The Play-Offs, the EPL Champions, and the Off-Season Begins...

The photo ops are getting warmer, which can mean only one thing: the end of the hockey season has passed, and the Off-Season has begun. Five months with no pro hockey to watch live. There's a part of me that's already saying "Roll on September" but there's also a part of me that's breathing a sigh of relief, putting its feet up and looking back on a season of memories.

In my last blog entry I said I'd cover the Play-Offs themselves in this next entry, so here goes:



The first Semi-Final was Manchester Phoenix versus Milton Keynes Lightning, and to be fair the Phoenix were odds-on favourites for this one, having beaten the Milton Keynes team five times out of six in the regular season. The Lightning came out hitting hard, and the Phoenix had to match, deviating from the traditional 'skill versus skill' battle plan that had served us so well all season. The Phoenix, however, can still make their mark when it comes to physical play!



However, the hockey Gods weren't on the Phoenix's side, and with the play going to overtime and everyone on the edges of their seats, a goal-mouth scramble saw the Lightning put the puck into the Phoenix goal and advance to the Final.



It was an absolute heartbreak to see, and the shell-shock didn't wear off until after the second Semi-Final. The game itself, between the Guildford Flames and the Peterborough Phantoms, turned into a bit of a mismatch, with the Flames dominating the play all through the game. Of the photos I took during that game, I think this one just about sums it up. I call it "Ah, Dammit..."



The Final, between the Flames and the Lightning, was actually a cracking game. The smart money was on the Flames, so when the Lightning scored first it certainly set the nerves jangling! But the Flames took control of the game, and earned themselves the last piece of silverware for the season:



Further shots from the Play-Off weekend can be seen here.

The ending of the season also means that I can upload the 'embargoed' photos from the night that the Phoenix won the EPL League Championship. I'd been asked by the club to sit on any photos that showed either the whole team together in a group shot, any photos that clearly showed the winners' individual trophies, and any photos that showed the League Trophy. Now that the season is done and dusted, I can upload shots like these:




I won't lie, it's been a little frustrating to have to sit on those shots, but now I'm pleased to be able to share them with you, loyal readers! To see more, here's a link to the full album on Flickr here.

As for the Off-Season, it reopens the range of photo opportunities that present themselves. During this past hockey season, the vast majority of my shots have been of the hockey itself. Even when I'm shooting additional things such as the live bands that appear during Phoenix games, the number of shots still pales into insignificance next to the action and player shots, so now that the off-season is here, I'm already casting my eye wider and looking for opportunities wherever they may occur. This includes whilst mowing the lawn!:



Whilst strimming the edges of the garden, a whole host of spiders escaped the whirling blades by running up the fence, and so I stopped to grab my camera and macro lens and snapped the above shot of a garden spider. It may not be everyone's idea of beauty, but I do like shooting these little creatures!

Also, just in case it had escaped your attention, I like to shoot the moon. I don't know why, but I'm drawn to it, and shooting it is always a challenge that I like to rise to! So over the past couple of nights I've wandered out with the camera and tripod, and shot through the clouds. Normally I don't like to have shots of the moon obscured by cloud, but I do think that this one works:



My love affair with the moon can be seen here.

And so, to the Phoenix's season, I say fare thee well, and to the Off-Season, I say hello, let's see what you have in store for me!