The Blackhawks defeated the Red Wings tonight in overtime for their first exhibition win. Such drama, except that it’s the preseason, so it doesn’t count for anything.
After being here last night for a scrimmage, I’ve had more than enough time to crouch down in the Section 113 aisle this week. Not great on the knees.
Sitting at the glass is an amazing view of the game. The speed and power of the game doesn’t translate on television compared to having less than an inch of plexiglass separate you from huge, angry Canadians.
Great wide-angle hockey photos are elusive, though. Nearly always, when the action is coming at you, the players are looking straight down and battling for the puck.
The glass cutouts at chest-level are also too high to make anything dramatic like a floor remote in basketball. (A few arenas do have ice-level remote positions, they can make spectacular pictures in the hands of the real hockey pros.)
Often I’ll try to incorporate some fans banging on the glass into the action. It is a unique look, no other sport allows fans to be a fingernail away from the players.
Sometimes, the fans that can afford front-row seats are a little too into checking their email through the game or calling everyone they know to turn on the TV. So tonight it was nice that there were two 13-year-olds eager to devour every moment of the action.
As Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews got into one prolonged puck battle, the boys were ready to help and made my favorite photo from an ordinary night of hockey.
