Two Stanley Cup commemorative rings belonging to a former Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman and his wife were allegedly stolen from an Etobicoke home earlier this week.

Police said the two 2017 Penguins Stanley Cup rings were taken during a break-and-enter at a home near The East Mall and Burnhamthorpe Road on Monday.

In a video provided to CTV News Toronto by the American Hockey League team Syracuse Crunch, Cameron Gaunce confirmed that the rings belonged to him and his wife Andrea Gaunce.

He said that his mother-in-law’s home had been broken into and that a number of things were taken in the incident, including the family safe where the couple kept their Stanley Cup rings.

“This is something that you work your whole life for, that we obviously cherish enough to put into a safe,” said Gaunce in the video.

Andrea Gaunce told CTV News Toronto that the family received a notification that the motion detector in her parents’ home went off. They arrived at the home 15 minutes later, but the suspects were already gone.

“We saw that there was a smashed door so there was glass everywhere. We saw drag marks throughout the home on the hardwood,” she said.

The family safe is the size of a mini fridge, Andrea Gaunce said, and would have been really heavy.

“You definitely can’t move it easily, so I’m not sure how many people were in the home,” she said. “It would have taken a lot to get it down the stairs and out the house.”

“At that point, my entire family was heartbroken because not only do we have our rings in there, my mom and my stepdad and everyone has very valuable items in there as well.”

Andrea Gaunce said that the rings “are priceless” to her and her husband, and she hopes to get them back in the same condition.

“These rings just represent so much to myself and my husband. It’s something that a lot of people wish they one day have,” she said. “All these other items that have been missing of course have sentimental value as well, but a lot of these items that were stolen can be replaced.”

Cameron Gaunce said that the next step is to try to notify as many people as possible of the theft.

“Typically people are trying to sell it as quickly as they can,” he said.

Cameron Gaunce’s ring has been described by police as silver in colour with an engraving of the National Hockey League Logo, the name ‘Gaunce’ and the number 24 on it. Andrea Gaunce’s ring is also silver in colour.

Gaunce said that while he is disappointed about the loss of his ring, he feels worse for his wife and their family.

“They have to deal with this whole consequences of someone breaking into their home,” he said. “At the end of the day they can’t take away the fact that (the Stanley Cup) happened. Hopefully we can do our best to replace it.”

Anyone with information is being urged to contact police at 416-808-2202 or to reach out to Crime Stoppers anonymously.