Pratt crafts TSN’s massive moments

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This article was published 19/08/2020 (2061 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASAGAMING — When Jordan Eberle came up clutch for Canada on Jan. 4, 2009, Kevin Pratt had to be just as sharp.

The current New York Islander slotted that historic backhand into the Russian net with less than six seconds left to tie the world junior hockey championship final in Ottawa. After Canada won in overtime, the play still lives on as one of the greatest moments in Canadian hockey history.

The picture-perfect camera cuts, raw emotion throughout the arena and pure joy on the Regina product’s face as he skates past the bench are thanks to Pratt’s talent and love for his job.

“We were already thinking Canada’s done, all right, how are we going to handle the post-game with the Russians?” Pratt said.

“Everybody’s going nuts in the crowd, we’re going nuts in the truck because of course we want Canada to do well.

“Now we’re showing an iconic moment. We’re showing the replays of a goal that’s going to be shown forever. This is the thing he’s most famous for. Then you’ve got to decide which are the best angles of it. You’re going to show all the angles eventually, but you want to get that moment bang-on.”

The former Brandonite just passed the 20-year mark at TSN, working as a producer for more than 70 live sporting events each year. He covers the curling season, a handful of Major League Soccer games and much more, spending the better part of the year on the road, away from his Toronto home.

He remembers Eberle’s iconic moment much differently than most, behind the one behind the screen when Ryan Ellis dumped the puck down the boards, John Taveres chipped a backhand pass to Eberle and the kid slipped it over the Russian netminder’s blocker, sending TD Place Arena into a frenzy.

“I’m not watching that angle … I’m watching all the other angles,” Pratt said.

“All of a sudden there’s this pandemonium … There was a lot of replays we almost couldn’t use because the cameras were shaking so much. We could feel it in the loading dock.”

“… Gord Miller’s call is amazing. ‘Tie game, can you believe it?’ It’s just a cool moment to be a part of. It happens so fast for us that it’s pretty cool after games like that that we’re invariably at a pub and the sports highlights are on. ‘That’s what we just did.’”

Just like the camera cuts — Pratt says he has to make 10 decisions in 10 seconds sometimes — life moves pretty fast in his profession. But the 45-year-old always takes a few weeks to slow down and come back to western Manitoba each summer, specifically for the Tamarack golf tournament at Clear Lake Golf Course.

And he’s no slouch around the links. Pratt carded rounds of 76 and 75 to reach a playoff for the men’s championship flight, dropping a 25-foot birdie on the third playoff hole to get in as the No. 15 seed. He came up on the losing end of a 3-and-2 match against second seed Dave Unger on Tuesday, dropping to the consolation side.

Pratt said the disappointment doesn’t linger though. It’s tough to complain about much around the national park on a hot, sunny day away from the office and production truck.

“I played pretty well and (Unger) played really well. It’s been over for five minutes and I’m not really fussed at all. I’m just going to have a jump in the lake and enjoy a beautiful day at Clear Lake. Life’s pretty good,” Pratt said.

“I always tell people I get to go to a lot of really cool sporting events in a year, and this is honestly my favourite one.

“It’s an awesome course, such a well-run tournament. You get to see your buddies, you’re not working, it’s not Toronto, which is a nice change. I do love Toronto, but it’s so quiet here I have to put a fan on at night to sleep.”

Pratt’s path to capturing highlights came naturally, he grew up hooked on scores and statistics. He recalls waiting for the newspaper to arrive at home to spread out the sports section and read it cover to cover.

He was a multi-sport athlete as well, and got recruited out of Crocus Plains to play basketball for the Brandon University Bobcats in 1993. However, he saw the writing on the wall as a six-foot point guard and opted to spend more time sitting in classroom chairs than on the end of the bench.

He graduated with an arts degree, majoring in English, and took a year off still unsure of his next step.

“My brother suggested, ‘You love writing and you love sports, you should be come a sports writer,’” said Pratt, who took his brother’s advice and applied for the University of Regina’s journalism program in 1998.

A year later, he had a work placement at TSN in Toronto.

“I didn’t even really want to do television necessarily, but I thought it would be a cool four months, something fun to do,” Pratt said.

“I went there and I loved it, I loved the process. You’re still telling stories like a writer but you’re adding music and pictures.”

Early on, a budding NBA star named Vince Carter was posting head-turning numbers in his debut season and was a lock for rookie of the year. (He retired this summer after a 22-year career.)

A few employees were sick, and Pratt was asked to interview “Air Canada” and craft a feature video.

“I’m like, ‘I’m an intern, I’m being paid $300 a week, this is amazing.’ It was the fact that I got to do a story like that so quick was the cool part,” Pratt said.

“You’re only as good as the people around you and I worked with an editor who was amazing. He made this feature look like it was the greatest thing on the planet.”

TSN offered him a job, and he stayed for the summer than returned full time in May of 2000 after graduating from the U of R.

Through all the years, the golden moments and frantic behind-the-scenes antics, Pratt’s favourite job is the Humboldt Broncos’ first game after the April 2018 accident that claimed the lives of more than half the individuals on the junior-A hockey club’s bus.

Pratt pitched the idea to cover the team’s emotional return to the ice.

“That was something completely different than what we normally do,” Pratt said.

“That was trying to get every moment right, honouring a terrible accident. we really nailed that game too, and that was way more important than a playoff game.”

Pratt makes it clear that his job differs from that of a director, who makes cuts from camera to camera during action. If the production crew is a football team, he’s the head coach.

“I’m coming up with the game plan and when the game’s on I’m making all the decisions,” Pratt said. “I sit in front of a wall of about 70 monitors of all our cameras being recorded. I’m deciding what replays you see during a game, those great emotional shots where you see a guy after a goal, we’re doing that sequence … We’re making 10 decisions in about 10 seconds.

“I love what I do, I think I’m good at it … and it’s a rush doing it. I work with some awesome people. The guys and girls we work with are so talented at whatever their specific role is.”

More often than not, the crew comes out with shots make the viewer feel just as much a part of the action as the athletes on the ice, field or court.

Like the Eberle moment, Pratt plays a crucial role in bringing the nation together.

“That’s when you really nail it. That’s chipping in from off the green, that’s good,” Pratt said.

“When we have a really great show, it’s a great feeling. And like the Tamarack, really good show or really bad show, we still go out for a couple of beers afterwards.”

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