Young artist paints the greats

Renowned NHL goaltender Gerry Cheevers is the latest subject for young painter Kanonhkwí:ne Goodleaf, who has made it her mission to use art to honour her sporting idols.

“I wanted to make this painting for Cheevers because I hope to become a painter for the NHL someday,” said Goodleaf, 15.

Last year, she painted a portrait of Brandon Montour and gifted it to him personally in Six Nations, and she also managed to get another of her paintings over the glass and onto the ice for one of her favourite goaltenders, the Boston Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman.

By a stroke of good luck, Goodleaf’s mother Pamela Goodleaf stumbled across a meet and greet event with Cheevers soon after Kanonhkwí:ne decided to paint him.

“I just got so excited, and I started painting the picture the very next day,” Kanonhkwí:ne said.

Kanonhkwí:ne was hyped when a worker at a Bruins booth pulled some strings once he learned that Kanonhkwí:ne was planning to gift Cheevers the painting, arranging a private meeting for the young painter and her family.

“I walked in and he was sitting right there and he said he really liked it, it was great, and told me to keep it up,” she said.

The painting, now safe in Cheevers’ hands, also included a message on the back, in which Kanonhkwí:ne took a chance and asked him to pass along an offer.

“I wrote, ‘If Bobby and Phil would like a painting from me, I’d be more than happy to do it,’” Kanonhkwí:ne said, referring to hockey legends Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito. “They’re his buddies and he told me that he’s going to tell them. So that’ll be pretty cool, because that’s more than I ever dreamed.”

Kanonhkwí:ne was also motivated to paint Cheevers because of her own father, John Goodleaf, who has long been a fan. She said it made her really happy to see her dad excited to meet his childhood idol - but for John, the real excitement was seeing his daughter’s artwork.

“It’s really exciting, I think she can go far with her gift if she chooses to,” he said. “She’s been getting really positive feedback and people keep encouraging her to go further with it, so I really believe she’ll be able to go as far as she wants.”

John said that Kanonhkwí:ne must get her skills from her mother, who is the more creative one in the family.

“She definitely didn’t get it from me, I can barely even draw a stick figure,” he joked.

Kanonhkwí:ne is already brainstorming what hockey legend she should paint next and thinking even more deeply about the rest of her composition - for this piece, she even included herself and her family in the audience, complete with a warrior flag and “Kahnawake” written on her shirt.

“I’m just really happy,” she said.

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