Dave Elston, a Canadian NHL cartoonist, told Jerks he was ‘a gentleman in the business.’

Dave Elston, a semi-retired artist in Calgary, lives with his wife Kaida, their cat Annie, and their 26-year-old horse, Baby, in their tranquil home nearby, prompting Elston to lovingly describe it as: The most expensive lawn ornament in the world.

The wall beneath their home shows how much more reach was once extended, and not just to stables around town, but across North America. For most of his career, Elston was known as Canada’s only full-time editorial sports cartoonist, and he has a galaxy of autographs and framed memorabilia made up of the same NHL personalities he once paid to skewer.

His work appeared as an animated short in Canadian newspapers, as well as The Hockey News and for a time on “Hockey Night in Canada” broadcasts. A two-time art school dropout, his ability to tell a story in a single frame makes his work instantly recognizable to readers of a certain age.

“He’s a talented guy,” NHL executive Brian Burke said.

“It’s awesome,” said retiree Tim Hunter.

“He’s got to be a Canadian guy,” TSN host Jay Onright said.

Elston, now 63, enrolled at what was then known as the Alberta College of Art with dreams of becoming a commercial artist. He quickly felt out of place. A work judged to contain a cartoon image was shown instead of praised. And besides, he loved sports.

In the year In 1980, he met his former high school football coach, who was editor of the fledgling Calgary Sun. (Elston says he’s 5-foot-2, and someone nicknamed him the “Galloping Fire Hydrate” while running.)

The paper gave him $25 per carton.

Within a few years, Elston wanted to expand his reach by consolidating his work across Canada. He sent packets of cartoons to small papers all over the country. He had a packet left over from the mailing and on a lark decided to send it to the Hockey News in Toronto.

Bob McKenzie was editor-in-chief. He had only been on the job for two years when the package landed on his desk. He wanted to separate the publication from the notion that it was the NHL’s editorial arm — Ken McKenzie (no relation) ran the paper in the league in 1947 — and felt an editorial cartoonist would help that cause.

He hired Elston, and gave him editorial freedom.

“He was a big guy in terms of his impact on hockey news,” McKenzie, now a semi-retired NHL insider, told TSN.

His favorite Elston cartoon involved Wayne Gretzky and a coach who badly misjudged his own influence behind the bench. Robbie Ftorek

McKenzie can still visualize the cartoon. “I don’t know, I think it’s just another baby,” argued Fetorek as one of the three wise men crawled downstairs and looked into the manger.

“It was absolutely fantastic,” Mackenzie said. It was one of the funniest cartoons I’ve ever seen.

Hunter, a longtime NHL forward, was also a frequent muse. Now 61 years old, his “famous nose” makes him an easy sign. But he was also the star of his favorite Elston cartoon.

He was playing for the Canucks that season. In the framework, the Vancouver coach is looking at the right breather into the box that some players have used in the belief that it enhances their performance on the ice. The coach notices that the hot box is empty and asks who took all the ties.

“I’ve got about 10 in my nose, and he’s holding an empty box,” Hunter said with a laugh. “I mean, that’s classic.”

A few years later, when Hunter finished his NHL playing career with the San Jose Sharks, Elston made an animated short appearance on “Hockey Night in Canada” earlier this summer. With the theme music from the movie “Jaws” playing in the background, the cartoon showed a shark fin swimming in a swimming pool towards the Stanley Cup.

“This thing beats the Stanley Cup,” Hunter said. “And he turned up: he was swimming on my back.”

“He does an amazing job, and he doesn’t mean it,” said Burke, now president of hockey operations with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

After seeing the cartoon in 1989, Burke said he sent Elston a handwritten thank-you note following a tough fight between Vancouver and Calgary. In Game 7, the Flames pulled away after an overtime goal — eventually winning the Stanley Cup — but Elston’s frame showed how worn and beaten both teams were.

It was a sign of respect for the Canucks that Burke was working with.

“He would make fun of someone, but somehow make sure you didn’t get mad at him,” Burke said. “In a business where you have to be a little tricky, he was a real gentleman.”

Burke now stars in his own cartoon series. Along with host Jeff Marek, he appears in the Sportsnet animated shorts “Hey Burkie,” available online. (Nels Britz is the artist behind the series, with Emil Delich and Jason Harding serving as creative directors.)

“I can rock with my stories,” Burke said. “I can explain things. Elston had a shot.

“It was like an alternative comic, but it was in mainstream publications,” said TSN anchor Onright. “You couldn’t pass one of his jokes without stopping because of that unique style.

Onright is a personalization of Elston’s cartoon drawn in his office. He said it was a gift prepared by the owner. It shows a man pushing a TSN-branded baby carriage under the caption: “OnRight’s Baby Says His First Word.”

A speech bubble from the carriage is a familiar Onright exclamation in bold letters, “Bobrowski!!

Onright grew up in Edmonton during the height of the “Battle of Alberta,” when the Oilers and Flames seemed to meet every spring to decide which team would go on to win the Stanley Cup. He said Elston was an integral part of that era in Calgary.

“A very important artist in the history of that city,” he said. “I don’t think this is stubborn. I don’t think I explained it. I truly believe that he was not only a great artist, but also a historian of that time – especially in the 80’s when the bands were so good.

If an NHL player reaches out to request a print of his work, Elston said he usually mails two copies: one for the player and one for the player to autograph and send back. Most subjects, he said, seemed to get the joke.

He said most but not all.

“I’ve had the weirdest thing where someone would come up to me and say, ‘Oh, you did a cartoon for me back when I was playing football for the Stampers,'” he said. “Then I go: ‘Yeah?’ And they say, ‘I don’t like it.'”

He paused to laugh: “I’m like, ‘Okay, hit me now?’

In the year In 1991, Flames forward Doug Gilmore landed on Elston’s cartoon after being awarded $750,000 in salary arbitration. It was just before the December holidays and, according to Vancouver County, the cartoon showed Gilmore asking for a charity with a sign that read, “Young couple, one son, father who broke $750,000.”

Gilmour was reportedly unhappy with the painting, but never contacted the artist.

“His wife did,” Elston said. “She was not happy. I’m going to leave it at that.”

He said he still draws frequently, mostly for his own amusement. He says he’s open to new projects, but is otherwise settling into retirement. His wife Kaida is retired.

“I’m just grateful that I hit that sweet spot where I was able to do the job and get out in time enough to retire,” he said, then stopped to laugh again. Or, I guess, I will.

(Top Photo: Courtesy of Dave Elston)