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Last Monday I was fortunate enough to cover the Nottingham Varsity Ice Hockey game under the guise of getting photos for Impact.  This was definitely a dream come true as I’ve been fanatical about the sport since my Dad started taking me when I was 8 and since getting into sports photography its been number one on my wishlist to cover!

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I was working with another girl from Biology who very helpfully had access to some serious kit which I was lucky enough to borrow for part of the game.  We arrived about an hour and a half before face off and started scouting out the best places for us to shoot from and concluded that since she was going to try using the 300mm f/2.8 I would get the first go in the press pit.  The pit is located at ice level between the two benches so you are nice and close to the action, in fact sometimes we were a little too close!  Unfortunately it was pretty crowded in there (so much for health and safety!) and the boards are high up for a little guy like me so I was a bit hemmed in between elbows.  However I persevered and was pleased with my haul of about 200 good photos (from 1200!!)

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The game itself was fantastic, I’d love to give you a match report but I honestly can’t remember enough details!  However I shall steal a bit of info from the great article one of my colleagues wrote for Impact (which features my photo as the header)!

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The game faced off around 7pm in front of a sell out crowd of 6095 screaming, slightly intoxicated, students.  Opening stages were cagey but I was very impressed with the standard of play over all!  It was very fast paced but I managed to keep up fairly successfully.

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Last year Uni broke Trent’s winning streak and were again hoping to get one over the former polytechnic.  Trent came out of the blocks faster and took a 1-0 lead firing past Mervyn Tasker in the Nottingham goal.  Uni equalised through Mike Davie and took the lead when assistant captain Tom Griffith but Trent soon got their noses back in front taking a 3-2 lead into the first intermission.

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In the second period I had a go with the 300mm f/2.8 prime, which costs around £5.5k and weighs a fair few kgs!  I based myself at the far end of the rink and shot through the glass which whilst difficult was fairly effective up to a point.  I was really struggling to get good focus past half way but once I worked out I wasn’t going to get anything good from the Trent zone I stuck to taking portraits during breaks in play which was more successful.

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Trent were fairly dominant in the first ten minutes stretching their lead to 5-2 at which point Uni head’s started to drop and it looked like it was all over.

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However Tom Griffiths got his second of the game and Adam Robinson slotted the puck home after a sublime pass from captain Stuart Bliss to pull Uni within one at the end of the second period.

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The third period was excellent, both teams really going for it and Uni eventually equalised courtesy of a power play goal from Stuart Bliss.  Trent immediately hit back taking a 6-5 lead with less than 5 minutes to go and for the second time in the match it was definitely all over!

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Like much in the world sport is full of fairytale stories of epic comebacks and this indeed was one of them; Nottingham’s Roland Stolys ripped a slap shot past the Trent keeper with 3 minutes on the clock to send the Uni bench and half the arena into jubilation!

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A frantic final few minutes ensued with Trent piling on the pressure in the Uni zone but it wasn’t to be and we were heading for penalty shots…

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Both teams first three shooters missed but Mike Davie finally converted to give Uni a 1-0 lead, a superb save from Tasker and a brilliant penalty under pressure from Adam Robinson sealed the win for Uni and ensured they retained the Ice Hockey Varsity trophy for the first time.

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After the game a few of us popped onto the ice to shoot the celebrations and the trophy presentation.  This was brilliant, although I did stupidly put my 50mm prime on rather than my kit lens but either way it was fantastic to walk on the same ice the Vipers won the playoffs on way back in 2006.

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Eventually we had to leave and after a couple of laps of the car  park we headed home.  Whilst I’d love to do this as a career I’ve got to keep telling myself that it would probably suck the fun out of it, let alone be incredibly difficult and competitive to get started in.  But hopefully I’ll get another chance to indulge my hobby at the highest level!

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