Longtime New York Rangers fan Jake Zaretsky met up with Rangers forward Jonny Brodzinski after Saturday night's game for a special exchange.
In January of 2023, New York Rangers fan Jake Zaretsky, posted a tweet of a one-of-one Jonny Brodzinski rookie card that he had purchased. What Zaretsky didn't know at the time, was that he and Brodzinski shared the same hobby of collecting cards.
For those who don't recognize the last name, Zaretsky's dad (Mike), uncle (Steven), grandfather (Dave) and lifelong friend (Gary) were the four gentlemen holding up the famous "Now I Can Die In Peace" sign at Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final.
As such, New York Rangers' fandom is a big part of their families' history.
When Brodzinski caught wind of this tweet back in January, he wanted to do anything possible to get his hands on that card.
"I didn't originally see it," said Brodzinski. "My dad showed it to me and it was my one-of-one rookie card, with the NHL shield on it. He showed that to me and I was fired up about it. I immediately DM'd him [Jake Zaretsky] right away."
Jonny Brodzinski's father Mike's exchange with Jake Zaretsky on Twitter about the card. Brodzinski hails from Ham Lake, Minn., and grew up a huge Minnesota sports fan. He recently told The Hockey News that he's a big sports card collector. Despite playing hockey, he mostly collects football and basketball cards.
"I collect a lot of Minnesota athletes' cards, like Anthony Edwards and other Minnesota Timberwolves guys," said Brodzinski. "I also have a lot of Justin Jefferson and a bunch of Patrick Mahomes cards."
When he's not on the ice scoring goals for the Rangers, Brodzinski is negotiating a way to trade his cards.
"If there's any way we can figure out a way for me to get my hands on it, I'd love that", Brodzinski told Zaretsky.
Originally it appeared that Zaretsky wanted to hang onto the prized possession.
Apparently, this card would "complete the rainbow", meaning that Brodzinski already had the whole set, but was missing this particular card for his collection.
Brodzinski and I joked that Zaretsky had all of the leverage in this deal.
About a week ago, Zaretsky had sent Brodzinski a message, asking if they could meet up after Saturday night's game and make a trade. Even if this exchange was one-sided in favor of Brodzinski, Zaretsky just wanted the opportunity to meet one of his favorite players and get a signed stick.
"I did receive a ton of comments saying that it was a bad trade", Zaretsky said. "I was trading for more than just a stick. I was trading to meet him [Brodzinski], to get to know him better and hopefully take a picture. I think that experience is worth more than just the card itself" Zaretsky added.
It's not every day that NHL fans get to connect with one of their favorite players over social media. Then to have that initial exchange turn into something like this, it's very unique, especially around the holiday time.
"I think the best part about that whole experience was kind of just getting to connect with him one-on-one. Being able to see the players off the ice, it's a revelation for me. Growing up, watching the Rangers my whole life, to see them have a personable moment, to connect with them and talk about their family along with hearing about how he got into this hobby is really important."
Often times in media we only hear from players about their on ice experience. Zaretsky emphasized how cool it was to talk to Brodzinski about the hobby of card collecting in itself.
"I wasn't going to look at him and tell him how much I love him and how great I think the Rangers are and all that stuff," said Zaretsky. "I really wanted to get to know him better and that's what I think we did."
"I'm hoping he posts more pictures of his cards on Twitter. I think that would be really cool if he did that."
This was a very special night for one lucky Rangers fan, and from what it sounds like with the value of the card, an even luckier Rangers player.