Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction February 2025
Winning three consecutive IIHF World Championships from 1999 to 2001, the Czech Republic would win their next title in 2005 in Austria after defeating Team Canada in the gold medal match, and we offer a 2005 IIHF World Championships gold medal that hails from the personal collection of noted Finnish hockey executive and writer Kimmo Leinonen. At just under 3 1/4" in diameter with the original red and white ribbon attached, the obverse features the tournament logo in raised relief with "Austria" and "2005", with an IIHF logo on the reverse. The medal exhibits a few minor scratches on both the front and reverse, and it comes in the original 5" x 6" red flip top case with the tournament logo on the lid. 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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