Hockey fans probably have never seen a data analyst rock an outfit like this.
TV viewers were blown away by the latest look that Meghan Chayka was rocking during an appearance on TSN’s SportsCentre this week.
The 41-year-old blonde bombshell posted some snaps on her Instagram account Monday to mark a so-called ‘Sports Equinox” — a rare day on the calendar that features games being played in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.
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Chayka posed beside TSN’s SportsCentre anchor desk wearing a fitted black dress, full-length tights and matching high heels.
“Blessed with a sports equinox,” she captioned the post, which has been viewed more than 7.8 million times in just two days on X.
Chayka, a data scientist and co-founder of hockey analytics firm Stathletes, stunned many fans with the bold look — but also raised a few pertinent questions from American sports fans online.
“Is this normal?” one person replied on X with a screenshot of the ‘RE’ in SportsCentre.
“In Canada, yes,” Chayka replied.
Another user made a quick photo edit, transposing the letters to turn the word into the American version of the spelling.
Some fans in the U.S. were wondering how they could watch more of the Canadian sports broadcaster.
“How the hell do I get Canadian ESPN???” one user replied on X.
Chayka, who was voted among Sportsnet‘s 25 Most Powerful Women in Hockey in 2022, recently has appeared as a host on Buffalo Sabres broadcasts.
In fact, she recently signed a deal to appear on 15 Sabres broadcasts this season, her first regular TV spot.
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“This is groundbreaking,” producer Brian Maas said of the deal, via The Athletic. “I’m really excited to see where we can go with this.”
During a recent interview with Medium, the Toronto native revealed that while she grew up playing other sports, hockey always was the biggest draw for her.
“I was always involved in basketball, baseball, and volleyball — sports that aligned with my height (I’m over six-feet tall), but hockey always stood out to me,” she said.
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“The love for hockey was ingrained in the community and, even though I played other sports, I was constantly surrounded by the game.
“In university, I wasn’t exactly sure what I ultimately wanted to do, so I took a diverse range of courses — everything from math and statistics to business and economics.
“The journey to where I am now wasn’t a traditional path, but that’s often the case with entrepreneurship.”
According to its website, Stathletes’ goal is “to offer the most comprehensive dataset for impactful decision-making” for a variety of potential clients, including teams, players, media and sportsbooks.
“We deliver an incredibly robust dataset to our clients that is accurate, relevant, and actionable, addressing their needs effectively,” the site reads. “Our approach keeps us at the forefront of sports analytics as we continuously advance our tools and data capture techniques.”