New Mosienko mural unveiled

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This article was published 28/11/2016 (3450 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It only took Billy Mosienko 21 seconds to become a hockey legend; it took artist Jennifer Johnson Mosienko three months to recapture that moment.

A new mural honouring Mosienko, the man who holds the NHL record for the fastest three goals by a single player, was officially unveiled Monday morning. It is located on the south wall outside of Billy Mosienko Lanes at 1136 Main St., near the intersection of Redwood Avenue. It replaces an iconic North End mural that had fallen into a state of decline.

“I’m honestly very honoured and very privileged to have the opportunity to do this,” Jennifer said.

The project was a family affair — Jennifer’s husband Ken is Billy’s grandson and she said the family resemblance is striking.

She started the project in mid-August and completed it a couple of weeks ago. Crezon boards (a special exterior grade plywood) were propped up in her yard on a giant easel built by her husband.

“Every morning when I would get up and look out our patio window, I would see the portrait of Billy smiling at me,” said Jennifer, who has been painting murals for 18 years.

She said friends and neighbours had some fun noticing the similarities of features on Ken’s and Billy’s faces.

“We had a couple of friends that thought I was trying to pay tribute to my husband,” Jennifer said, laughing. She said their two-year-old daughter would sometimes call the portrait ‘Daddy’ because she could see her dad in her great-grandfather’s face as it was being painted.

Mosienko was a member of the Chicago Blackhawks when he scored three goals in 21 seconds on March 23, 1952 against the New York Rangers. He died at age 72 on July 9, 1994, after a battle with cancer. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1965 and into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1980.

Jennifer said it was “a fantastic process” to learn about Billy and his legacy through newspaper and family stories as she worked on the project.

“He was charismatic, a true sportsman on the ice and hockey legend with a record that likely will never be beat for the fastest hat trick,” she said.

Jennifer said the project came to her from Take Pride Winnipeg! after a Winnipeg Free Press story chronicled the decline of the original mural, painted in 1998 by Al Senkiw, which was located at the same location.

“I think it’s absolutely fantastic that we had the opportunity to redo this mural, which is a piece of Winnipeg and Canadian history,” said Tom Ethans, Take Pride!’s executive director. “We’re ready to see the vibrancy and the colours that have been part of this new mural and really make it stand out more so than it used to and I think it’s going to be around for quite a while with the job that Jennifer’s done.”

The new mural includes several historical aspects: a reproduction of the famous photo of Mosienko holding the three pucks; tributes to his former Winnipeg Warriors and Winnipeg Monarchs teams on bowling pins; the three members of the Blackhawks famous 1945-46 “Pony Line” that featured Mosienko, Doug Bentley and Max Bentley; and a painting of the Lady Byng Trophy for the most gentlemanly player, which Mosienko won in 1945.

The mural project was funded through a partnership between Take Pride Winnipeg!, Billy Mosienko Lanes, the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, Johner’s Windsor Plywood, Benjamin Moore/Portage Avenue Paints and the Winnipeg Foundation.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca