US Pond Hockey

[Dbl]

The Pond Hockey Championships were held this past weekend. If you never have had a chance to go you should put it on your list of things to do! It was a bit warmer this year compared to last year as well, -2 when I shot this game. Last year it was about -13!

This really is a blast to watch, everything from backyard players to ex-NHL and college players! I have not checked yet today to see who was crowned with the Golden Shovel. These shots are from a "Rink Rats" division game.

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[T.S128]

very cool, where does this take place.

[Dbl]

Held at Lake Nakomis. Here are the facts about it right from their web site.

U.S. Pond Hockey Championships Tournament Frozen Facts

Nearly 1,600 players will compete for the coveted Golden Shovel prize at the

2009 USPHC.

253 teams will play in a grand total of 523 games over the weekend.

Players hail from 31 states and the District of Columbia.

Players from outside the U.S. will compete in the 2009 USPHC as well,

including individuals from:

Canada

United Kingdom

The USPHC is America’s largest pond hockey tournament.

The USPHC has its own theme song, “Pond Hockey,” created by the band, The

Frozen Carp.

A total of 2,800 boards are used to create the 25 rinks (112 boards per rink).

Each rink is flooded with water in order to create the smoothest skating surface

possible. Flooding also helps “freeze in” the boards.

[T.S128]

wow, thats interesting. seems like it'd be a lot of fun even to watch, but even more fun to play in. nice pics

[finnbay]

Great shots, Dan! My son has played in a few of these with a team called the Gopher Rejects. They won the tourney in Superior,WI a couple of years back and were up there again this past weekend.

[MN Shutterbug]

Dynamite shots. It might be fun, if a person could stand up on skates.

[Hwood]

Good stuff

[MARINERMAGNUM]

Crystal clear! Great job!

[Catmendo]

Excellent Dan!!! By the way, what was your lens of choice for these results?

[Dbl]

Thanks all for the comments. I'm sorry I should have mentioned settings and such for these. I used the Mark IIN, 70-200/2.8 and two different set of settings. Manual, ISO 125, 1/5000s, f2.8. I also used Av, ISO 125, f2.8 to f3.2, +1/3 EC and shutter speeds ranged from 1/4000s to 1/6400s.

These rinks are fairly small so a 70-200 easily covered the entire rink with some minor cropping needed for the opposite end.