The Filthy Mitts

Yeet, everyone stereotypes hockey as a sport that fights and hits ALL the time. This is completely incorrect. Yes, AT TIMES players will fight to get the team amped, but there isn't a fight every period of every game. They are occasional, but they aren't frequent at all. Hitting on the other hand is just a big part of the game, and it's inevitable to see a hockey game without a few big hits. This is what makes the game exciting and fun to watch (other than the sheer speed of it). It's faster than football and it's been proven that hockey hits are 17% harder than NFL hits.

Video taken from Youtube

See, hits like these make people think hockey is a barbaric sport and the people playing it are just trying to kill people. This is so wrong. Hockey takes many more things to succeed than physicality and size. The parts of hockey people usually don't see are the stick-handling, shooting, passing and other things that go into the sport.

One of my fav parts of the game is the stick-handling portion of it. If you play hockey, there are many different terms used for this segment of the game. "Oh dude, filthy mitts bruh" or "Damn you dangled the sh*t out of that kid"are both terms you would hear during a game of hockey. Over the years, I have continually gotten better at stick-handling and "dangling". To be completely honest, I used to be complete garbage at stick-handling, although I'm not saying I'm any good now.

So ya, I'm not very good, but I'm progressing! In the NHL, there are a few players that are just incredible with stick-handling and dangling. Honestly, how do they even eat with those hands (meaning they're filthy, meaning they're really good and fast). There are two main players in the NHL whose mitts are just insane. 

Player #1: Patrick Kane, playing for the Chicago Blackhawks. He's not the largest player in the NHL, but let me tell you: his mitts are crazy. They're soooo fast and agile that all you see is the blur of his stick as he dangles a defender and goes cheddar on the goalie. Right when the APX2 stick was coming out, Bauer put out a little commercial showing how great the stick was. P. Kane stick handles through other pucks, never touching one. It looks easy, but one touch of another puck is disastrous. Check it out.

Dang... Got this from Youtube once again.

Player #2: Pavel Datsyuk, playing for the Detroit Red Wings. This player has been playing longer than P. Kane but from my perspective, they're pretty equal in skill. Again, all defensemen goin' up against Datsyuk might as well be cones because they just get dangled: hard. This guy's mitts are insane. In this vid he plays keep away with a reporter who used to play hockey. This is funny to watch to be honest.

Youtube once again....

Ya, so basically hockey isn't just based off of hitting and fighting. There are a bunch of things that go into hockey, not just physicality. So maybe in a future post I'll talk about shooting or strategies. Alright well, I need to go nap so, see you all later!

An Experience of a Life Time

Yo so since I've done two photog posts in a row, it's time for a hockey post! So recently, the Utah Jr. Grizzlies U14 AA made the trek off to Blaine, Minnesota (near Minneapolis-St. Paul). This tournament was a showcase for a various amount of NAHL (North American Hockey League) scouts who were looking for new talent for the upcoming seasons. This tournament was played at the Schwan Super Rink. This was not one rink, this was a massive complex with 8 separate rinks. There were hundreds of kids playing in the tournament, all of different ages and there were teams from across the nation. We played 4 teams: San Jose Jr. Sharks '00 U14 AAA, HC (Hockey Club) Dallas '00 U14 AAA, Esmark Stars '00 U14 AAA and West Coast Renegades '00 U14 AAA. So I guess I'll just go over each game and sort of analyze it.

The NAHL Showcase Tourney in Blaine, MN

Game 1:
One word: stress. We knew it was a AAA tournament (highest level of hockey) and we knew it'd be an uphill fight from the start. The first game didn't go so well because of all of our stress. We played the San Jose Jr. Sharks U14 '00 AAA and they acted like their team mascot. They were ferocious, and played incredible defense as well as offense. They used their speed like crazy and their passing was crazy compared to anything in Utah. The Shark's strategies were different from Utah and they were veryyy effective. This was an overall good team, although we didn't test the goalie very well. I played pretty well but couldn't get anything going. Final score: 8-1

Game 2:
The next game our team was completely different. We came out very hard against HC Dallas U14 '00 AAA and we really should've won. It was 1-1 for the longest time, and then 2-2 closely after. HC Dallas had a few good players, but otherwise were quite average. I'm not gonna lie, they had some pretty dope jerseys. In the last 5 minutes in the game, they scored to make it 3-2. We pulled our goalie to try and tie it back up and failed, and they scored again to make the end score 4-2. I played pretty well with a goal to tie it up 1-1. I felt like I had good speed and read the ice well too. Final score: 4-2

Game 3:
There really isn't too much to talk about in this game. The Esmark Stars U14 '00 AAA were the best kids from around Pittsburgh and Cleveland and it showed. They were very fast and had incredible mitts. They set up in the offensive zone very well and moved the puck like crazy. To put this game into a one sentence summary, it'd be "We got wrecked". I played okay but wasn't moving my feet very well so... Final score: 10-1

Game 4:
The final game we played was against the West Coast Renegades U14 '00 AAA. This team is also from Utah, (and isn't good at all to be honest). We played okay against them, scoring 3 goals and letting up 2 in the last 2 minutes. Our speed was okay, but we really played down to their level. But, a win is a win right? I played alright with an assist. Final score: 3-2

So this weekend was a lot of fun. It was a great experience and fun to play at the highest level of hockey. I hope to do it again soon.

Photo taken by Mr. Anderson (father of Ammon Anderson)

Lenses: So Many Choices, Yet So Much Money

Yo, I gotta 'nother decision for you guys to make. Ya, this post will be similar to one a few weeks back. I NEED a new camera lens. Christmas is coming up, and hopefully I'll get a ton of camera stuff to mess around with throughout the rest of winter and the rest of the year. Similar to the skis, I'm stuck between two different types of lenses. Both lenses would be quite fun to play around with, but you know me; I can't decide which one to get. SO PLEASE HELP ME.

The Macro:
These types of lenses seem like a ton of fun to play around with. If you didn't know already, this type of lens (in simple terms) is a super-duper-up-close type of lens. If you look off to the side of my page you'll see a leaf with some agua on it. This would be a "macro shot" although I didn't even use my camera for this. In fact I actually used my phone with a magnifying glass (which is a great alternative if you can't afford a macro lens). Anyways, there are many different macro lenses, varying in quality and price. Of course I won't be able to afford the nicest lens, reaching over $1,400 (yes, I live in Park City and I can't afford everything, crazy right). So for me I'd like a lens that is a good quality, yet also not going to make me broke. I've recently been looking at the Canon EF-S 60 mm f/2.8 Macro USM. This lens is a pretty good lens, and has a few nice features. It has a floating optical system that can focus down to full life size. Also, it's a good multi-purpose lens not only good for macro shots, but for portrait shots and available light shots. This lens' retail price is around $470.

Canon Macro Lens

The Wide-Angle:
The other lens I was looking to invest in was a wide-angle lens. This is a lens that can shoot, well, at a wide angle. So in a sense it's sort of a panorama-type lens. There really aren't too many specs on this specific lens, but it's an ultra wide-angle and pretty light-weight. It also has a rear floating focusing system. Solid quality images are captured at all subject distances.

Canon Wide-Angle Lens

Soooooo.... Which should I buy? Both seem to be a ton of fun to play around with, but which would be better for a Park City-area kind of photographer? I literally can't even right now. I don't know which one to get. Help me out homies... Please.

A Sample Photo from Canon with the Wide-Angle Lens

HELP ME....PLEASE