U.S. trading-card company honours veteran Kroppy

Posted: 1:28 PM CDT Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018 Last Modified: 2:36 PM CDT Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018 | Updates

Len Kropioski, the beloved Winnipeg Jets fan made famous for his salute during the singing of O Canada at Bell MTS Place, has been immortalized on a special Remembrance Day hockey card.

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Len Kropioski, the beloved Winnipeg Jets fan made famous for his salute during the singing of O Canada at Bell MTS Place, has been immortalized on a special Remembrance Day hockey card.

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This article was published 31/10/2018 (2527 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Len Kropioski, the beloved Winnipeg Jets fan made famous for his salute during the singing of O Canada at Bell MTS Place, has been immortalized on a special Remembrance Day hockey card.

Affectionately known by the Jets organization and fans as Kroppy, the Second World War veteran was, until his September 2016 death at the age of 98, a fixture at home games, regularly making the two-hour trek each way from his home in Kenora.

He was also a season-ticket holder with the Winnipeg Goldeyes, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Manitoba Moose for many years.

Second World War veteran Leonard "Kroppy" Kropioski was a fixture at Winnipeg Jets home games, regularly making the two-hour trek each way from his home in Kenora. (Jared Story / Canstar files)

Kropioski’s hockey card is part of Upper Deck’s Museum Collection series honouring one Canadian veteran for Remembrance Day and one American for Veterans Day in the United States, the collector-card giant announced on its website this week.

The card will be available on Nov. 10 and 11, free to veterans, through the U.S. collector-card company’s Singles Day program. Participating retailers will be allocated 100 of the special Museum Collection cards.

Kropioski, who was born in Winnipeg and grew up in the North End, served in the military from Nov. 22, 1940 to Jan. 5, 1946, when he was honourably discharged.

Upper Deck’s announcement said Kropioski served “alongside the U.S. forces in the Aleutian Islands Campaign and his service efforts were recognized by the State of Alaska with a special letter of commendation.”

The second card features Ronald Rosser, an American veteran of the Korean War who was awarded the Medal of Honour for his bravery on Jan. 12, 1952 when, even though he’d been wounded, he helped carry more seriously injured soldiers to safety while under heavy assault.