TORONTO -- When he was seven years old, Dallas Stars forward Patrick Eaves broke his back playing in the family yard.
Around that time, his father, former NHL forward Mike Eaves, bought a table tennis machine for the basement. It helped with Patrick's recovery.
"I just learned by myself in the basement with the machine," Patrick said. "It's kind of a weird story, a funky story."
Eaves' considerable table tennis skills were on display Thursday when he claimed the title at Smashfest IV, a charity event organized by New York Rangers forward Dominic Moore.