MEET DWAYNE: “My name is Dwayne Hirtle. I’m a 47-year-old Trades Coordinator at the Nova Scotia Health Authority in Halifax. I’m an avid hockey card and Montreal Canadiens collector.”
GETTING STARTED: “My mother is a huge Canadiens fan and she never misses a game on Saturday night, so I began to watch with her in the early ‘80s to learn about the players and the game. I started collecting in the 1990-91 season when the hobby was on the rise. I collected almost every set that was available at that time. My favorite players were Patrick Roy, Mario Lemieux, Brett Hull, and Arturs Irbe. Eventually, I began to narrow my collection to specific sets. From 2005-06 through 2008-09 I focused on Upper Deck, then I switched to SP Authentic, with other sets in between such as 2013-14 SPx and 2013-14 Ultimate Collection.”
THE COLLECTION: “I have a large collection of Patrick Roy cards, figures, and collectibles, but the main scope focuses on particular cards that catch my eye with a nice patch or autograph. I especially like picking up signatures of the legends of the game. These players won’t be with us forever, and I think we as collectors forget this sometimes.”