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The infamous camera cut-out at hockey arenas has claimed another victim, this time The Minnesota Star Tribune photographer Carlos Gonzalez’s brand-new Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM.
Gonzalez took his new RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens to photograph the hometown Minnesota Wild face off against the Seattle Kraken. Gonzalez tells PetaPixel it was “the first game” he used the new lens, which he only got last week.
While he was shooting through the hole in the glass, as many photographers do at hockey games, a player dumped the puck in along the boards. Unfortunately, the routine dump-in was at the perfect height and angle to catch the hole in the glass where Gonzalez was stationed, and the puck violently struck the front of his lens.
“Trying out the new lens at Seattle Kraken vs Minnesota Wild. The puck won,” the photographer wrote on social media.
A close-up of Gonzalez’s damaged RF 70-200mm f/2.8 lens shows the extent of the puck’s vengeance.“I would like to say it happened while I was making an incredible photo, but it was nothing like that. A player was just shooting the puck around the boards and I was unlucky,” Gonzalez tells PetaPixel.
When initially looking at Gonzalez’s photos following the incident, it would be easy to believe the puck hit the front of his lens, which certainly happens sometimes at hockey (and baseball) games. However, there is a distinct puck mark on the lens near the front element.
Further, Gonzalez had a protective filter on the front of his lens. This could certainly have protected against some common threats at the camera hole in a hockey rink, including players scrumming near the glass, with elbows and sticks flying every which way. However, in this case, the puck hit the lens, and the filter popped off, unscathed, falling onto the ice.
“I always use lens filters, and it fell on to the ice after impact. A referee handed it back to me through the hole. I was confused as to why the filter itself was not smashed up. I know B+W make quality products, but it did not make sense judging from the damage to the front lens element. The side of the lens has a black scuff mark, so I think the puck hit the lens on the side edge and that impact shattered the front element and caused to filter to pop off without cracking,” Gonzalez tells PetaPixel.
This is the first time Gonzalez has ever had an issue at a hockey game, and he’s been shooting a long time for Star Tribune in Minnesota — the most hockey-crazed state in the U.S. He promptly shipped his new, broken lens to Canon Professional Services and is waiting to hear back about whether it can be fixed. The damage is extensive, but Canon’s technicians are among the best in the business.
Another Minnesota photographer, Steven Garcia, chimed in on Gonzalez’s Threads post, noting that he had the same thing happen to him earlier this season at a Minnesota Frost PWHL game.
In Garcia’s case, CPS fixed his lens “very fast.”
While this is certainly the most unfortunate and unlucky way Gonzalez has appeared on PetaPixel, it is far from the first. Last summer, he did a fantastic series of people at the Minnesota State Fair with newly-won prizes. Ahead of the 2025 Major League Baseball season, the photographer took a Fujifilm Instax to Spring Training. Back in 2023, Gonzalez brought an infrared camera to the Minnesota Vikings’ preseason media events, helping players better show off their unique, personal tattoos.
Hopefully, the next time PetaPixel chats with Carlos Gonzalez, it will be about his next awesome project, rather than another busted lens. Similarly, hopefully his lens gets out of the optical hospital sooner rather than later, as the Minnesota Wild will start their playoff journey in just over a week, facing the Dallas Stars, who were originally the Minnesota North Stars until financial and ownership troubles forced the team to Texas in 1993. It is an intense rivalry, to say the least.
Image credits: Carlos Gonzalez (website, Instagram, Threads) / The Minnesota Star Tribune
English (US) ·