INNISFAIL – A local artist is stepping up to show support for the Humboldt Broncos.
Maryanne Styner has painted more than a dozen goalie sticks for Innisfail Minor Hockey Association teams over the years. The hand-painted sticks are auctioned off to help raise money for the teams.
“The team raises money for things like tournaments,” said Styner. “My sons played hockey and now I have a grandson playing hockey.”
Styner recently saw some artwork for the Humboldt Broncos completed by an Olds artist, and decided she too wanted to do something to help the junior hockey team that suffered the deaths of 16 players and support staff in a tragic team bus and semi-truck crash on April 6.
“I can’t imagine what the mothers and fathers are going through,” said Styner. “I wanted to do something for them so I thought I could paint them a hockey stick.”
The goalie stick for the Humboldt Broncos is hand-painted and depicts several items the team will be remembered for, she noted, including the team logo, a green and gold ribbon, two sticks in the form of a cross with candles, a hockey player with no jersey number, an empty hockey net, and the hockey rink.
“There’s 16 teardrops. One for each person that passed away,” said Styner. “The tears are melting into the ice surface and the net is empty too.”
Styner hopes to deliver the goalie stick to the Humboldt Broncos in the near future.
She said it’s up to the team to decide whether they want to keep it or auction it off to help raise money for the surviving team members.
“A lot of the boys are going to need physiotherapy for a long time,” she said. “It may not get much but a little bit would help.
“I want to feel like I’ve done something to help,” she added.
The 71-year-old artist has a diploma in art and design from Red Deer College and has been a longtime member of the Innisfail Art Club.
Over the years, Styner has painted and sketched flowers, wildlife and more than 100 hockey sticks in her lifetime.
Her two passions in life are art and hockey.
“I’ve been an artist all my life. I love it,” said Styner. ”I also love hockey. Ever since the Oilers came into being in 1979,” she added, noting her favourite player is Connor McDavid.
