Artistic Oilers fans churning out best work during motivating playoff run
The Edmonton Oilers' playoff run is inspiring the team's most creative fans.
"Creativity comes in random spurts, more often than not," artist Taleb Choucair told CTV News Edmonton in a recent interview.
"So usually during the playoffs I get that hype… I feel that's when the Oilers paintings, for me, really thrive and I get my best paintings out during that time."
Since last season's playoff run, he has created about 20 portraits of the Oilers' star players.
The paintings portray the players on the ice, perhaps gliding back to the centre line or celebrating a goal. Like his other work, the portraits feature some abstract styling and high contrast colouring.
They are displayed in a gallery at Hectic Cutz, a barbershop that has been frequented by some of the Oilers' star players.
Edmonton Oilers fan and artist Taleb Choucair stands beside his paintings of the team's star players Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman. (Nahreman Issa / CTV News Edmonton)
"(Customers) really like them. I've noticed they're really engaged in sports, especially because we're Edmonton," Choucair said.
Playoffs have also spurred interest in Catherine Hiller's bedazzled jerseys and bead bracelets.
The latter came first, inspired by the "Taylor Swift craze," she says.
"I was like, well, why can't I do the same for hockey players or hockey? So when I posted the idea, a bunch of people had reached out," she told CTV News Edmonton.
Then a TikTok user put her on to bedazzling and she ventured out to an old Connor McDavid jersey with glue and jewels.
Edmonton Oilers fan Catherine Hiller holds up a Connor McDavid jersey she bedazzled. (Nahreman Issa / CTV News Edmonton)
"I'm pretty happy with the outcome of it. I learned a couple new techniques along the way," she said. "You learn how to outline and line up the beads a little bit. It definitely helps cover a lot of the spaces. In the beginning I was always worried I'd have to put another little bead to fill it in. If you honeycomb it, it actually works pretty well."
Bedazzling all of the numbers and letters on the jersey took about 40 hours.
"So many (beads). I had to order extra, too, because I thought I had enough then I ran out," she said.
Even the oil drop on the Edmonton Oilers' logo was bedazzled when Catherine Hiller took jewels and glue to an old jersey. (Nahreman Issa / CTV News Edmonton)
By now, her bracelets have been sent out across the country and interest in bedazzled jerseys is spreading, too. Hiller is even willing to work on Flames memorabilia, she said.
"I love my Oilers, but if there's another team I can do and jazz it up for them, that would be pretty wicked."
The Oilers sit 1-1 in the first round against the Los Angeles Kings. They play next on Sunday in L.A.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nahreman Issa
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Looking over our shoulders': A killing looms large in a little B.C. town
Something shifted in the pretty little village of Lumby, B.C., after Tatjana Stefanski vanished. It used to be the sort of place where parents let their kids roam free or play in the local creek, but everything has changed.
Toronto man falls off his chair after seeing $70M Lotto Max win in his bank account
A Toronto man who won $70 million in a recent Lotto Max draw literally fell off his chair when he saw the funds in his bank account.
Montreal-area high school students protest 'sexist' dress code
Students at Curé-Antoine-Labelle High School near Montreal are protesting after they say their school's administration started pushing what they call a 'sexist' dress code.
Officer who arrested Scottie Scheffler is being disciplined for not having bodycam activated
The Kentucky police officer who arrested top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler outside the PGA Championship is receiving 'corrective action' for failing to have his body-worn camera activated.
'I won't stop,' Celine Dion says in trailer for upcoming doc about her health woes
Celine Dion's fans are getting a first glimpse of the superstar's struggle with a rare neurological disorder in an emotional trailer for an upcoming documentary about her career and life.
Air travel is expensive. WestJet wants the government to do more to change that
WestJet is asking the federal government to put measures in place to lower ticket costs for travellers, but questions remain on who would foot the bill.
Hundreds have applied for this 'adventurer' job in Banff National Park
Coined as Banff's 'ultimate summer job,' the Moraine Lake Bus Company says hundreds of people from across the world have applied for its adventurer position.
Ottawa police investigating death of a gosling in Kanata
Ottawa police are investigating after someone allegedly stomped on a gosling in Kanata. Police say it appears that Canada geese laid eggs in the area, 'and on May 21, a suspect stomped on one of the hatched babies.'
Treasury Board president urges managers to be flexible on exemptions for new 3-day office mandate
The president of the Treasury Board is standing by the federal government's new hybrid office mandate for federal public servants, but is urging managers to be flexible for staff requiring exemptions.