Richard Brodeur

Richard Brodeur is a former NHL goalie who played seven seasons in a Canuck uniform. He earned his spot in Canucks’ lore in 1982, when he backstopped the team to its first Stanley Cup final performance and was given the moniker King Richard.

The native of Longueuil, Quebec retired from hockey in 1987. According to Vancouver hockey fans, Brodeur is one of the Top Ten Canucks in the club’s 40-year history.

Richard Brodeur, the artist, utilizes oils, acrylics, and watercolours to create abstract paintings as well as images of ‘Canadiana’– fishing villages in Haida Gwaii, lakes and orchards of the Okanagan, and ports and coves of Nova Scotia.

His most popular series is a collection of paintings titled ‘My Childhood Hockey Memories” – depictions of youngsters playing hockey on frozen outdoor ponds.

As an NHLer, Brodeur understood that his on-ice brethren would likely mock his artistic endeavours. Somehow, the macho locker room culture didn’t quite gel with the fine arts.

“Painting has always been a passion of mine,” says Brodeur. “When I was playing with the Canucks I was painting at home and brought a sketch pad with me on the road. But it’s not something I mentioned to my teammates. You’re always considered a flake as a goalie anyways, and then if you walk in the locker room and tell them you’re an artist they are going to laugh.”

Now Brodeur paints four to eight hours a day and shows his work at the Birthplace of B.C. Gallery in Fort Langley, British Columbia.

“I have had two passions in my life,” he says. “One was playing hockey and the other one was my art. And I’m a lucky guy because I have been able to do both.”

King Richard’s passion for art is no longer a secret. And this time no one is laughing.