SV grad Altimus worked with Stanley Cup champion Vegas
LAS VEGAS — A sword fight was unfolding in front him, a dragon was on the way, and Cort Altimus had only a camera.
The 19,000-plus fans at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena watched the choreography as they waited eagerly for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final and Altimus skated around the scene on the ice, shooting the theatrics for the Jumbotron above.
“I always think it’s really cool to get that start from behind the back as they swing, then slowly creep around them as they fight,” said Altimus, explaining his approach to filming the battle between the Vegas mascot and one resembling the opponent, in this case the Florida Panthers. “It kind of has this movie effect to it.”
For the 2016 Seneca Valley graduate who’s played hockey in some form for most of his life and dreamed of one day having the chance to triumphantly raise the Stanley Cup over his head, being a part of the festivities was the next best thing.
“A lot of in-house productions will kind of have a different name to them, but with VGK, they were able to let us cut the entire intro and present it as we do on ESPN,” Altimus said. “We have such a unique intro that they took it and it went viral a little bit on BarDown and a bunch of the other hockey social media pages.”
He started working with the Golden Knights about two years ago, living with family for a bit after moving west in February 2021. He started with cable paging and worked utility on his way to being a consistent cameraman.
“After a little bit of getting to know me, they found out that I’ve played hockey and that I was a pretty decent skater,” Altimus said. “They eventually progressed me to a role of skating on-ice with a camera during the intros and three stars and the anthem and things like that.”
Altimus previously interned with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He’s also had the opportunity to freelance with the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces’ championship run, along with work for the Las Vegas Aviators — the Oakland Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate — the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights, the Las Vegas Raiders, and the UFC.
“Just the city in general has a lot going on, let alone what I get to work, so it’s definitely a ‘wake up and experience something new’ kind of city,” Altimus said.
The thrill of seeing his work out there doesn’t get old.
“Most recently for the playoffs, they had an ad on one of the billboards outside Planet Hollywood — which is on the Strip,” he said. “Just knowing a bunch of people were walking by my shots all day that day or all week or however long it was up was cool.
“Nothing has worn off yet.”
And definitely not the thrill of being on the ice as the players raised the Stanley Cup after a 9-3 beatdown of the visitors that night.
“It was definitely a surreal moment that was emotional and felt earned,” Altimus said. “It was nothing short of an accomplishment myself, even though it was just the guys on the ice.”
At an end-of-the-year party for the Golden Knights’ cast and crew, Altimus might finally get to spend some time with the Stanley Cup, something he surely thought about while playing dek hockey at the Cranberry Township community rink. Balancing his professional schedule, he sometimes gets the chance to fill in for beer league teams.
Among the events that Altimus will be taking part in will be Super Bowl LVIII, which will be played at Allegiant Stadium in February. He’s trying to go with the flow rather than setting career goals in stone.
“I try to take things as slow as possible,” Altimus said. “Being on the ice for a Stanley Cup final wasn’t necessarily one of my goals moving out here — but it definitely became one over time. ... I’m just more excited to see where it takes me than I am to have anything planned for what’s going to come.”
