Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction February 2025
Taking place in hockey hotbed Finland, the 1997 IIHF World Championships featured 36 countries participated in several levels of competition, with Team Canada defeating Sweden in the gold medal game in the top Championship Group. This was the Canadians' 21st title, and first in three years. We offer 1997 IIHF World Championships gold and participation medals that hail from the personal collection of noted Finnish hockey executive and writer Kimmo Leinonen. With each at 2 3/4" in diameter and matching in design on the obverse including two players in raised relief with "Ice Hockey World Championships Finland '97" around the perimeter, with differing hockey stick patterns on the reverse along with the name of the maker in small print. The gold medal also has the original ribbon attached, while the participation medal comes in the original case with "50/100" stamped on the edge of the medal. Condition in outstanding, with just a few tiny and barely noticeable dings along the edges. 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.
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