Updates: I have been happily surprised by the nice response to this post. Since publishing the post it became, in only 48 hours, by far the most viewed on my site. The numbers keep growing but already it has tripled the previous most viewed post which has been on the site about 6 weeks! The Temiskaming Shores Puckhounds also more than tripled the previous record of most visitors in a single day. That old record had been standing for months. I’m amazed! This goes to show the power of sharing so thank you for sharing the post! There is an even better good news update at the end of the article…
The Temiskaming Shores Puckhounds and Huntsville Otters novice rep hockey teams played a great championship game in the 2017 Duke Knox hockey tournament. I have been looking forward all week to having an opportunity to complete the tournament hockey photos and stories so I could do a post giving proper recognition to the Puckhounds and their amazing goalie. This was the hockey team that had to fight a storm just to get to their first game in the tournament, and they kept on fighting all the way through to the final.
On the first day of the hockey tournament the northern section of highway 11 was closed due to a winter storm and accidents. In the face of such a storm and mess on the roads most people would have retreated to their homes for the weekend but the tenacious Puckhounds made a detour through Quebec to reach Huntsville! Fortunately the tournament organizers in Huntsville were able to juggle the schedule to give the Puckhounds time to arrive and play in a later game slot on Friday.
During the weekend the Puckhounds battled through several teams and then took on the Penetang Flames, one of the high-scoring local favorites, in the Sunday morning semi-final. While that game was on I was at the other rink photographing the other semi-final. When I heard the score from the Puckhounds game I was surprised to learn that the Flames team, which usually racks up a lot of goals, didn’t net many against the Puckhounds. The win put the Puckhounds into the final and set up a rematch against the Huntsville Otters. I looked forward to seeing the team which, at least on the score sheet, seemed to handily shut down the big guns from Penetang and were able to dominate on offense too.
After photographing about a half dozen Otters hockey games from the Home end of the rink I decided to shoot the final game of the tournament from the Visitor end. I was hoping to see some good action around the net and to get some shots of Otter forwards coming toward me on the rush.
As teams took the ice I focused my camera on the Puckhounds goalies during the warm-up skate. I did some exposure tests and then scrolled through the goalie pictures to assess my camera settings. As I looked at the goalies it struck me that they didn’t appear very large and imposing at all. Many of the other novice rep goalies I’ve seen are among the biggest kids on the team. Some of those goalies have reached a height that their shoulders can touch the crossbar on the net. The Puckhounds goalies however looked like they could skate laps inside their net, and while standing tall they still wouldn’t graze the tops of their heads on the crossbar. I couldn’t imagine the Puckhounds’ goalies stopping many pucks, even if they put the both of them in net at the same time, so I assumed their low goals-against average must come from some giants on defense.
But then the game began and within seconds it became clear that the Puckhounds goalie, Keyan Gauthier, is the real deal. He is ridiculously good at stopping pucks! It was such a lucky decision to park down at the Visitor end of the rink as there was lots of action around the net and rush after rush of Otters coming across the blue line to take a shot on the Puckhounds goal. Keyan stopped everything. I ended up with a lot of photos of the Otters forwards attacking the net and many photos of Keyan making saves.
Goalie is the only position I ever played in hockey, and I am in the minority of goalies to shoot right as Keyan does too. Whenever I see a righty I always pay closer attention to see how they position themselves. Goalie is the position I’ve studied most and have some instincts for so when watching or photographing a game I’m in goalie mode always scanning the ice and anticipating where the play will go.
I specially notice what the goalies are doing and can sense when they are thinking ahead of the puck. When a goalie is in the zone like that they seem to be always ready and waiting for the puck to arrive exactly where they expect it to be. When a goalie isn’t truly comfortable in net they are often surprised by the puck, afraid of it, and spend all their time playing from behind trying to catch up to it. It is a very strange thing to witness. A small goalie at home in the net makes himself a giant, and a big goalie who becomes lost in net seems to shrink away to nothing. Keyan was definitely the little goalie who turned into a giant on Sunday. And I bet he does it every time he finds a net to protect!
For the first ten minutes or so Keyan’s play kept making me smile for how surprising it was. As the game continued, the teams deadlocked at zero in spite of the many good scoring chances, I started to feel that none of it was surprising at all to Keyan. He looked totally at ease in the net, like a player who eats, sleeps and plays in his goalie pads and is most at home in the crease. It’s the same feeling I get when I see the Otters Bennett, Frasier and Shirtliff uncork their speed and talent. Those players can skate and stick handle far better than I ever could and it all looks so natural to them. All I can do is watch in awe, and then remind myself every once in a while that these boys are still only 7 and 8 year olds! Keyan was playing like that too. Just amazing.
The Otters goalie, Braeden Woollings, had a great game in his net too. Once a penalty shot was awarded to the Puckhounds late in the third period it was nice to see how Braeden handled the situation. He didn’t over think it or let it get the better of him. He held his position, did his best to reach for the puck, but it was a fast and well placed shot that found the back of the net.
The Puckhounds goal late in the third tied the game. As far as I was concerned, and probably everyone else in the building too, this had instantly turned into a sudden death game. The next goal would end it. I felt this put a tremendous burden on the goalies. It almost seemed unjust as both had played so well to reach that point in the game. But, the circumstances of the final five minutes created a dramatic climax to tournament. The game could have gone either way but 16 seconds into overtime the blazing shot from the Otters Shirtliff gave the win to Huntsville.
It was a great moment for the Otters and likely a great disappointment for the Puckhounds. I wondered right then, and have continued to wonder all week, how Keyan took the loss. I know as a goalie those situations can be tough. We can’t single-handedly win games for the team but there are times when we can lose them. This wasn’t one of those times. In this game Keyan shouldn’t feel any more disappointed for the loss than anyone else on the team. His great saves kept the team alive, gave them hope and got them to overtime. The only thing Keyan couldn’t do was skate the puck down to the other end and put it past Braeden.
The Puckhounds goalie is a natural in net and has great instincts for being in position and smothering pucks. But modest people with such great natural talents often don’t realize how exceptional they are. Sometimes they need to be reminded, which is why I wanted to do this post. That loss in overtime might have stung but in the world of goaltending all I saw on the ice at both ends was an incredible win.
It is too bad that Temiskaming Shores is so far from where I am (Gravenhurst-Bracebridge area). I would love to see the Puckhounds play again and see Keyan work his magic in the net! But, I feel fortunate to have seen the team play the one time. That was an amazing game! Good luck Puckhounds on the rest of your season!
Boyd
Update: Since posting this story I was pleased to hear that Keyan didn’t dwell on the overtime goal and was happy with his play and tournament award. He did his best, had fun and is always ready for the next game! 🙂
Leave a Reply