1,000 Brad Richards hockey cards in, collector still looking for one more

When Cornelius Van Ewyk moved to Murray River, P.E.I., just down the road from the Murray Harbour hometown of NHL star Brad Richards, it seemed obvious what he should do.

That he was marrying Lorna Richards, the hockey player's cousin, and that it was 2004, the first time Richards would bring the Stanley Cup to his hometown, only added fuel to the fire.

Van Ewyk, who gathered his first collection cigar bands as a boy in the Netherlands, and went on later to collect coins and stamps, started to collect Brad Richards hockey cards.

"I didn't realize when he started collecting cards that there was that many cards out there. We had no idea," said Lorna.

Cards pre-date NHL career

Richards was 17 years in the NHL, and four years in the minors. Van Ewyk has collected more than 1,000 cards that were issued by various companies during that career.

"Every card that's here is different. Some might look the same, but they are different," he said.

The oldest card in the set is from when Richards was playing for Rimouski, before he went up to the NHL.

He has been collecting the cards for 15 years now. There are so many companies that produce the cards it is difficult to know how close he is to a full set, but he does know there's one of special interest to him that's missing.

"I am still looking for one particular card that's got to do with the name Richards," he said.

"For the last three years I have not seen one of them cards on Ebay."

It's part of a set that spells out the name Richards. He is missing the D.

Van Ewyk estimates he has spent $30,000 on the collection. He knows he could never get that back, but he said it has brought him a lot of happiness, and it helped teach him about the game of hockey.

Still, he said, for the right price he is ready to sell the collection.

"I'd be excited, because I've had fun with it and for me it's time to let go," he said.

If he does sell, he said, it would likely be the end of his collecting days. He said it's time to retire.

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