After the Washington Capitals historic Stanley Cup win, fans across the world continue to express how much the team’s success means to them through some incredibly creative avenues.

We’ve seen Stanley Cup tributes as tattoos, paintings, NASCAR helmets, makeshift scarecrows, personalised license plates, and corn mazes.

Now, one graffiti artist has taken it to another level by spraying a mural of Braden Holtby outside the Capitals goaltender’s hometown of Lloydminster.

The story behind it is truly inspiring.

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Jordoh, owner of Graffiti Salad, posted a timelapse of his painting to YouTube. And, while the work itself is pretty jaw-dropping on its own, what spurred Jordoh on to undertake the project was a tale of overcoming the odds and pushing yourself to achieve a dream — pretty much exactly what the Capitals, and Holtby, did on their journey to Stanley Cup history.

This by far was one of the most meaningful paintings I have ever earned the privilege to receive.

Why? Braden represents to me a true success. His playoff performance of 2018 was unlike anything else. Small town Saskatchewan boy, constantly being stepped on in the playoffs by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Finally his team (Washington) advances beyond the team whom squandered the dream multiple times before. That achievement was huge. It seemed like the world would just move out of his way after this weight had been lifted. Only several weeks later “the save” happened. That save alone meant more than a point it meant “you keep going even when the odds are against you.” – Believe it can be your time! That’s the determination I saw from that game.

Jordoh, who is a Saskatoon native, has been doing graffiti professionally for the past five years. He took the leap to make it his full-time career when he was 24. He related his path as an artist to that of Holtby’s path to the Stanley Cup.

What inspired me the most about this game is that this was at the time I decided there would not be a plan B for my life. I am a dedicated professional artist, a father, husband, athlete and humanitarian. I do my absolute best at any level to ensure that I grow, get better and inspire more people. My loving and loyal team of friends and family hold me up when things get hard, just like the Washington Capitals team did. Holtby was that backbone to hold them up. Likewise I am the backbone to my team.

I painted this mural in some difficult conditions, but I didn’t doubt my ability to paint that mural. I didn’t quit when the timeline became increasingly tight, when the weather turned ugly, when the equipment failed, or the paint cans were duds and I was down to the last can of the color I need. The weather difference of 25 degrees plays a huge roll in performance. My mentality became weakened, but a source of inspiration reminded me that it took nearly ten years to achieve the Stanley Cup.

If I am to achieve my dream of traveling the world painting the largest and most inspired works of my life; then I must face the Penguins and keep failing forward.

The mural was commissioned by Holtby’s hometown municipality in Saskatchewan, Rural Municipality of Wilton No. 472. The local government contacted Jordoh after the artist had painted a mural for the city of Lashburn.

Holtby brought the Stanley Cup to Lashburn over the summer.

This achievement hit home heavily as I felt the community and peoples energy. The hope and the pride that it provided. That a small town boy had the opportunity to fight for a dream he believed in and he finally won! That victory exuded through me. I wanted to paint that memory with the energy that surrounded the significance of that achievement (in white).

The Home of Holtby is very proud and honored to have one of their own, achieve his dreams.

Thank you sincerely to the RM of Wilton and the city of Lloydminster for supporting me and my dreams by providing me the opportunity to do what I love!

The mural took about 18 hours to complete and is located on the Highway 16 overpass, just east of Lloydminster.

Beautiful job on a mural in the home of Braden Holtby in Lloydminster! @TaraSlone @RonMacLeanHTH @FriedgeHNIC @KellyHrudey @RealKyper @hockeynight @DavidAmber pic.twitter.com/G4Wr1wAZfr

— Brian Button (@brianbutton28) October 24, 2018

Headline photo: Jordoh

S/T to Mark Nelson for the heads up.