The last thing Nathan Eides wants – and he makes this abundantly clear – is to be in the spotlight.
And yet there he is.
Every TV timeout, every goal celebration, every victory, every defeat.
Dressed head-to-toe in white, the camouflaged cameraman on skates is front and centre at the world junior men’s hockey championship inside Halifax’s Scotiabank Centre.
“It’s not lost on me that I have the best seat in the house,” Eides said between two recent games. “It’s pretty neat to be in the middle of everything.”
The 39-year-old originally from Rosenort, Man., manoeuvres around the ice during stoppages to provide an intimate, up-close perspective of hockey’s next stars.
“He’s getting cool shots of the boys,” Canadian defenceman Brandt Clarke said. “I’ve seen him almost get bumped into.
“When I scored against Germany, I smiled for him.”
Eides sits in the penalty boxes and jumps into the fray – specific situations agreed upon with the International Ice Hockey Federation – as soon as play stops.
The Winnipeg-based freelancer, who mostly works for TSN on hockey and football telecasts, said the only time he notices the teenagers changing their behaviour is during warmups.
“They do a little bit more playing with the puck,” he said.
Eides weaves in and out of those chaotic yet ordered sessions where each player has a routine, and potential hazards are plenty.
“Knock on wood, never been hit with a puck,” he said. “I try and patrol the red line as much as possible.
“Then I pick my moments and get in there.”
Eides might be a few centimetres from a goaltender stretching or a silky smooth stickhandler like Canadian phenom Connor Bedard.
“Weird the first time,” Austrian forward Vinzenz Rohrer said. “Hats off to this guy. He always sneaks through everybody.”
“Pretty camouflaged,” Swedish netminder Carl Lindbom added. “The end product is amazing.”
On-ice cameras have been part of European hockey for a while, but the unfettered access at the world juniors is relatively new.
Eides used to only go on the ice at the conclusion of games, but TSN started to push the envelope at the under-18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2018 because it wasn’t an IIHF-sanctioned event.
There was one problem. Eides was dressed in white. His camera wasn’t.
The Great One knew that had to change.
“We were at the hotel after one of the games with my director, (play-by-play man) Gord Miller and Wayne Gretzky,” Eides recalled of that event in Edmonton. “Wayne Gretzky was saying, ‘I love it … but we’ve got to cover that camera in white.’
“That’s where the white camera cover came from.”
Eides’ skate covers, meanwhile, where made by the mother of two TSN production managers adept at sewing.
The on-ice access – there’s another cameraman working in Moncton, N.B., at the tournament’s other venue – increased at the world juniors in 2019 and 2020.
“I was given a little more of a leash where I could go on the ice during TV timeouts,” Eides said.
The leash got longer in 2021 when the tournament went to a bubble format in Edmonton to keep COVID-19 at bay.
And when TSN, which also used on-ice cameras at last year’s women’s world championship, took over Memorial Cup rights last spring, Eides and his bosses wanted to go further.
“I was sitting there thinking, ‘How else can we push this?'” he said. “Maybe I can hop on the ice for warmups and show (the IIHF) I’m not going to be knocking into players.”
The tape went off to the game’s decision-makers, who gave the thumbs up to have Eides out there pre-game.
“It’s important to do the warmups to develop relationships with the players – whether it’s spoken or unspoken,” he said. “Shooting is 10 per cent of the job. The rest of it is the management of people and relationships.”
A former goalie, Eides rarely lifts his skates off the ice when commandeering the camera to both create a steadier shot and lessen the likelihood of him catching an edge.
The married father of three has also garnered a bit of a cult following.
Three fans dressed in white – including helmets – during Canada’s 5-1 victory over Sweden on Saturday clapped every time Eides hit the ice.
“Mom is probably my biggest fan,” he said with a smile.
Eides is also still getting used to his unique version of the limelight.
“I’m behind the camera for a reason,” he said. “I’m a pretty modest individual. I don’t like to detract from what the camera’s actually providing.
“It’s weird to get the attention.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 1, 2023.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
