COLLECTING ROY-ALTY
GOALIE GARY STEINBERG FOUND INSPIRATION ON THE ICE, AND IN THE HOBBY, FROM ALL-TIME GREAT PATRICK ROY
MEET GARY: “My name is Gary Steinberg. I’m 32 and live in Glastonbury, Conn., with my wife, my son Bryce, and our dog Misty. I am a veterinarian, and I have played goalie for 25 years while idolizing Patrick Roy and Mike Richter. I am a diehard Rangers and Yankees fan.”
GETTING STARTED: “I started collecting cards when I was a young kid but gravitated mostly to Patrick Roy. He was my goalie idol and he paved the way with his butterfly style. I couldn’t wait to use my allowance on the card show down the street from my hometown rink, or the one down the street from my grandfather’s house in New Jersey. I concentrated on cards and small trinkets when I was a kid, but now I am heavy into filling in my collection with memorabilia and autographs. e last few years I have been focusing on hockey pucks and baseballs, and in-person and through-the-mail autographs. I recently completed a current Yankees jersey corner in my man cave. I always find my way back to picking up a new Roy piece or card though.”
WHY ROY?: “I was always drawn to his confidence and butterfly style. His iconic interview in response to Jeremy Roenick still makes me laugh every time I watch it. Patrick Roy is an icon: the famous wink to Tomas Sandstrom, backstopping Montreal to a Stanley Cup as a rookie, and being the sport’s ultimate money/playoff goaltender.”
IT’S A GOALIE THING: “I love being a goalie and collecting goalies. It truly is the best and hardest position to play in all of sports. at’s why I also have smaller collections of Mike Richter, Henrik Lundqvist, Marc-Andre Fleury, Jonathan Quick, Dominik Hasek, and Curtis Joseph.”
THE COLLECTION: “Among my Roy signed items are two
jerseys, a mini helmet, four photos, a Beckett Hockey cover, a puck, and a 448wins replica stick. I also have more than 700 unique Roy cards although by now there are probably 1,000 cards of his on my want list.”
FAVORITE ITEMS: “I love my The Cup Limited Logos auto patch (#’d 27/50). That to be the prettiest card I own. I saved up a lot of money to go to a card show when I was younger and walked away with just that one card but I was happy as a clam.
“I also recently made a trade for the 1990-91 Upper Deck Roy error card. I’m ashamed to say I did not know about it previously. I traded for it on Twitter with a nice guy from Texas. I think it only goes for $15 but it is unique because the height and weight stats are switched on the card. He was a little reluctant to part with it at first but eventually realized I was a huge Roy collector so it was better in my hands. I also have an Avalanche practice jersey signed by Roy and coach Bob Hartley that my parents bid on through an auction for my youth hockey team.”
COOL TO BE KIND: “The signed canvas I’m holding in the picture was sent to me by Upper Deck as part of their Random Act of Kindness program. I commented on one of their posts about choosing between a McDavid, Gretzky or Roy card. I said that I would pick the Roy card hands down because he was the focus of my PC and the best goalie ever. They contacted me and said they had a day with the Cup with him and wanted a picture of me in a Roy jersey by my collection. After a few days they reached out again and said that they tried to Photohop me in next to the Cup and Roy but it didn’t look right ... so they sent me one of the canvas prints from the event, along with an exclusive Diamond Club autograph card #25/30. Really, just an amazing surprise and a great customer service gesture.”
WHITE WHALE: “I have a few: a BGS Gem Mint O-Pee-Chee RC, a true 1/1 card, and a Roy game-used item like a jersey, stick, glove or helmet. Of course, actually meeting Patrick is my top goal.”
GOOD ORGANIZATION: “I have a man cave in our house where I display all of my jerseys and memorabilia but I’m running out of wall space! My cards live upstairs in a large cabinet. I am very OCD about organizing them and alphabetizing them. There is something truly therapeutic about sorting and organizing cards.”
CONTACT GARY: “My email is garyjr.steinberg@gmail.com and I can be reached on Twitter at DrGSteindog.”