John and Ann -- Teaser #2

Time for another teaser!!

Mr. & Mrs. Whelan... the teaser

Still in the midst of editing John and Ann's wedding, but thought I'd toss this image out there (mostly to drive them nuts while I work on the rest of the photos)...

The Run to the Cup

I'm sure those few of you that are actively following the blog are wondering where the heck the Clark Cup photos are!  Well truth be told, we've just been so busy processing them, going to the next shoot, and handling all the photo requests, getting a few up on the blog has been a somewhat low priority, especially considering the full sets have been up on the galleries for quite some time.

Rather than break them down like we usually do, I'm just going to post a whole series of our favorite images from the homecoming and celebrations...











































That's it for now!  See you at camp in a few weeks!!

Home-Ice

The finals have come to Indy for the first time in several years. I'll be honest...I'm kind of burnt out on hockey by this time in the spring. It's been a long run, starting at the summer camp in June, then the team picnic in September, then kicking off the season in October.

By April I'm ready for a break.

But if I'm still standing in the box in May it's a whole different story. If I'm in the box in May it means we're playing for the Clark Cup. No, it's not Lord Stanley's Cup, and though the locker rooms are smaller, the equipment not as new, the will to win is still burning.

The Fargo Force was in town, and again if I'm being honest, I think we all took Game 1 for granted. I know I did. To use my exact words in describing it to my co-workers... "We'd beaten the snot out of Fargo three of four times we played them in the regular season." In my head, we were already lifting the Cup and starting the celebration.



And then the Fargo goaltender stood on his head and put on an absolute clinic in net. This was a Fargo team that was worlds away from the hapless expansion club we saw back in October. Not nearly the offensive weapons that we have, but the old sports cliche really is true-- 'Offense fills seats; defense wins championships.' Fargo shut the Ice down in front of their net, and crashed the hell out of our net. Eventually it paid off, and the Ice skated off 2-1 losers in the first game.


game two
The Ice came out determined to play their game instead of Fargo's in game two of the series. Home-ice-advantage nullified, this was going to be an out-and-out war.


Gone from the locker room was any kind of joking. No laughter. No pre-game giddiness. Just adrenaline, focus, and lots of taped-up playoff injuries.







Back after a night off was Sebastian Geoffrion, and he brought his normal style of game...




After two of the most brutal, hard-hitting periods of hockey I've seen in four years in the box, the Ice's offense finally started to fire on all cylinders, and we came out with a 5-2 win. Next up, games 3 and 4 in Fargo later this week, with a game 5 if necessary back in Indy on Sunday afternoon.

Time to Use the 'Force'

I think this photo pretty much sums it up, yeah?



Two powerplay goals against in the first period and this is how Phil Wilson, reporter for the Indianapolis Star, described the mood: "A humbling two-goal deficit after one period of hockey had the Indiana Ice locker room silent. Some players stared at the Pepsi Coliseum floor, others gawked at the ceiling. Doubt crept in, for a few moments." (LINK)

The second period brought out a different Indiana Ice team, though. Here are a couple shots of the period that turned the season...






And by far the coolest tradition in any sport. These guys spend the better part of a week trying to find new and exciting ways to kill each other on the ice, and at the end of all those hours of sweat and aggression, they line up and shake hands, from the players all the way through the ranks to the trainers. I absolutely love the handshake line. I wish I had been able to be there to shoot it, but this was Kelly's game from start to finish; I was at soccer and then home with the tot.



And finally for now, the post-game celebration in the locker room. I'm glad the guys had a moment to enjoy this accomplishment, but Mike Cichy pegged it... "It's still unfinished right now." We've got one more series to win. Look out Fargo, the Ice is coming...

Game 3

If the game were on ESPN, the commentator would say something that was supposed to be witty but said absolutely nothing.  Something like, "While it's not a must-win game for the Ice, this Game 3 is almost a must-win," or, "The Ice really need to grab this series by the scruff of the neck tonight." 

Game 3.  Series tied 1-1.  Winner goes into a situation of needing to only win one more to head to the Clark Cup Finals against Fargo. 

I usually try to duck into the locker room prior to warm-ups for a few minutes to say hi to the guys and pick up a cup of coffee.  Usually the locker room is pretty raucous--loud music, guys grab-assing and joking around, the usual dudes' locker room kind of mentality.

This was the locker room before Game 3...


Quiet.  Tense.  The guys have a laptop loaded with music to listen to while they dress.  A song ended and no one got up to start another for several seconds.  One of the guys walked through in a towel.  Nobody tried to yank it or snap him with their own towel.  I'd never seen this team with their game faces on so early.  I knew we were in for a battle.


Kind of like a shot shattering a pane of glass behind the goalie, this is something you see in the NHL from time to time, but I've never seen it in the USHL.  One of the Ice players did this.  With a shot.



And the big hero of the night...Max Cook with the game winning goal and first star of the night.




Nice to see the local media finally taking an interest in the Ice, as well.  Several of the local network affiliates were out shooting some footage of the game, and Fox-59 stayed around to interview the coach and players.

Way too fast

(Lookit my little south-paw writing!)

<<sigh>> I know it's cliche. I know it's maudlin. But I know it's my little girl, and she's growing up way too fast. I remember like it was yesterday the night she was born. The doctors telling us the labor was too long and she was having difficulty breathing. Me spending five exhausted minutes at midnight next to this tiny, gasping being before they put her into the pediatric ICU ambulance to transport her to a Level-4 NICU forty minutes away. Finally taking her home a week later, happy and healthy, if still a little tired.

Now here we are, four and a half years later and she's writing, reading simple words, and throwing the most hideous tantrums when she wants a pudding cup for dinner instead of the chicken and green beans we made. She's a decent photographer (for a four-year-old), a budding computer geek, and just got her first iPod (mom's hand-me-down) yesterday. (Kidz Bop 15 all the way to the zoo!)

I can't even put into words the roller coaster of joys and worries and achievements and moments our Molly has brought us.