KEVIN CONNAUTON
BEHIND THE INK TATTOOS ARE A LOT OF THINGS – symbols, memorials, art. But as Wolves defenseman Kevin Connauton found out, something they also can be is hard on a mother. “My mom hates tattoos,” he said. “She doesn’t like them at all. So she was pretty upset when she first saw mine.” Granted Connauton just has one piece of ink, but the work on his left shoulder matches that on the shoulder of his older brother Sean, compounding Mom’s displeasure. But, “she’s okay now,” Connauton said, and the meaningful familyoriented tat holds special significance to the brothers. “I always wanted to get one. But to me there should be some meaning behind it so you can’t just rush into it,” he said. “A tattoo should be important to you and you should put a lot of thought into it.” Their shared artwork, which includes their last name and “Brothers Forever” in Gaelic, was a true team effort. “My brother and I are really close and we wanted to do something together. We brainstormed together for a long time and finally got it how we wanted it,” he said. “We figured out where we wanted to put it, messed around with the design until we got one that would fit, and then we decided how to do the wording, which we really wanted to connect to our families. It only took about 90 minutes to get the work done.”
I ALWAYS WANTED TO GET ONE. BUT TO ME THERE SHOULD BE SOME MEANING BEHIND IT SO YOU CAN’T JUST RUSH INTO IT, Connauton is certainly not the only guy on the Wolves roster sporting ink and, during his years with other teams, he’s seen a fair share of tattoos in every locker room; ones that come with their own unique stories. “I’ve known a lot of guys over the course of my career and I’ve seen a lot of them with different designs and different reasons behind them,” he said. “Sometimes it’s a certain meaning, or a variety of them, but it’s cool to hear some of the stories guys will tell about why they got them. Sometimes the stories are pretty funny and the guy might regret them. There’s quite a bit of ink around hockey.” While Connauton stresses how personal tattoos are to him, and how they should convey meaning, one thing he might not be willing to commemorate with permanent ink is a hockey championship, should the situation arise. “I’m not sure I’d get a championship tattoo. You already get that big ring,” he said. “I’m all about team camaraderie, but that’s staying on your body forever. That’s not always for everyone.”
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