Man who had Gretzky memorabilia stolen overwhelmed by global support

Among the stolen items were signed pictures of Gratias with Gretzky holding the Stanley Cup, as well as large pictures and paintings, sticks, pucks in display cases that were also autographed, and close to 10,000 hockey cards; 2,200 of which were of Gretzky alone. A lot of his items were hand made and then signed.

There was also a framed Gretzky rookie card, plates, helmets, masks, and skates among many other things. Autographed Sidney Crosby memorabilia was also taken, along with Joe Sakic and Joe Thornton jerseys.

“Everybody always asks me ‘how much was your collection worth?’ And to me it really was priceless. It was never meant to be an investment dollar value for me. It was meant to be a lifelong passion that I could show off and then pass down to my children and then my grandkids and you know keep it within that family,” he said adding a lot of the pieces were very personal to him and a lot of time was put into collecting them.

According to a previous article on paNOW, Gratias believes it was a targeted theft because the storage container housing the memorabilia wasn’t easily accessible. The thieves used a shovel to get through the snow to it and special equipment to get through tamper-proof locks. They didn’t take other valuable items like a fridge, couch, computer, garage tools and expensive cookware.

Since posting on social media that these items were stolen the post has been shared over 20,000 times. Gratias said the public has been so supportive, and it’s been overwhelming for him.

“I get messages, continuing to get messages daily from people all over Canada into the U.S., even into Europe that send me pictures [of memorabilia],” he said.

As a member of one of the largest Gretzky fan collection pages in the U.S., which he said is 40,000 to 45,000 members strong. Major collectors from that group have messaged him from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Australia offering their support or just to tell Gratias they’ll keep their eyes open.

“Although we think the hockey world is such a large group, it is really small,” he said.

He even had a few collectors offer him some of their own Gretzky memorabilia and even though he appreciated the gesture, he turned them down.

“I know how much time and effort goes into these collections and how much they mean to people. I know how much my collection meant to me and I couldn’t take pieces of people’s collections. To me it just wouldn’t be right,” he said.

One of the biggest questions he’s been asked by police is at the end of the day what does he want to do? For Gratias, it’s simple; he just wants his collection back no questions asked. He asks for the person or people who have it to drop it off at a safe location so it can be identified and returned.

“I’m hopeful that it is all still in one piece, one collection and that it doesn’t end up being disposed of. But trying to be as hopeful as I can, trying to be as patient as I can and letting the authorities and the process work its way out.”

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ian.gustafson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @IanGustafson12

by Ian Gustafson

Man who had Gretzky memorabilia stolen overwhelmed by global support

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