Plymouth Whalers Alumni Hockey Game

The Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League held a charity alumni game yesterday. Participants included current NHL players Tyler Seguin (Boston), James Neal (Pittsburgh), Jared Boll (Columbus), and Matt Hackett (Minnesota). This was my first time shooting ice hockey with my new Canon 5D3 and 135L lens.

BTW, the Whalers start this OHL season with four NHL first round draft picks on the roster -- Stefan Noesen (Ottawa Senators), J.T. Miller (NY Rangers), Rickard Rakell (Anaheim Ducks) and Tom Wilson (Washington Capitals).

Tyler Seguin signing autographs:

really like 3,4 and 6

Nice captures. Shooting hockey can be tough considering some of the lighting and always working through or above the glass.

Thank you. The lighting in Compuware Arena -- the Whalers home -- is pretty good for an ice rink, so I am rather fortunate there. I do have to deal with the protective glass from our seats at center ice -- it gets into the bottom of the frame when shooting either goal. I can get unobstructed shots along the far boards, though.

This was my first sports outing with the 5D3 and 135L, and I tried my Kenko 1.4x TC, too. The Kenko did reduce sharpness and focus accuracy on the superb 135L a little, so I think I'll refrain from using it in the future.

Next outing, when the season starts in late September, I will take the 70-200mm f/4 IS along. I have used this lens with the 7D to shoot some games, and it's biggest drawback was forcing me to use ISO 6400, which shows some noise with the 7D. This shouldn't be a problem with the 5D3, though, as I have been very impressed with its high ISO performance in comparison with the 7D.