Edmonton chalk artist hopes to draw some luck for the Oilers with latest driveway display

An artist in southwest Edmonton is using her chalk art to draw up support for the Oilers.

An Edmonton chalk artist is drawing support for the Oilers with a colourful driveway display.

“We’re doing Leon Draisaitl looking at that cup,” Tara Strohschein said Wednesday. “Knowing that he’s going to get it.”

CTV News Edmonton caught up with Strohschein as she coloured in the portrait of Draisaitl on her driveway in southwest Edmonton.

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She has been creating chalk art for years. What started as a way to entertain her kids grew into fan support for the Oilers.

“I started doing some Disney characters, some animals and Pokemon,” she told CTV News Edmonton last May. “Kids would come by in the neighbourhood and request characters that they saw.”

A picture of Connor McDavid on her driveway led to an invitation by the city to create a playoff piece downtown last June.

She marked Ice District and the 2024 Oilers playoff run with an image of defenceman Evan Bouchard firing one of his “bouch bombs.”

The hockey art was a hit, Strohschein said.

“I had so many people stopping by taking pictures. They absolutely loved it. It was so much fun to do this.”

This year, she hopes the portrait of the determined Oilers forward will also bring some luck for the team.

“Every single time I drew one, we won the game,” she said. “So we’re going to go all the way this year. I’m going to keep them coming.”

Adding to the artwork, Strohschein writes “Let’s Go Oilers” with orange chalk.

Each chalk creation takes about two hours to complete.

The Edmonton Oilers face off against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs Wednesday at 8 p.m. local time.

They are down one game in the first-round series after a 6-5 loss on Monday.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall