Jay's Way

The mind that brought us Goon is a collector, too!

- Russ Cohen

Jay Baruchel is not your typical actor. He’s a comedian, a screenwriter, director, and producer. Most hockey fans have heard about his first hockey movie,

Goon, and now he’s back with Goon: Last of the Enforcers. Born in Ottawa, Ontario, the Montreal Canadiens are Baruchel’s favorite team since he was born 10 years before the new Senators re-entered the NHL in 1992 and he was firmly entrenched in the Habs’ rich history as a result.

In his youth, he collected cards and memorabilia of some of the greats who wore the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge.

“I’ve got some biggies, like a 1973 Guy Lafleur,” he said, referring to his card collection in an interview with Beckett Hockey. “To be honest, the single-biggest piece of memorabilia that I have is a signed Patrick Roy helmet. That kind of takes the cake but when I was five, my Dad got me a pretty crazy present. Especially with each year that passes. I have a signed letter from Bob Gainey with an 8x10 glossy photo autographed by the entire 1986-87 Montreal Canadiens. When I was five, it was utterly lost on me. I wanted Transformers, not a bunch of black and white photos of men with some writing on it.”

Earlier this year, Upper Deck made a set of cards to commemorate the second coming of the Goon franchise. Early viewers got the cards as a bonus and that is when Baruchel noticed them.

“It’s pretty cool, eh? I don’t know how that happened, but we’re really psyched they did. I think they did an awesome job,” he said in a complimentary manner. “I grew up collecting hockey cards and baseball cards. It’s an extra thrill to have cards featuring characters that I created.”