Sarah Mills: We came so close to the zipper merge
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By Teena Monteleone
To say these have been an emotional few days is an understatement for Aron Gratias.
He recently discovered a massive Wayne Gretzky and hockey memorabilia collection he has accumulated over the past 40-plus years was stolen from a storage container on a farm near Shellbrook sometime after Feb. 11.
“This collection is priceless. There are a lot of items in there that were addressed to me — personally signed for me. They have signed pictures of me with Gretzky holding the Stanley Cup and a picture of my family all wearing Gretzky jerseys signed. That stuff is irreplaceable,” Gratias said.
Among other items taken were large pictures and paintings (all with serial numbers), sticks, pucks in display cases that were also autographed, and close to 10,000 hockey cards — 2,200 of which were of Gretzky alone. Some were autographed.
There was a framed Gretzky rookie card PSA 8, 1979 Mattel dolls still in boxes, figurines, plates, helmets, masks and skates, among many other things. Autographed Sidney Crosby memorabilia was also taken, along with Joe Sakic and Joe Thornton jerseys.
“I grew up in the (Edmonton) Oilers dynasty era watching Gretzky and the Oilers into the early ’80s and all of the Stanley Cup runs and it really drove my passion for collecting,” Gratias said. “On weekends, I’d run to the corner store with my allowance for O-Pee-Chee hockey cards with a pack of gum and that collection grew into my teens.”
(Aron Gratias/Submitted)
Every time Gretzky joined a different team, Gratias would find another jersey or stick to commemorate it. He is on one of the largest Wayne Gretzky fan collection groups online and said he already has had people from Denmark, Finland and Switzerland reach out to him to say they’ll keep an eye out for his stolen stuff.
“I never had the collection appraised. It was never meant to be of monetary value. It was supposed to go through the generations,” he said.
In 2015, Gretzky and Gordie Howe were the guests for the Kinsmen Sport Celebrity Dinner in Saskatoon. Gratias took his young son to the event and they took a photo together with the two hockey legends. That was also stolen.
Gratias filed a report with the RCMP. He 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.
“My biggest fear is that whoever has my stuff is scared because they know they won’t be able to push the stuff because it is just too big of a collection and there’s awareness now,” Gratias said.
“I just don’t want them throwing them in a dumpster or taking it to a landfill. If you do have my stuff, drop it off at a facility or centre … make a call and let somebody know where it’s at. Whatever you do, do not garbage it.
“Like I said, a lot of that stuff is irreplaceable and it was never meant as an investment … it was meant to be passed down through the generations.”
