In the Edmonton bubble Friday Matt Dumba got a special shipment of more than the painted ice skates he and his brother Kyle auction rebuild small businesses in Minneapolis. He also got a piece of fan art inspired by his knee in support of the anti-racist movement.
Allie Cook, a 27-year-old Minnesota Wild fan from Minneapolis-St. Paul Area had recently started digital drawing after doing other hockey-themed crafts like painting rocks and carving Halloween pumpkins. But when she saw the picture of Dumba kneeling in support of Black Lives Matter, flanked by Chicago Blackhawks goalkeeper Malcolm Subban and Edmonton Oilers defense attorney Darnell nurseAll over social media, she felt compelled to turn it into digital art.
“I thought I think I have to draw it,” Cook told NHL.com. It’s so important that he did that. I was so overwhelmed by the volume of this action that I had to draw it. “
Cook started working on the piece when she got home from work that day and was so excited about how well it turned out despite her inexperience with digital drawing that she saw the partially finished work in a response to a Minnesota Wildlife Tweet published.
Kyle’s friend Taylor saw the tweet and pointed it out to him. Kyle then wrote to Cook asking if she could finish it by Tuesday because he wanted a friend to develop and frame it so he could give it to Matt in the bubble.
“I just thought it was so cool what she’d done and I wanted to give Matt in the bubble a copy to have with him just to remind you what you’re doing this for and how big the moment was and the change, that you make, “said Kyle. “It was just about, ‘This is something amazing you’ve done and it’s very powerful and there are a lot of people behind you who support you.'”
Cook was shocked by the request, especially since she had drawn it just for fun. She’d already been a fan of Matt because of his funny personality, and one of her first digital drawings was by him too. But she was thrilled with the idea that he would have her job and hurried to get it done in time for Kyle’s drive to Edmonton.
And seeing her favorite player help the community during this time, even more than he had in his seven seasons with The Wild, strengthened her appreciation for him.
“To someone who is not from here but thinks this community is so important that they want to rebuild it, it’s amazing,” said Cook. “I’m almost honored to have been able to draw this moment, but as a community, as Minneapolis, as ice hockey fans, we’re so lucky to have it.”
Video: Dumba gives a powerful speech before the game
.
