Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction February 2025
Building a powerful British team by recruiting players living in Canada who obtained British citizenship under the British nationality law, through ancestral linkages to the United Kingdom, John "Bunny" Ahearne went to Canada in 1935 with team captain Carl Erhardt to find the best available players. Recruiting star goaltender Jimmy Foster from Winnipeg along with a cast of talented players, Ahearne's efforts resulted in a gold medal win for Great Britain, with Canada capturing the silver. From the personal collection of Finnish hockey executive Kimmo Leinonen, we offer a 1936 Olympic Diploma team-signed by the gold medal-winning Great Britain squad. At 14" x 19 1/2" and displaying like a poster, the diploma has German text with the logo for the '36 games. Sixteen have signed in fountain pen, including Archer, Borland, Brenchley, Chappell, Child, Coward, Dailley, Davey, Erhardt (IIHF HOF), Foster (IIHF HOF), Kilpatrick, Stinchcombe, Wyman, P.V. Hunter (president of the British Ice Hockey Association), coach Percy Nicklin, Bunny Ahearne (HHOF and IIHF HOF). The diploma is also signed by the president of the organizing committee, Karl Ritter von Halt, and the president of the International Olympic Committee, Henri de Baillet-Latour. The signatures present beautifully, with some minor surface wear/dirt and discolouration to the diploma. An LOA from Classic Auctions will accompany.
Born in Tampere, Finland, in 1949, and beginning his rise in the hockey ranks as a junior hockey coach while also involved in the hockey stick industry in Canada and Germany, Finnish hockey executive and writer Kimmo Leinonen had a connection to the NHL as he was employed as a scout for the New York Rangers from 1978-79 to 1982-83. As a founding member of the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1979 - where he served as chairman from 2011 to 2018, Leinonen also helped to establish the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1996 and was the director of public relations and marketing for the organization from 1995 to 2007. His later career included an appointment as general secretary of the 2012 and 2013 Ice Hockey World Championships co-hosted in both Finland and Sweden. The hockey guru has written multiple books on the history of hockey in Finland, and for his great contributions to the sport, was inducted into the builder category of the Finnish Hall of Fame in 2011. He was further acknowledged as the only person from Finland to win the Paul Loicq Award in recognition for his efforts in international ice hockey in 2023. We are pleased to offer items from his personal collection that he acquired during his years as the IIHF director of public relations and marketing from 1995 to 1997, with others originating from later in his career as well as international hockey memorabilia he collected and items he was gifted.
By clicking this button, you will IMMEDIATELY bid the amount selected.
By clicking this button, you will submit this amount as your MAXIMUM (absentee) bid. The auction software will place bids on your behalf up to this amount only as it is bid against competitively by other bidder(s).