Belfour items, including gold medal, fetch $179K

Ed Belfour's decision to trade his Olympic gold medal to go into the distilling business with his son has paid off.

The medal the Hockey Hall of Fame goalie won at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games while representing Canada was auctioned off for $34,777 on Tuesday, according to the final bid listed by Classic Auctions.

Overall, the 66 items of hockey memorabilia Belfour put up for sale sold for nearly $179,000.

Last week, Belfour said he was selling part of his collection to join son, Dayn, and establish Belfour Distilleries. The business is to be based in Texas and focus on distilling bourbons and whiskeys.

A mask Belfour wore from 1992-94 with the Chicago Blackhawks sold for $15,307. Another mask…