Thief takes Dionne’s boyhood skates
Hockey hall of famer discovered theft from memorabilia store on Good Friday
Marcel Dionne is disappointed more than anything.
He’s disappointed that someone came to his Niagara Falls memorabilia store and lifted his boyhood skates — his very first pair.
And he’s disappointed in himself for not having the skates in a more secure spot.
On Good Friday, the hockey hall of famer was giving a tour to a group of 65 people from his hometown of Drummondville, Quebec. The group included 20 kids playing in a hockey tournament at the Gale Centre, and Dionne wanted to show them his skates.
That’s when he noticed the skates — as well as an eight-by-10 photo of his youthful self wearing them — were missing from his Montrose Road store.
The brown leather skates with straps and a thick blade were given to him as a Christmas present when he was 2½ years old. And the photo of him all dressed up wearing the skates and a Montreal Canadiens sweater was taken in his back yard.
His mother had kept the skates all these years until she died five years ago, and Dionne has had them in his store ever since.
“It’s more of a sentimental thing than anything else,” said Dionne, explaining they would be a very difficult item to try to sell, as any paraphernalia dealer is bound to ask questions.
Dionne had the skates on a table in the back conference room in the store. The room contains inventory and is lined with vintage photos. It’s where he speaks to tour groups who are visiting.
While the theft was only recently discovered, it could have happened more than a month ago, as the last time Dionne remembers having them in his hand was on March 16, when he was showing a group of school kids around.
Dionne said he can’t recall exactly when, but he remembers seeing someone hanging around the skates.
“It caught my attention, but I got busy with something else,” he said, adding he wished he had kept them behind glass like his old jerseys.
Fortunately, both his store and the adjoining restaurant, The Blue Line Diner, are well covered with cameras. And as there’s only one way out of the store, the suspect will most certainly have been captured on camera.
It’s just a matter of going through up to a month’s worth of footage.
Or, whoever took the skates could realize they’re worth more to Dionne than they’ll ever be to anyone else. Dionne said he’d gladly take them back — no questions asked — and may even give the person something else instead.
“Bring it back,” he said. “We’ll have a talk.”