Game 18: T-Birds Fly Past Silvertips

Last Friday night (Jan. 14), the Thunderbirds hosted Everett for just the second time this season (a fact that surprises me, especially considering we’ve played Tri-City three times before January).  That game, broadcast to the entire region by FSN Northwest, was another well-played home game, giving the Thunderbirds two straight 3-1 wins.  The building was electric for Everett and the tv cameras and everything, so I was amped up before the game started.  I was asked to get photos of the combined choir that sang the national anthem last night, so I spent the player introductions and pregame out on the ice, where I found this cool shot…

Center Luke Lockhart (middle) is bathed in a spotlight while being introduced to the crowd.

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/500^th, Manual

Onto the game!  You will notice I don’t have any photos from above this time.  This is because as I was heading to my spot to shoot for the first period, my 70-200 lens (my primary one and the one that allows me to zoom in on the ice from the suite level) learned about gravity the hard way and decided to tumble to the concrete floor of the top level.  It had “a major impact”, as the guys at the camera repair shop would later say, and wouldn’t focus on anything.  I’d have to shoot the entire game with a 50mm prime lens (that means it doesn’t zoom in or out; its focal length is fixed at 50mm), a real challenge for me since I depend heavily on the added distance the 70-200 gives.  Enough with the technical talk, though, you’re not here for that.  Let’s move onto game talk and game photos…

One of the things I was looking for Friday night was photos of the two players the Thunderbirds recently traded for, defensemen Mitch Spooner and Ryan Button.  Since this was their first home game as Thunderbirds, I wanted to build up a couple of stock images for them.  Luckily Spooner was involved with the defense early on in the first period…

Newly-arrived defenseman Mitch Spooner fires the puck out of the T-Birds defensive corner and towards center ice.

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/1600^th, Manual

Spooner tries to shove Everett left wing Ryan Harrison off balance and away from the puck.

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/1600^th, Manual

This next shot isn’t normally a photo I’d take or publish in this blog—I much prefer to put action that shows the puck or a nice moment that most fans generally can’t see—but it is a decent-looking portrait of Colin Jacobs.  Chalk this one up to using that 50…

Center Colin Jacobs (right) and Everett left wing Tyler Maxwell chase after a cleared puck.

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/1600^th, Manual

And here are the same two players fighting over possession.  Funny how that turned out…

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/1600^th, Manual

For the first period, the shots on goal for each team were about even as Seattle had 15 and the Silvertips had 13.  Here, the Seattle defense clears out one of those shots…

Lockhart (left) clears a loose puck after an Everett shot in the first period.

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/1600^th, Manual

The biggest difference is that Seattle got two past Everett goalie Kent Simpson while Seattle netminder Calvin Pickard stopped all 13 shots taken on him.

Goalie Calvin Pickard puts a glove between the net and the puck after an Everett shot.

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/1600^th, Manual

That does it for the first period, but before moving onto the second period, let’s focus on the first intermission.  We had a special intermission show: a proposal!  After the lucky lady scored a goal, the goalie popped off his mask, got on one knee (or is it one pad here), and popped the question…

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/5.6, 1/500^th, Manual

And it’s a yes!  Congratulations you two, I hope you have a great life together.  Judging from the looks on your faces in the next photo, it’ll be a happy lifetime at that!

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/5.6, 1/500^th, Manual

Ok, now we can move onto the second period.  I was again near the side of the north goal for that period.  This time, however, it was the Thunderbirds shooting at this goal.  Take, for example, this photo…

Newly-arrived defenseman Ryan Button takes a shot on goal during a power play in the second period.

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/1600^th, Manual

The Thunderbirds again put 15 shots on the Everett goal.  Silvertip goalie Kent Simpson blocked 14 of them, including this particular shot.

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/1600^th, Manual

There was one that went in, however.  Center Justin Hickman earned his first WHL point by assisting left wing Chance Lund with his goal about halfway through the period.  The two raised their hands in celebration of the goal.

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/1250^th, Manual

Fans celebrated in a similar fashion, including this particular fellow named Erik…

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/640^th, Manual

Center Connor Sanvido also had a good chance at his first of the season when he faced a loose puck in front of the Everett goal.  Everett defenseman Ryan Murray, however, got his stick in front of Sanvido’s and eliminated the opportunity for a shot.

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/1250^th, Manual

That didn’t stop Sanvido, though, as he continued to jostle with Murray until the puck slid past the goal.

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/1250^th, Manual

As I mentioned earlier, the game was broadcast live on Fox Sports Northwest.  I got this gem during the second intermission of play-by-play voice Ian Furness and T-Birds Assistant General Manager Colin Campbell.

Ian Furness (left) interviews T-Birds Assistant General Manager Colin Campbell. 

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/800^th, Manual

Now for the third period!  I split time between the handicap seating area near section 112 and Calvin’s Corner (which was unused).  I don’t really like the photos I got from the handicap section, so here’s another photo from in front of the north goal.  This was a particularly hard-fought faceoff…

Players pile on top of each other during a faceoff in the middle of the third period.

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/1250^th, Manual

Late in the game, Everett pulled Simpson in an attempt to catch up to the T-Birds.  The Silvertips pulled an all-out attack, but the Seattle defense pulled out all the stops to keep the score at 3-1.

Defenseman Erik Bonsor hits the ice in an effort to block the path to the Seattle goal.

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/1250^th, Manual

The Silvertips didn’t get a single goal, yet needed two to force overtime.  You know what that means: SEATTLE WINS!

The Thunderbirds rush onto the ice to celebrate the win over Everett with goalie Calvin Pickard.

Canon 7D, 50mm, 1600 ISO, f/2.8, 1/1250^th, Manual

That’s it for this blog post, T-Birds fans.  Tune in a bit later in the week for photos from Sunday’s game against Vancouver and to see if I managed to survive without my broken lens.

‘Til next time, go T-Birds!

January 18, 2011 | Categories: Game Thread | Tags: Calvin Pickard, celebration, Chance Lund, Colin Jacobs, Connor Sanvido, Erik Bonsor, Everett Silvertips, fans, FSN, intermission, introductions, Justin Hickman, Luke Lockhart, Mitch Spooner, Ryan Button, wedding proposal | 1 Comment