A Trophy Fit For A Squid

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Oct 8, 2021
Winners of the Inaugural Pacific Northwest Draft hoisting Dan Cautrell's creation. Photo by Daniel Fairweather.

There’s a lunchtime group of hockey gentlemen who play every Friday at Snoqualmie’s Sno-King Ice Arena. After every skate, the boys have a few beers at a nearby brewery- including defenseman Daniel Cautrell. He’s also an artist and was commissioned to create a trophy for the Inaugural Pacific Northwest Draft adult hockey weekend. In mid-April, players from 17 states and provinces traveled to Tacoma Twin Rinks to compete for the Timothy J. Oshie Memorial Trophy.

Dan Cautrell Art & Design has been operating out of his Woodinville barn studio since 1998. And now he is finishing up a second trophy for the Inaugural Seattle Draft this weekend at Highland Ice Arena. I sat with him for one of those post-hockey beers to get to know the newest hockey artist in the Pacific Northwest.

JW:  I see you are wearing a Los Angeles Kings jersey, so where are you from?

DC:  I’m from the Long Beach/L.A. Area. I still surf down there, so I lean to Orange County, Newport Beach, and Laguna. I started skating and playing roller hockey as a kid. In high school, I had friends from Minnesota, and then the Kings got established around that time. We started going to hockey games with their parents every time the North Stars would come to play in L.A. Once you start going to a couple games, I was like- wow! This is so cool. There was a local ice rink near my town, so I went out there to midnight pick-up games to learn.

JW:  And what made you move up here?

DC:  Southern California was pretty nice. But then, after marriage, we had kids and needed more property and a bigger house- that kind of thing. So we moved to Riverside, but my wife didn’t like the Inland Empire. We still lived there for 10 years. Her brother moved up here for work, and we’d come visit him in the summertime since she was a school teacher. She said she would really love to live up here, so we thought she could get a job. We went ahead and pulled up stakes and moved up here. Sure enough, she got a job immediately at an elementary school.

Photo by Dan Cautrell.

JW:  Have you created art your whole life?

DC:  No- for about 35 years now. Yeah, I picked it up actually after I graduated from high school and got into college when you start exploring different things.

JW:  How would you describe your art? From seeing the trophy, you made for the Pacific Northwest Draft and other pieces- I would say “grizzly”?

DC:  Okay, you know what- I’m gonna change grizzly to primitive. There is a primitive quality to my work. I don’t like anything real tight, and neither with my graphic stuff. No real tight lines- kind of earthy. Free flow is a good way to put it. But yeah, there’s a primitive rustic quality to all of my work. Definitely in my wood carvings.

Photo of and by Dan Cautrell.

JW:  When you were asked to make this trophy, did it seem like it was right in your wheelhouse?

DC:  Absolutely. Oh, yeah! I haven’t done much that has been hockey art-related. I’ve always kept the two kind of separate. But every once in a while, an opportunity comes up like this trophy. A guy named Bruce Clark started this old guy tournament up in Winthrop. And he needed a design for his F.O.G. Tournament, which stands for f***ing old guys. Haha. I did the image, and he put it on the jerseys and sweatshirts.

JW:  That’s a great hockey story. How long ago was that?

DC:  Probably three years ago. Then with this trophy, there was another opportunity to create a presence in the Seattle hockey culture. You know, just having that out there. And if it hangs out at a hockey bar all year too? That is so awesome.

JW:  Well, the trophy is at home at Big T’s Moonshine BBQ, and you play hockey in Lynnwood- so you have to go see it! Besides the winning team each year, you’re one of the few people who can take it off the shelf and use it.

Closeup of the Timothy J. Oshie Memorial Trophy. Photo by Daniel Fairweather.

DC:  Oh, I really enjoyed doing it. I wanted to be involved in the culture of hockey, and that was a great way to start. So yeah, that’s why I added an actual puck to add a little hockey reference directly.

JW:  Were you surprised when it was mentioned that the puck was like the “Black Hole Sun” referenced in the Soundgarden song?

DC:  Oh yeah! I went and listened to the song after I heard that. A gritty song to go with the trophy’s rustic quality. Yeah, that works perfectly and is a pretty awesome reference.

JW:  What is your favorite part of the trophy?

DC:  Oh, it has to be the tentacles. That was a serious cut. But I had to include them for the new Seattle NHL team! I’ll always be a Kings fan, but now I’m totally Kraken. I used to watch the Kings growing up with Marcel Dionne, Rogie Vachon, and all those guys. I still like watching them, but now I have a team representing my region! I’m bleeding that way for sure. I was excited for the player announcements and coach hiring and look forward to seeing how games are conducted in the new arena. I’m looking forward to all that stuff.

Photo by Dan Cautrell showing one of the panels he made for the city streets of Duvall, Washington.

JW:  Any other big projects or pieces that you’ve done recently around the community?

DC:  Well, I just created some carved cedar panels for a City of Duvall public arts project. They’re basically 18-foot panels that are hanging from the street posts along Main Street. It was myself and about three or four other artists included in the project. The town just had an art event presenting the panels on September 25th.

Also, there was a 9/11 remembrance piece. There’s someone in my community that knew people who perished in the tragedy. And they are involved with a group for the families and survivors of 9/11. Every year we’ve been helping the fundraiser, and I was committed to donating an art piece for the fundraising effort. Well, for the 20th anniversary this year, someone approached me about doing a piece of artwork that was to be featured on a lot of the publicity. That was a tight deadline but very special to be a part of.

JW:  What would it mean to have the new Climate Pledge Arena or Seattle Kraken ask you to create something?

DC:  Oh yeah- that would be sweet! Like a big mural? Those and carved wood are my specialties. I’m used to flat surfaces, so that’s why the trophy was so unusual for me to get into something 3D like that.

JW:  Any hints while you are finishing up the Inaugural Seattle Draft trophy?

DC:  Sorry- no peeks! But it will be completely different from the last one. An iron motif with another nod to the Seattle Kraken.

Daniel Cautrell’s new hockey trophy can be seen this Saturday and all year long at Queen Anne Beer Hall. Technically, admires can see it any time when it’s not being awarded to the champions of the Seattle Draft. That will be 3 PM this Sunday at Highland Ice Arena. ⚓

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