Before the days of up to the second content and viral memes, gifs, pictures and videos of the players that do the rounds on the club’s socials, the world was a lot more static in regards to media and during a time where photos were pretty much outlawed within the National Ice Centre Nottingham, yes really, Dave Page was the only source of capturing your favourite players from behind the lens.
Dave really was a top drawer human being who was much loved by the fans of the Panthers, by the players and the organisation too. His photos were always superb and he had a real knack of capturing the emotions of the game in his stills, none more so than a goal celebration where not only would the focus be on the players themselves celebrating, but the faces of the crowd beaming with excitement over what they had just witnessed.
Standing in between the benches for 7 years, Pager would be seen clicking away at his camera through all the action, capturing the goals, the saves, the hits, the fights and bringing to life the emotions of the sport like no other could.
Unfortunately on the 2nd March 2009 Dave lost his life at the age of 46 after suffering a heart attack. The outpouring of emotion from the club and it’s supporters really was a testament to what a great person he was. Bruce Richardson said at the time that “Dave was like a player on the team” he was that close to the action and to the boys.
On Saturday 7th March 2009 Panthers and Steelers would honour Dave Page at the National Ice Centre alongside long time Sheffield Steelers fan Owen Grant who sadly passed away on the same day. Sheffield changed their away strip to allow Panthers to wear their black away jerseys as a mark of respect and both teams players, staff and fans stood for a two minutes applause as Dave’s wife Sue and 10 year old son Danny joined the players on the ice for a pre-game tribute.
The match itself was a fairly typical Panthers v Steelers game for the time, the animosity between the two was at an all time high and 6 goals, 3 fights and a further game misconduct dished out saw the fans treated to a real barn-burner in which Panthers came out on top 4-2, a real tribute to the man and a match that he would have absolutely loved to have been in the middle of. At the end of the match the players from both sets of teams joined each other at centre ice, dropping their equipment to applaud both sets of fans to send off the Dave Page and Owen Grant in a wonderfully fitting tribute.
One of the great Dave Page stories involved the two rival teams facing off at the National Ice Centre, Panthers winning the first leg of the Playoff Quarter Final 4-2 with a few minutes to go when the game started to get angsty. Some words were exchanged between the benches and injured Sheffield Steelers defenceman Regan Darby jumps into the press box to confront Danny Meyers and the Panthers bench. Pager can be seen stood next to Darby chuckling away, then when Shmyr skates over and Darby punches him you can see Dave quickly moving his stuff and getting the hell out of the way!
The photos, the posters and mounts that he used to create and sell for the fans, the friendships with so many people and the love that he had for the sport and the team meant that he left a lasting legacy on the Nottingham Panthers, the photographers box between the two benches at the Motorpoint Arena is named in honour of him.
To quote the banner that long time Panthers fan Keith Morley unveiled behind the penalty box at the match against Sheffield in 2009, “If they play hockey in heaven, the photos will be great. RIP Dave”.
Words: Andy Haywood
thecatswhiskersonline.com 