Sarah Mills: More money for Canada Post is not the way to go
Sarah Mills says another $1 billion for the public mail carrier is repeating madness and not conducive to the long-term ...
If you’ve been watching the IIHF World Juniors, you may have noticed ads airing during the broadcast showing goalie masks being designed live on an iPad, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how some of hockey’s most recognizable equipment comes together.
The artist featured in those ads is Jordan Bourgeault, a Calgary-based custom airbrush painter, whose work spans multiple levels of hockey, including the NHL.
Read more:
- Listen to all Team Canada’s games at the World Juniors on 980 CJME and 650 CKOM
- Macklin’s Cole Reschny excited to play in World Juniors
- ‘Rider Retro’ theme for 2026 Winter Classic charity hockey game
- Sask. First Nations hockey player recruited for U13 World Cup Series
Bourgeault said his rise in the hockey world began a few years ago, when his work started attracting attention at the professional level.
“About like five years ago, I got kind of into the NHL, and now from that notoriety, I get a lot of goalie masks,” he said.
While Bourgeault is now closely associated with professional hockey, he said his client list extends well beyond the NHL. His work includes masks for junior, international, and recreational goalies, depending on the time of year.
“Sometimes there’s some junior leagues as well,” he said. “And then also sometimes beer-league guys and kids and stuff, they’ll get in on my off-season.”
His busiest stretch, Bourgeault said, comes at the start of hockey season, when goaltenders across leagues are all preparing new equipment at the same time.
“It gets really crazy around the beginning of hockey season,” he said. “Everyone needs it for the same exact day.”
That demand once pushed Bourgeault into months of near-constant work.
“I worked here four months without taking a day off,” he said. “I was working 14 and 15-hour days without a day off.”
Another mask designed by Jordon Bourgeault for Jacob Markstrom in 2022. (Calgary Flames/X)
Bourgeault said his path into goalie mask painting began while working in industrial and automotive painting. Although he had drawn when he was younger, it was learning to use an airbrush that shifted his work toward custom art.
“I worked at a job where I was doing more industrial painting or automotive painting,” he said. “Everyone there was, ‘Oh, you should get an airbrush.’”
From there, the transition into goalie masks happened quickly, particularly in Canada’s hockey-heavy culture.
“As soon as I was half decent, anybody who was a goalie was like, ‘Oh, you should paint my goalie mask,’” Bourgeault said.
Today, Bourgeault said much of his creative process begins digitally, a process currently highlighted in the ads airing during the World Juniors. He sketches concepts on an iPad and sends digital versions to goalies before any paint is applied.
“I’ll do a drawing for them. I do it on my iPad, and then I can just send them a digital version of it,” he said.
Listen to Jordan Bourgeault talk about his work on The Green Zone:
Goalies vary widely in how involved they want to be, Bourgeault said, with some arriving with detailed ideas and others leaving it up to Bourgeault.
“Sometimes it’s just as loose as a theme,” he said. “Some of the guys are like, ‘I don’t even know.’”
Once both sides agree on a design, Bourgeault said that digital sketch becomes the reference for the finished mask.
“Once we agree on it, that’s what I use to start painting the mask,” he said.
As the World Juniors continue, Bourgeault’s work is being seen not just on the ice but also in broadcasts watched by hockey fans across the country, blending technology and tradition into one of the sport’s most visible canvases.
Read more:
