Ont. man debuts uniquely painted goalie mask on world stage

A Barrie, Ont. artist is making his debut on the world stage after painting the mask of Eddie Pasquale, a goalie for Team Canada.

"When he was considered to be part of Team Canada, he emailed me and said, 'If I am chosen, would you be interested in painting my goalie mask?'" said Bob Galarneau.

Galarneau has painted goalie masks for Pasquale, who plays for the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) for the past two seasons.

Galarneau is a flight attendant by trade and moonlights as a goalie mask artist from his Barrie home studio.

It's a passion he's been pursuing for the past 15 years, since starting his company Maverick Airbrush.

"I follow hockey. I am a fan. That's why I love painting goalie masks," said Galarneau.

Over the years, he's created masks for goalies at the junior and pro-level, including the NHL.

"I've been asked to do a lot of other stuff like cars and motorcycles, but for Canadians hockey is the silver grail."

It's a labour of love and one he is proud to showcase at the Olympics after Pasquale was chosen to represent Team Canada on the men's hockey team.

After navigating two pages of rules and coming up with eight different sketches, the final design was approved.

"We were running out of time, so I just said to him, 'How about a Canadian toque? Nothing is more Canadian than a toque,'" Galarneau said. "He said, 'I would love a toque. Could you do that for me?' and I said, 'Of course, I could do that for you."

From there, the pressure was on, with just 48 hours to paint before shipping the mask to Calgary for the team headed to the games.

"Just like a goalie getting his shot for the net when someone gives you that shot, you say yes, we'll make it work," Galarneau said.

As Pasquale got to play between the pipes for Team Canada, Galarneau said he couldn't help but smile as his artwork made its Olympic debut.

"I owe it all to Eddie. He could have had anyone paint his mask. It was a great, great opportunity," Galarneau said.