Former NHL players selling memorabilia from their hockey careers isn’t anything new. Plenty have done so either out of financial distress or with the goal that the money raised will go to their children and grandchildren.

But in Ed Belfour’s case, the former netminder is auctioning off his collection for a business venture.

According to John Wawrow of the Associated Press, Belfour teamed up with Classic Auctions to sell 66 items from his hockey career with an eye toward opening a distillery.

From the AP:

"It's definitely hard to part ways with some of this stuff I've kept since high school," Belfour said by phone from his home outside of Dallas this week.

"But I have the memories and I'll never forget them," he added. "This is a chance to get together with my son and start a business, the next chapter of our lives, and hopefully turn it into a world-class distillery where our bourbon is known all over the world.”

Some of the items in the auction, which ends on Tuesday, include the Hockey Hall of Famer’s famous game-worn goalie mask, mini trophies of some of the NHL awards he’s won like the Vezina, Jennings and 1999 Stanley Cup, and his 2002 gold medal, where he served as one of Canada’s three netminders. (He did not appear in a game in Salt Lake.)

The plan, as Belfour told Wawrow, is to open the distillery in a year as he and his son, Dayn, have been gathering information about bourbon and whiskey.

Like other former players who have gone the auction route, much of Belfour’s collection wasn’t on display anywhere and was boxed up in an attic.

"It makes me feel good that my stuff will end up in some very good collectors' hands,” he said.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy

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