My first Clarkson Hockey game post graduation, and boy did I miss it. I know, I know, it’s only been like six months… In between times though, I’ve been to a few different hockey games featuring different teams and varying levels of play, but nothing beats a hockey game in Cheel Arena. The excitement of small town community fueling energy throughout the two hour game on top of the world famous pep band doing what they do best. But anyway, onto to the game.
Cheel Arena itself has had some renovations since last season. An expansion to building interior, new glass, new locker rooms (though the women’s locker room is still incomplete – supposedly they use the men’s when the men are away, for the time being), plus numerous other things as well, including a possibility of a new scoreboard above center ice, but the only news of that is but a rumor.
As for the new glass, there have been many complaints from the fans about it. The old glass was five feet tall and sturdy, but the new glass measures to a whopping eight feet tall and much more flexible (- with the new height of the glass, it made shooting from the concourse nearly impossible without half the photo including the top of the glass).
After heading to my old favorite spot in the corners, I can attest to some of the complaints. While I could visually see through the glass when looking at an angle, the image through my viewfinder (and subsequent photos) would be blurry if I was positioned at any angle other than straight on, perpendicular to the glass itself. This did not happen with the old glass.
After the first period, I headed to another old favorite spot, right behind the goal. And I must say, I am a big fan of the new glass in this spot. With the old glass, each section was pretty evenly spaced (three-ish feet wide or so) and while that is still the case for the majority of the new glass, behind the goals are large panoramic sheets (maybe six-ish feet wide) with very few puck marks (due to the new-ness of it) and interestingly enough, I did not encounter the blurry angle issue in this spot, as I did in the corners and sides.
Straight from the source, I did hear that apparently Cheel is getting (or already has at this point) new new glass coming in at six feet tall (versus the old new at eight feet and the old old at five). Before I get to the actual game, I want to give a shout out to the Cheel Arena crew and staff for having some of the cleanest glass in any rink I’ve been too (and for wiping them before each game).
Another noteworthy note, the lighting in Cheel has also improved, now being much brighter. I don’t know if they put in new bulbs or what, but I was able to lower my ISO and up my shutter speed a few notches each, which is always nice.
Now, onto the game itself. A 1-1 tie. Not all that exciting, but if you looked at the shots on goal totals, you may think the game was more lopsided. 15-4 in the first period in favor of Clarkson and 11-7, 13-7, 5-3 in the second, third, and overtime respectively for a total of 44-21 in favor of Clarkson. Annika Asplundh, the goalie for Lindenwood had one heck of a game, saving 43 of 44 shots. Watching from behind the goal for two-thirds of the game, the Clarkson offense just could not find the back of the net. Shot after shot (over 50 of them, only 44 on net) zipped wide, pinged off the post, or was blocked by Lindenwood’s netminder. MP Coulombe, Clarkson’s goalie, also had a great game, keeping all but one of Lindenwood’s scarce shots out of the net.
Clarkson’s goal was scored in the third minute of the first period by Michaela Pejzlova (assisted by linemates Elizabeth Giguere and Gabrielle David). And Lindenwood’s goal was scored by Jada Burke (assisted by Sierra Burt and Maddison Stitt) in the 14th minute of the second period.
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