Dozens of high end hockey sticks were snatched out of a family-owned sports store in Gatineau. Thieves made off with $30-thousand dollars in sticks probably headed for the black market. It happened last Monday evening, January 12th around 10 p.m.,  at Marc Sports on Maloney Boulevard East. It's clear from the surveillance footage behind that the thieves knew what they were looking for.  They went straight for the high-end sticks near the back of the store. Within 10 seconds of breaking in through the front door, the first thief makes off with an armful of hockey sticks; Bauer Vapor, CCM Tacks.   They sell for about $300 each. He makes two more trips before the second thief struggles with his load trying to make it through the door.

‘They knew where the cameras were,’ says store manager Simon Neveu, ‘they hid their faces, probably scouted the location before.’

‘This is the stick they took mostly,’ says Neveu as he holds one of the sticks the thieves left behind, ‘A Bauer MX3. They took both the right and left, worth $300 stick.’

The loss is staggering for this local business. They stole 115 sticks totaling $30-thousand dollars; gone in 3 minutes flat.

Marc Sports is a family-owned store that has been in business for 40 years.  This is the second break-in in 5 years. The first time was another hit on the hockey sticks.’

The store's manager believes it may have been the same thieves and he's convinced they cased the place a few days before the break-in January 12th with the stolen sticks headed for the black market.

‘Their main idea is to sell them cheaper and make some easy money I guess.’

Gatineau Police are seen on the tape arriving a few short minutes after the thieves are gone.  They say the speed at which these thieves operated isn't unusual.

‘It's pretty typical of break and enters at a business,’ says Sgt. Jean-Paul LeMay with the Gatineau Police, ‘people often know where they're going and know they don't have time so it’s not unusual what we see in that video.’

Police hope the clarity of video will help them identify the thieves or at least prompt someone to come forward with information, especially if they encounter high-end hockey sticks with a price tag that just seems too good to be true.