Stoked About the B-Day!

Hey guys! So guess what was yesterday?? That's right, by birthday! It's okay if you guys forgot, nobody really remembered anyways.... On another note, I got some sweet presents that both help in hockey and photography, so I thought, "Hey, maybe I could blog about this stuff!". So here it is, my blog post on some of the stuff I got! Now I have to tell you, these are only a few of the things I've gotten so far, so I'll most likely edit this post later to add in the presents I still haven't opened yet. So here are a few things I've received and I can't wait to use them!

Hockey Shooting Tiles:
I've been wanting these things for a while, and now I finally have them. So I'm hoping you all know you don't play hockey on concrete, you play it on ice... So for off-ice training and shooting, hockey players need to train as if they were on ice, and these shooting tiles do just that. You can take these anywhere and they feel like you're actually shooting on ice. You can get these all over the internet, but I got mine (I'm pretty sure) on Hockey Shot, which has a ton of great stuff for off-ice training.

Lens Hood Accessories:
These are very common in photography and I'm very glad I got one. Basically, lens hoods block out the unwanted sun so you don't have any lens glare or flare. So I got a tulip lens hood and a rubber lens hood. These both serve the same purpose, although the rubber hood seems to block out more light. These are quite useful and I'm glad I can add these to my collection of camera accessories.

My new tulip lens hood!!

Bauer Nexus 800 Gloves:
There's not much to talk about here; I had these gloves before, I just needed a new pair because mine were getting too small and had holes. Bottom line: I got new hockey gloves that are niceeee.

Filters/Cleaning Stuff:
Last camera thing for this post; I got three new filters for my lenses, plus a cleaning kit as well. The filters are UV, CPL and ND. UV is obviously ultra violet, CPL is Circular Polarizer Filter and ND is neutral density. These all help in photography and I can't wait to see how much they help.

So those are the presents I've received so far, soooo hopefully I'll be able to show you guys some of my stuff in action! If some of you are like, "Wow, he's just showing off the stuff he got and showing off the money his parents have" I must tell you, I'M NOT TRYING TO SHOW IT OFF. I just want to show you guys some of the stuff I will be using in the near future, and it's much easier to just tell you what I used instead of describing what it is and wasting time during that post. So if I bring these items up in later posts, you will immediately know what I'm talking about. This has been a sort of boring post, so I'll write about something exciting next time so I won't bore you to death. Well anyways, thanks for reading and remember, comments are appreciated!!

A Wrap On Nationals

This past week has really been a sad one... The hockey season has finally ended. The Utah Jr. Grizzlies Tier II team had an incredible season. We ended up going 26-12-4, which is a pretty good record. This was a crazy season, and I couldn't have been happier making it to the quarter finals in the National Championships. The entire National tournament was nerve-racking, yet a ton of fun. My team went 3-1, winning our pool and going on farther than most of the other teams. For this post, I'm going to revisit each game and try to be suspenseful as I can (so I can show what it actually felt like). This post is really tough for me, and even though you can't see it through writing, I'm crying on the inside....

Game One: Mission Red (Arizona)

This game wasn't too hard from the start, but later in the game it got stressful. Going into the game, the whole team was so nervous I'm surprised nobody puked before the game started. Two minutes into the game, one of my line-mates roofs a backhand top cheddar. Damn, that goal was unreal;  it put us up against Mission Red 1-0. Guess what happened two minutes after that? I scored! I was in the high slot, and Jake Jensen passed me the puck, and all I had to do was one-time it and BOOM, I 'niped near side (glove side low). Dang it was 2-0 within four minutes of the game! We were all pumped, and we kept it up till the third period. It was 5-2 at that point, and we were confident that we would win. This was a mistake, and we played very weak in the third. With two minutes left, it was 5-4, and they had the energy to put another one in to tie us. Luckily we held them, and we won 5-4. First game done! We were hyped, yet we knew we needed to pick it up next game.

Game Two: Nashville Jr. Predators

This game was veryyyy challenging, and it was the second most challenging game of the tournament. This team was REALLY good. Our two teams were almost identical and the game went back and forth for the whole three periods. Each period more and more butterflies crowded into my stomach, and I loved it, but also abhorred it. It was 2-1 in the third, and things were beginning to get sketchy. Nashville was getting a ton of SOG (shots on goal), but our tendy, Ty Cramer kept us in the game. With a 2-1 game, another goal for us was imperative. It ended up being ME who got that goal to make it 3-1, and from there, Nashville accepted defeat and sort of quit playing at their highest level. We got another goal to make the final score 4-1. What a game; we became 2-0 going into our third game.

My goal versus the Jr. Predators

Creds to Mr. Anderson

P.S., Sorry about the bad quality, that's the only way I could post the video...

Game Three: Manchester Flames

There really isn't much to talk about in this game... This team was really chippy and it was scary going into the corners with these kids, because they hit, HARD. They weren't very skilled and were 0-2 in the tournament, so they just let out their anger against us. I scored the first goal in this game, and it was pretty nice, just a little patience in front of the net, and then a backhand top shelf. The game ended 5-0, so not too much excitement occurred; although this win sent us to the quarter finals of the national championships (which was HUGE).

Game Four: Seattle Sno-King Jr. Thunderbirds

This game was just as intense as the Jr. Predators game, if not even more intense. This team was really good, and it was even more even than the Preds. All game it was a fight for the net, a fight for the hockey season to continue. If you lost this game, it meant your hockey season was over. Absolutely NO ONE wanted that, so we all fought for our lives. The game was even, but then they scored. It was in the second period, and it was a sick goal. The one player came down hard on the left, and then sauced it over to the other guy crashing hard on the weak side, who shot it right over our tendy's shoulder. It was a sick goal, and we let down a little. Soon enough, there was two minutes left in the game. Our season was about to come to an end; and to hurt us even more, they scored another goal with 30 seconds left in the game. Wow. Our season was over... That thought was in my mind for a while, and I still haven't gotten over it. It was a great tournament, and in my next post I'll describe my feelings over the past year...

Me rippin' a shot against the Jr. Predators
Creds to the Nationals Photographers...