Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction February 2025
Issuing a high value commemorative coin to celebrate the games, the 2003 IIHF World Championships were held in Finland, in Helsinki, Tampere and Turk. Team Canada walked away with the nation's 22nd title after defeating Sweden in the gold medal game, with this the first championship for the mighty maple leaf in five years. We offer a 2003 IIHF World Championships gold medal along with a participation medal that hail from the personal collection of noted Finnish hockey executive and writer Kimmo Leinonen. At 2 3/4" in diameter with the original blue and white ribbon attached, the gold medal is actually two medals joined together with an inserted section that appears as a coin sporting a tournament logo on the obverse and IIHF logo on the reverse. The medal itself has matching sides with "IIHF World Championships Finland". The participation medal is in the form of a coin, with the tournament logo on the obverse in full colour, and images of the three arenas the games were played in on the reverse including in Turku, Tampere and Helsinki. The original case is included with the participation medal, with a small booklet with the medal's details inside. Both medals remain in beautiful condition. 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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