Last night was nothing short of epic. The USA women's gold medal hockey game against the Canadians was surprising at times, stressful for most, and came to a conclusion like something you would see in a movie. I also had unprecedented access after the game, but let me start from the beginning. This one is going to be a story, I promise.
When I walked into the Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena in the afternoon, I was excited to see that the wrap-around boards said "Bronze Medal Game". As soon as I saw that, I planned on getting out there before our game (which would also be at the blue hour) and capture the boards saying "Gold Medal Game". Surprisingly, it didn't say that! Either way, I knew it would be nice to get this shot at the right time of the evening. No fans were allowed in yet, so I had a clean shot of the venue.
I should also say that I was nervous, as I am before any big job. This was a HUGE game for the team and they were relying on me to capture images of those key moments. I knew I needed to get those.
I had already been to ice level and held the best spot for shooting (on the side where we shoot twice, and with the cleanest plexiglass I could find).
I went back into the arena and saw that the equipment manager had stacked the pucks by the team bench. I snuck onto the bench to get this shot. Something different from any of the other games I have photographed.
I photographed some of the warmups and then waited for the game to start. I was waiting behind the net (this time with the Canon R1 and RF 24-70mm lens) to get the group huddle shot.
I photographed the game, capturing as much action as I could. The team was not playing very well in the first two periods. I was not happy with what I was seeing in front of me. I was equally shocked when the Canadians scored a short-handed goal in the second period. After this amazing Olympics, where the team had been SO dominant, could we really lose now?
With less than two minutes left in the game, we pulled our goalie and went 6 on 5. Then came the first epic moment of this night. If you have been reading the blog for the last week or so, you know that I have been keying in on Hillary Knight, hoping to capture her breaking the all time Olympic goal scoring record. I kept my lens pointing at her as she skated into the crease, and in a split second, she tipped the puck into the net. She managed to break the record AND tie the game in one moment! Seriously??? Thankfully I caught that moment in a couple of frames.
This images was captured seconds later, as they celebrated that moment.
Needless to say, the place went crazy. I captured the moment where they were all jumping with joy.
I hammered the shutter of the Canon R1 to make sure I got everything I could. I love this shot with Hillary turning towards the bench with this big smile on her face.
There was a 20 minute break before heading into overtime. I quickly posted images from the third period, knowing that the only images that the team really wanted were these photos of Hillary scoring. Then we started overtime. I have to say that I was nervous about the outcome, but also felt like the momentum was definitely on the US side.
Four and a half minutes later, I followed Megan Keller as she crashed the net, and captured the puck crossing the goal line. It happened so fast that I didn't know if she scored or not, until the roar of the crowd.
I kept focusing on Megan and caught this photo of her throwing her stick in the air and that gold medal smile.
Everyone went crazy! They were so excited to have won this overtime game, and I was happy that this all was happening in an area where I could get clean shots. Look at those reactions! Priceless.
As team photographer, I was allowed on the ice to photograph the medal ceremony. I was so thankful to not have to shoot through plexiglass anymore. The other good thing is that they know me, so they were looking my way for photos.
I did not capture images of everyone getting their medals (since we are mostly blocked by the other people and TV cameras, but did try my best to get Hillary and some other key members getting their gold medals.
It was fun to capture this amazing moment for the team.
I had taken two cameras on the ice (thank goodness). I had one Canon R1 with the RF 70-200mm lens and one Canon R1 with the RF 24-70mm lens. I needed the wider lens to get this shot of the whole team during the national anthem.
After the flags were raised, they grouped up for team photos.
Then they came over to me and I started taking portraits of as many of the athletes as I could.
It was crazy to be there, trying to stay composed enough to take good photos, but also shaking with excitement for them.
I love this shot of Kendall Coyne and Hillary Knight (having photographed them at so many Olympics in the past).
More gold medal moments!
They kept coming and I kept shooting!
I saw that Kendall had her son Drew in her arms and knew I needed a shot of that. She was across the ice, but I yelled over to her to get some photos. It started with this group shot.
Kendall came over and asked me to take a portrait of the two of them. This image has been posted by her and so many others, and that just makes me happy.
As I was shooting the last images on the ice, the team lead came over to me and said "we want you in the locker room for photos". I knew that my credentials do not give me access to the locker room, but they took care of that. I followed my escort from the ice, through a really long maze of tunnels to a different building, and waited for the women to arrive. While they were being interviewed back in the arena, I retouched all of these images for them.
I entered the locker room and started taking photos, trying not to get champagne on my camera. Right before exiting the room, I thought it would be fun to get a group shot. I called everyone together and took this. So much fun!
It was well after midnight at this point, and I thought I was done. Then I found out that they were heading back to the USA Winter House for a party. I was exhausted and told them I was going to head back to my hotel. They had none of that and insisted I go. So...I hopped on the team bus and away we went. I think I got back to my hotel room about 2:30am. Tired but so happy for the team.
What a night!!! I got to witness a game for the ages, and be a small part of that. What an honor!
Please excuse any typos. Normally I try to proofread everything before I post, but here at the Olympics, time is a commodity. I definitely miss some things. :)
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