This isn鈥檛 the first time Paul Rosen聽says he has had something stolen.
It was nearly two decades ago when Rosen, a year removed from winning gold with the Canadian Sledge Hockey Team at the 2006 Paralympic Games in Turin, had his medal swiped while signing autographs at a charitable event. The theft generated plenty of media attention, including a Coach鈥檚 Corner plea from Don Cherry.
A week later, the medal was returned, dropped off anonymously in a mailbox in Downsview. But earlier this month, the memories returned.
鈥淚t was all those feelings coming back,鈥 the former goaltender told the Star.
This time, he says memorabilia and hockey gear has been stolen from a basement storage unit in Newmarket, Ont., including framed jerseys of Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Nathan MacKinnon, as well as Rosen鈥檚 personal hockey gear. They also made off with his glove from that 2006 gold medal game, Rosen adds.
All together, the stolen and damaged goods are worth around $30,000, Rosen estimates. It would have been used for charity 鈥 donated and auctioned off as part of Rosen鈥檚 work with StopConcussions and the Canadian Spinal Research Organization.
The break-in happened sometime in the last month, York Regional Police said, and was discovered on May 9 by Rosen, who had gone to the storage unit to pick up something for a charity event. Instead, he discovered the door was open.
鈥淚 looked in and it was devastation,鈥 Rosen said. 鈥淭wenty years of hard work, gone.鈥
The big-name framed jerseys were gone and the ones of less notable players were destroyed. 鈥淭hey urinated on whatever jerseys they didn鈥檛 take,鈥 he said, and defecated in a corner.
Rosen broke his leg in 14 places while playing hockey in 1975 and after decades of surgeries, his leg was amputated in 1999.
Paul Rosen at 39, the day after having his right leg amputated at a hospital in Israel.
Family handoutHe made his sledge hockey debut at 41 at the 2002 Salt Lake City Paralympics, in which Canada finished fourth. Four years later, in Turin, he shut out the opposition over eight straight periods to help Canada to its first gold in sledge hockey.
Rosen retired after the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics. He became a motivational speaker and has spoken publicly of his decades-long depression and drug addiction.
The break-in is under investigation by York police, although there are no suspect descriptions. More than anything else, Rosen hopes he gets one thing back.
鈥淚鈥檇 love to get my glove back,鈥 Rosen said. 鈥淭hat was the last thing I had from the gold medal game.鈥
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