Ice Wars

I had the pleasure of photographing this year's Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Quarterfinals between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers. I've been a part of covering the Devils in the playoffs since 2003, when they won the Stanley Cup. This year, Tony Kurdzuk, a fellow Star-Ledger photographer, and I covered the Devils/Rangers series.  

I grew up in Seattle, a city that had no NHL team, so I was never exposed to hockey until I moved to the East Coast. I didn't understand the game, which made it hard to photograph. In 2003, it was sink-or-swim: I was assigned to cover the games, and so I learned, by doing, how to shoot and understand the game.  Five years later, I can't help but cheer for the Devils when they hit the playoffs. As a regular shooter of the Devils, I became familiar with the team and came to root for them covertly.  

The playoffs were especially exhilarating - with more at stake, the team seemed more intense. That required me to up my photography a couple of notches, such as using remote cameras to provide readers a unique look at the game, not to mention give me another vantage point of a play I might have trouble photographing from where I stand.  So for several playoff games, I placed a camera in the catwalk of the arena, capturing the action from above the goal. Two of the images I posted were from a remote camera mounted above the ice that I triggered with a wireless remote.  I have also placed a remote camera behind the goal connected to a post where the boards are. It's always fun to make a picture with a remote camera; it's like opening a gift, because you don't know what images you caught until you download them.  

Here are a few of my favorite images from this year's first round between the Devils and Rangers. Enjoy! Unfortunately, the Devils lost the series. Maybe next year.