DETROIT - Nearly two weeks after the Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins to win the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs, team photographer Dave Reginek's job still wasn't done.

"It's been non-stop, and I expect this is probably going to go on all summer," he said. "What an experience. It's been a joyride."

The 30-year member of Sheet Metal Workers Local 80 has been moonlighting as the Red Wings' team photographer since the 2003 season. Readers may recall we profiled Dave and his very interesting second job back in 2005, and we caught up with him again nearly two weeks after the Wings clinched the Cup on June 4. He's been a very, very busy man.

"I've been with the Cup nine out of the last 11 days," he said. "I've been on a hard, dead run since we won the Cup." Reginek, whose day job is a computer-aided designer has been allowed to pursue his second job with a leave of absence from Danboise Mechanical,

As team photographer, Reginek, 49, shoots hockey action at various vantage points at Joe Louis Arena during the regular season. His job also includes run-of-the-mill publicity photos and award presentations.

"But shooting the regular season and the Stanley Cup Finals; it's like night and day," Reginek said. "The pressure to get images is immense."

Normally he works alone, but during the Finals, Dave worked with another photographer and a photo editor, who helped with the laborious task of cropping and uploading the digital photos. Dave figured that in a typical Finals game between the Wings and Penguins, he took about 1,500 images.

He's not always where he wants to be to get the right angles during the action, "But I have to say, overall, I did really good during this series. I had my A ++ game going."

During the Finals, Game 5 against the Penguins was a marathon three-overtime thriller that the Wings lost, 4-3. The Wings lost an opportunity to clinch the Cup before the hometown Detroit fans.

"There never was much tension with these guys during the playoffs, but they were not happy when they left after that game," Reginek said. "Before the next game in Pittsburgh, I wondered about their emotions, but they were loosey-goosey and kicking a soccer ball around. They just looked so confident. They were almost clairvoyant, thinking they're going to win."

Reginek said he talked to coach Mike Babcock before Game 6 and said something like "if we win tonight." Babcock, Reginek said, stopped him and said, "If? - We are winning tonight."

The Red Wings' heart-pounding, scary-to-the-last-second 3-2 win over the Penguins on June 4 to clinch the Stanley Cup was the beginning of a whirlwind experience for Reginek. He was one of only four still photographers allowed on the Penguins' ice to record the post-game festivities.

One of his first priorities was getting a shot of team Captain Nick Lidstrom with the Stanley Cup - for a photo that was to be used in a publication to be printed early the next day marking the team's victory.

After getting the on-ice photos, he was in the Wings' locker room after the game, and was able to stay with the team when the rest of the media was finally kicked out. "It was a private experience, and the guys were chanting 'Dally' for Dallas Drake and 'Chelli' for Chris Chelios, recognizing those guys as veterans. It brought me chills."

On the bus to the team's plane, Red Bird One, Reginek rode next to an unexpected passenger - Henrik Zetterburg's Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded for being the playoff's MVP. Zetterburg - "just a humble, low-key guy" - asked the photographer to hold the trophy while he found a seat in the back of the bus.

Then the real fun started. At the Red Wings' request, Reginek tagged along with goalie Chris Osgood and Lidstrom for a guest appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Last Call with Carson Daly. Then Reginek went with Osgood to the premier of Mike Myers' movie The Love Guru. (The Stanley Cup had a seat of its own, and Dave reports that it works pretty well as a popcorn holder). Then to Toronto for the handing out of individual awards for NHL players and coaches, and Red Wing players received a few.

That's followed by numerous player parties and public appearances with the Cup. Reginek anticipates following the Stanley Cup around the U.S., Canada and Europe this summer. In between all the fun, last week he was still sorting through photos, filling players' requests for copies or sending them to players' hometown newspapers.

Many of his images will be used in a book that will show what happens to the Stanley Cup in the days after a team wins it. His access to the team, and discretion he uses in taking photos, have helped make the images possible.

"The guys are absolutely unbelievable," Reginek said of the Red Wings. "Now that I've been around a while, I've learned to pick my spots for taking shots in the locker room, and I know when not to get in the way. I think I'm in their comfort zone, and really, I feel like part of the team."

DETROIT RED WINGS goalie Chris Osgood is in position to stop a puck during Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Battling for a position on any rebound are Wings Captain Nick Lidstrom and Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby. This was one of about 1,500 images shot that night by Sheet Metal Workers Local 80 member Dave Reginek. Photo by Dave Reginek