Popular TikTok artist creates cube mosaic to pay homage to Blake Wheeler

The Winnipeg Jets found a creative way to pay homage to captain Blake Wheeler, who recently returned to the ice after recovering from a knee injury.

The team collaborated with a popular artist on TikTok to create a mosaic of Wheeler that is made of hundreds of cubes.

Dylan Sadiq, a New Jersey-based artist who goes by the College Cuber on social media, said he used 560 cubes to create the mosaic, which took about three hours to make.

“I made that video [of Blake Wheeler] a couple of weeks back and Blake got injured around the same time, so we saved the video for his return,” Sadiq said in an interview on Sunday.

“That’s really something special. We’ve been planning it for quite some time.”

Sadiq designed the tribute to Wheeler after connecting with the Winnipeg hockey club weeks ago. He said reaching a fan base hundreds of miles away is meaningful.

“It really means a lot to me that my artwork is really outside from where I’m from,” he said.

“I’m from New Jersey and you guys are from Canada. It’s kind of insane the amount of people that get to see my artwork.”

Sadiq, who is studying biomedical engineering at Rutgers University, started creating cube art last year.

“My inspiration definitely comes from social media,” he said.

“On social media, there are tons of artists, in the sports world, outside the sports world, there are people that do this kind of stuff all the time.”

Sadiq has collaborated with a number of teams and athletes, including the Tennessee Titans and the Anaheim Ducks.

He has made about 75 mosaics so far, with one set of cubes that he uses each time.

- With files from CTV’s Danny Halmarson.