Photography in hockey is a beautiful thing.

I'm a visual type of person. I don't know if I've ever mentioned it here before, but I cannot listen to hockey games on the radio. It bothers me because I can't see what's going on. The sound of Rick's voice does not help me even when his voice raises and lowers depending on what is going on out on the ice. So as my parents and I are driving down the street near my house, I get on the edge of my seat; just so that I can jump out of my car and run into the house to turn the game on. That's when I can see the boys moving their legs (or not moving their legs), the puck quickly shifting from one player to the next, or around the boards, or into the net. I can see facial expressions on the players, the fans, the coaches. Visualizing hockey is a beautiful thing in my opinion. I love looking at pictures from games. Some of the things people capture are things that we might never see again, or moments in time that you can really cherish.

Which brings me to my next point and why I decided to base this post on Photography. Last night, I was bored and stayed up later than usual because I had off today from school. Good times all around. Anyways, I was on Getty Images looking to see if I could find any gems of Thomas Vanek like I normally do and I came across a photoshoot I had never seen before. This was found amongst them all:

Taken by Michael Murphree and from Getty Images. I salute you.

Why hellllo.
Okay, before I start gushing on how great Thomas looks in this picture, let me point out some things that are just so beautiful about photography with hockey.

For instance, his hair is not totally perfect. Hockey players can't all be like Derek Roy and somehow keep their fauxhawk rocking underneath their helmet. That's just crazy. Thomas' hair looks to be all over the place in the back and that's what usually happens when you got a helmet on and take it off. Your hair gets all askew. (Now I know this is a photoshoot and his hair should probably not be messy, but who cares?)

Another example is his nose. There's the tiniest cut on it; which he had gotten from a game before in Tampa Bay. The imperfections of a hockey player are what makes them so beautiful, a friend of mine once said to me. Hockey is not a sport where you should expect to stay completely scarless. There are your bumps and bruises, and there are your cuts, gashes, and stitches. The scars leave memories on your body, of the grinding you have to do in order to win games. Let alone he got that cut looong before the Sabres decided to crap out almost completely, but I'm pretty sure he still gets the bumps and bruises by standing in front of the opposing team's net.

Oh, then there is the five o'clock shadow he has going on, but who likes hockey players that are unscraggly? That's their nature. I sure as hell don't mind one bit.

So next time you look at a photograph that involves hockey, look at it closely. Look at the people's expressions. Look at the players. Notice their hand movements. Just take notice of something that really pops out in the photograph. I bet that you can find one moment in there that you like.