In the Edmonton bubble Friday, Matt Dumba received a special delivery of more than the painted reasons he and his brother Kyle are up for auction to build small businesses in Minneapolis. He also received a piece of art, inspired by his taking a knee in support of the anti-racist movement.
Allie Cook, a 27-year-old Minnesota Wild fan of Minneapolis-St. Paul area, had recently taken over digital drawing after doing other hockey-themed crafts, such as painting rocks and carving Halloween pumpkins. But when she saw the image of Dumba kneeling in support of Black Lives Matter, flanked by Chicago Blackhawks goalkeeper Malcolm Subban and defender Edmonton Oilers Darnell Nurse, entirely on social media, she felt compelled to turn it into digital art.
“I thought, ‘I think I should sign it,’ Cook told NHL.com. ‘It’s massive. It’s so important that he did. I was just so blown away by the volume of that action that I had to draw it. “
Cook began working on the piece when she returned home from work that day and was so excited about how good it was, despite her inexperience with digital drawing, that she posted the partially completed work in response to a Minnesota tweet Wild.
Kyle’s girlfriend Taylor saw the tweet and brought it to his attention. Kyle then asked Cook to ask if she could finish it by Tuesday because he wanted to develop a friend and frame it so he could give it to Matt in the bubble.
“I just thought it was so cool what she had done and I wanted to give Matt a copy in the bubble to have with him, just as a reminder of what you’re doing this for and how great it was for a moment and the change you make, ”Kyle said. “It was just about, ‘This is something great that you have done and very powerful and there are a lot of people behind you and supporting you.'”
Cook was shocked at the request, especially since she had made it just for fun. She had already been a fan of Matt because of his fun personality and one of her first digital drawings was also from him. But she was excited about the idea that he had her job and hustled to get it in time for Kyle’s ride to Edmonton.
And seeing her favorite player step up to help the community at this time, even more than he already has in his seven seasons with the Wild, reinforces her appreciation for him.
“For someone who’s not here, but considers this community so important that he wants to renovate it, it’s great,” Cook said. “I feel almost honored that I got to draw that moment, but as a community, like Minneapolis, like hockey fans, we’re so lucky to have him.”
Video: Dumba delivers powerful pregame speech
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