ORLANDO, FLA – Focused. Determined. Passionate. Compassionate. Mentor. All of these words describe character traits that are used to describe a person in the most positive of ways. In the case of Cameron Nuckols, there is also another word that sums him up well.
Friend.
Camden Nuckols (center) worked over 60 regular season and playoff games as a linesman in the ECHL (File photo courtesy of F. Medina & G. Bassing/Orlando Solar Bears)
On November 17th, Nuckols, who was just 25 years old, passed away after an illness. His sudden passing left a void in the lives of his family and close friends. It also left a huge hole in the hearts of Nuckols’ “second” family – his hockey family.
“It still hasn’t sunk in. When you have a young staff and young players and you have all these young people supporting what we do here, it’s a hockey family. It’s a sad day for us,” Orlando Solar Bears President Jason Siegel said this past Tuesday at the team’s first home game since Nuckols’ passing. “I read the story in the paper (the Orlando Sentinel) and got emotional. It’s hard to fathom, really hard to fathom.”
Nuckols’ love for the game of hockey began in the mid-1990’s when his family attended IHL Orlando Solar Bears games. The Lake Mary (Florida) Prep and University of Central Florida graduate carried that love with him throughout, leading him to play in the Orlando Youth Hockey program where he was on a state championship team coached by Ron Ullyot. He would later give back to to the OYHA by becoming a game official.
“It was great to see Camden grow up to become a great person and to contribute back to the game that he loved,” OYHA President Louis DiPaolo said. “He was able to do so much with his career as an official and continuing on.”
Longtime OYHA coach and parent Bill Shafer fondly remembered watching Nuckols grow up on the ice at the RDV Sportsplex.
“I knew Camden for about ten years. I knew his smile, his personality, his character. Like the rest of us, when he found hockey he found a community, he found acceptance, he found love,” Shafer said via email. “Of course, that’s exactly what he gave in return.”
As he got into refereeing, it became clear right away that it was his calling.
Linesman Camden Nuckols (Photo courtesy of Ray Burtoff)
“I watched him grow up through the ranks. He was always a student of the game, learned where he had to be and what kind of calls to make and was always fair,” Allen Pierson, longtime local referee and head of the Solar Bears off-ice officials crew, said. “I did a lot of games with him. He and I refereed a lot of youth hockey games together as he grew up and I just always enjoyed being around him. I was very proud of him.”
In no time, Nuckols became a trusted and valued friend and mentor to other officials, always looking to not only help other get better but to improve himself. It was also where others got to see his sense of humor.
“I remember I had one game where I got blindsided by a player so badly that he was afraid I’d been badly injured. I got knocked over and he stopped play and came up to me very concerned and says ‘Ray, are you okay, are you okay?’,” Ray Burtoff, another local official and friend recalled. “I shook my head and sat up and said ‘I think I’m alright’. He goes ‘Good’, drops the puck in my lap and says ‘Good, get over there, the faceoff’s over there, what are you waiting for?’. He was a great guy, a great official and a great friend.”
Others, like game official Justin Cirillo, recalled that Nuckols enjoyed the “brotherhood” that the game provided.
“He was just a down-to-earth nice guy. He was always that guy you could talk to,” Cirillo said. “I was lucky enough to ref a couple dozen games with him. After a gritty game of trying to ref a travel game or a real heated house league game, to be able to go into the locker room, take off our gear and just sit and chat about life and about the day and leave the craziness of the hockey behind was nice. It was nice to have a person you could just talk to.”
Nuckols’ love of hockey came full circle over the last three years when Camden skated in 61 regular season games and two playoff contests as an ECHL linesman. Joe Ernst, the ECHL’s Vice President of Hockey Operations said Camden was a model employee who was grateful for every assignment he was given.
Camden Nucolks at the Amway Center (Photo courtesy of Justin Cirillo)
“He was a great kid who loved to officiate. We never had any problems with him. He was always willing to work when needed. He made a couple of trips up to South Carolina last year. He was thrilled to death that we would give him games up in that area. I think he worked a couple of games down in Fort Myers (Florida),” Ernst said. “He was the type of kid who was always appreciative of whatever he got. He never complained, he never asked questions. The referees who came in really liked him. He was a kid who wanted to learn and get better. We see so many people nowadays who feel they are entitled to something. He was never one of those kids who ever thought he was entitled to anything.”
The small group of officials who work ECHL games in Florida is a small one. Local officials Chris Cahoon and Kenny Radolinski along with referee Ryan Murphy who lives in Estero, Florida worked Tuesday’s game in Orlando with heavy hearts. All three, along with all ECHL officials and the Solar Bears, will wear helmet stickers with Nuckols’ number 32 for the rest of the season.
Referee Ryan Murphy (center) along with linesmen Kenny Radolinski (left) and Chris Cahoon all worked ECHL games with Camden Nuckols.
“Camden was an unbelieveable young man. He had a strong passion for life, was very selfless and definitely enjoyed the game of hockey. He loved to referee. Being a part of the ECHL was a tremendous honor in his eyes,” Cahoon said. “He always had a big smile on his face [when we worked together]. He had a funny sense of humor as well and that was a big part of who he was. I think his parents were extremely proud of him and we all enjoyed working with him.”
Radolinski echoed Chris’ sentiments, recalling meeting him up at RDV as a youth.
“Camden was a great official but even more so was an even better person,” Radolinski said. “I remember when he first started out as a little kid, he was twelve, thirteen years old maybe or maybe a little younger than that. He always had a smile on his face and never had a bad word to say about anybody. You probably couldn’t find a nicer person.”
Murphy recalled Nuckols’ bright and fearless attitude that made Camden much larger than his small physical stature portrayed.
“This job and the travel schedule can be brutal and the work schedule as well. There would be a lot of times that we’d come to the rink dragging our heels so to speak. If there was one guy whose attitude could pull you out of that funk and lift you up, it was him,” he said. “He was a small guy on the ice, which is contrary to what most linesmen are. He was the first guy to jump into the pile and he truly was a talented official. It’s a big loss for the league.”
It was that can-do attitude that many said was going to take Camden Nuckols to places beyond the ECHL and the Orlando area. Sadly, we will not get to see the day that he took to the ice in the NHL but we can all take solace in the fact that in 25 years, Camden Nuckols accomplished a lot and left this world and us better for it.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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