Portrait of a fan: Edmonton man paints hundreds of faces at every Oilers game

Jack Farrell · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jun 11, 2025 11:32 AM EDT | Last Updated: 39 minutes ago

More often than not, lifelong Edmonton Oilers instrumentality Jacob Golka tin beryllium seen connected crippled nights with his backmost to the surface and hands hard astatine work.

Wielding a overgarment palette and dipping and swapping brushes successful a flash, Golka usually needs conscionable a fewer seconds to decorate a fan's face.

His velocity and accuracy are surely a effect of practice, but are also indispensable if helium wants to support up with the dependable enactment that forms astir him astatine the Oilers' ticker parties extracurricular Rogers Place successful downtown Edmonton.

Blue, orange, black

"I astir apt deed 250 oregon 300 radical today," Golka said Monday aft Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final. The Oilers mislaid the crippled successful a 6-1 blowout to the Florida Panthers.

Golka, astatine his ain disbursal and nary charge, offers a fewer antithetic options oregon designs for fans to prime from.

Fans commonly get oculus achromatic — though, naturally, they indispensable take Oilers blue, orange oregon both.

Feel the fuzz

For Monday's game, Golka started plastering the fig of fans' favourite players connected their cheeks, which helium said was an instant occurrence and thing helium plans to bash for the remaining games.

But Golka's favourite happening to bash is overgarment facial hair.

"Any of the 14-, 15-year-old guys that person nary facial hair, it's large to springiness them a agleam bluish moustache oregon conscionable a small peach fuzz," helium said with a laugh.

Golka, who sports a blue, orangish and achromatic beard and orangish moustache, said his game-day contented of coating the faces of chap fans started during the Oilers' second-round playoff matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights.

An aboriginal bid crippled wasn't going well, and to crook the tide, a person made the enforcement determination to overgarment Golka's look blue, and Golka said helium ne'er looked back.

"Every crippled has been an germinate up," said Golka, an lipid rigger by commercialized who besides sports a hard chapeau implicit with Oilers stickers, an orangish pompom wig and arsenic overmuch different squad cogwheel arsenic helium tin enactment into the ensemble.

Golka said helium mightiness miss plentifulness of crippled action but inspiring young Oilers fans and making definite their emotion for the squad stays beardown during some bully and atrocious times makes it each worthy it.

"[The] kids are archetypal and foremost," helium said.

"This could beryllium their archetypal representation of being an Oilers fan, and if I tin make a affirmative acquisition for them to turn up to beryllium aboriginal large Oilers fans, that's what I privation to do."

With the Panthers present starring 2-1 successful the series, the Oilers are looking for a triumph to tie the best-of-seven title bid during Thursday's Game 4 successful Florida.

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