 ISO, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
That’s it for this post! T-Birds win! Sorry again for the delay in getting something new up on the blog, hopefully it won’t be two weeks before the next post again. If you want to complain about the lack of posts or comment on any of the photos, feel free to do so in the comments section below.
‘Til next time, though, go T-Birds!
2011/2012 Season Opener: New Beginnings and Familiar Faces
Welcome back to Bird Watching, T-Birds fans! In case you’re new to Thunderbirds’ fandom, I’m team photographer Kyle Scholzen and I’ll be sharing some of my best and favorite shots from the season. If you’re returning, welcome back! I hope you enjoy this blog even more than you did last year. As always, if you’ve got a question, comment, or suggestion for me, feel free to leave it in the comments section below! I’d love to hear what I can do to make this blog better for you!
Last Saturday the 24th was the season opener for the Thunderbirds. Throughout the offseason, the team underwent numerous changes, including new head and assistant coaches, numerous new faces on defense, and familiar faces of youngsters with the team full-time. With all these changes, there was plenty of excitement around the ShoWare Center on Saturday, and that excitement was evident even before the game started. Like last year’s opener, there were numerous activities set up in front of the arena set up for fans of all ages. The older ones got to partake in a beer garden, while the younger ones enjoyed things like video games, free face painting…
Canon 7D, 640 ISO, 32mm, f/3.5, 1/250
and a couple of inflatable bouncy-toys.
Canon 7D, 640 ISO, 55mm, f/4.5, 1/50
After enjoying the festivities outside the ShoWare Center, it was time for everyone to head inside, warm up, and grab some concessions before the game started.
Canon 7D, 2500 ISO, 32mm, f/5, 1/60
Even though fans knew most of the new things about this year—Steve Konowalchuck had been announced as head coach in June and the roster was released the week before—there was one surprise waiting to be revealed: new jerseys! On Saturday, the Thunderbirds debuted their new alternate jersey, a combination of darker blue trim and lighter blue base color, along with a secondary shield logo.
Defenseman Kyle Verdino styles the new jersey as he is introduced to the fans prior to the home opener.
Canon 7D, 2500 ISO, 105mm, f/2.8, 1/250
One of the players who got the loudest cheers was rightwinger Jacob Doty. Something tells me we’ll be hearing more about Doty a little later on in this blog, but for now let’s see as he’s introduced before the game.
Canon 7D, 2500 ISO, 95mm, f/2.8, 1/500
After all the players were introduced came the inaugural puck drop. Dropping the first puck that night was Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry, a recent Medal of Honor recipient based out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Wash.
SFC Petry (center) drops the puck for Seattle captain Luke Lockhart (right) and Portland captain Troy Rutkowski (left) to open the 2011-2012 season.
Canon 7D, 2500 ISO, 105mm, f/2.8, 1/250
To earn his Medal of Honor, SFC Petry attempted to throw a live grenade back at the enemy during a mission in Afghanistan in 2008 in order to save the lives of four of his squad-mates, some of them injured. The grenade exploded immediately after Petry let go of it, severing his right hand, yet saving the lives of at least two of his fellow soldiers.
After a recovery time of several weeks, SFC Petry was given a state-of-the-art prosthetic hand. Despite having a bionic hand, Petry did not leave service; he has since gone on tours of duty in both Iraq and Afghanistan with his prosthetic. Everyone at the Seattle Thunderbirds was honored that SFC Petry agreed to drop the puck on opening night, and I’m jealous of Luke Lockhart for getting to shake the man’s hand.
Canon 7D, 2500 ISO, 53mm, f/2.8, 1/250
Next up came the national anthem. Kent resident Stefano Langone was selected to sing it on opening night. You may remember Stefano from the recent season of American Idol where he made the top seven, and he proved his talents further with his wonderfully understated version of the national anthem…
Canon 7D, 2500 ISO, 60mm, f/2.8, 1/320
And while everyone in the arena was watching Stefano sing, I noticed that SFC Petry had snapped to attention, saluting the flag…
Canon 7D, 2500 ISO, 48mm, f/2.8, 1/320
After the opening ceremony, though, it was time to get the season underway. In this first action photo of the year, left winger Mitch Elliot brings the puck down the ice into the Thunderbirds’ attacking end.
Canon 7D, 1250 ISO, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Just over two and a half minutes in, Jacob Doty returned to his physical ways and found himself facing off with Portland’s Cody Castro after Doty had a particularly hard check on another Winterhawk. Doty fulfilled his enforcer duties well, taking Castro to the ice and firing up the Thunderbirds and the fans after the fight. ShoWare was rocking during Doty’s trip to the penalty box. Here’s him in action with Castro…
Canon 7D, 1250 ISO, 160mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
And here’s Marcel Noebels skating up-ice with the puck…
Canon 7D, 1250 ISO, 110mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Portland took 14 shots on goalie Calvin Pickard in the first period, and Pickard stopped all of them. Luckily I was in a position to get some photos of him making those saves, like this one
Goalie Calvin Pickard stops a shot from Portland right winger Brad Ross.
Canon 7D, 1250 ISO, 80mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
And this one, which is my favorite shot from the game (I always like it when I get big ice sprays in my photos)…
Pickard pokes the puck away from Portland right wing Ty Rattie before Rattie can put it on goal.
Canon 7D, 1250 ISO, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/1000
The first period ended 0-0. The second period brought even more action, although unfortunately I wasn’t shooting much of it as I had to find photos from the pregame ceremony to put up on facebook. That’s ok, though, as the third period had even more action than the three-goal period before it.
Marcel Noebels started his sophomore year in the WHL well Saturday, scoring once and getting named the game’s second star. Unfortunately my view of his goal was blocked by a couple of players, so here’s a photo of him clearing a puck out of the Seattle defensive end in the third period.
Canon 7D, 1250 ISO, 110mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Left winger Chance Lund also scored in the third period, and fortunately I had a fairly unobstructed view of that play. Here he is slipping the puck past Portland goalie Mac Carruth.
Canon 7D, 1250 ISO, 90mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Lund’s goal tied up the game two-all, and he seemed fairly excited for his first goal of the new season…
Canon 7D, 1250 ISO, 120mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
As said before, one of the new faces on the Thunderbirds wasn’t on the ice Saturday night, but behind the bench. Saturday was Steve Konowalchuck’s first game as head coach of the Seattle Thunderbirds and first WHL game since his own playing days, coincidentally with the Portland Winterhawks. Here he is talking with assistant coach Jim McTaggart.
Canon 7D, 1250 ISO, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/800
Also back for one more season is right winger Burke Gallimore. Gallimore is one of three overagers (a team in the WHL may only have three 20 year olds; defensemen Kyle Verdino and Cason Machacek are the other two players) and also one of the crowd favorites. Here he is on the puck with Lockhart skating up in support.
Canon 7D, 1250 ISO, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
And speaking of Lockhart, here he is tussling with a familiar face around these parts, former Thunderbird and current Portland center Charles Wells.
Canon 7D, 1250 ISO, 150mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
And to end today’s post, how about we use a staple here on Bird Watching, another Calvin Pickard save!
Pickard stops a shot from Portland center Chase De Leo in the third period.
Canon 7D, 1250 ISO, 160mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
The T-Birds hung tough with Portland for 50 minutes Saturday night before ultimately falling 6-3. This Saturday they hope to return the favor when they head down I-5 and take on the Winterhawks in Portland at 7 pm. Tune in to that, and also keep coming back here for more photos throughout the year.
It’s great to have hockey back, isn’t it? Til next time, go T-Birds!
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