Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction February 2025
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/18/2025
A staple of the Olympic Games since it was first played during the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, ice hockey was then transferred to the Winter Olympic Games starting with the Games of 1924. With a women's tournament being added in addition to the men's one in 1998, Canada lays claim to owning the most Olympic medals in men's ice hockey with sixteen (16), including nine (9) gold which is also the most while on the women's side of things, both Canada and the United States own seven (7) Olympic ice hockey medals, with Canada claiming five (5) golds. Offered here, we present this collection of Olympic ice hockey memorabilia that dates between 1952 to 2018. Including a phone from the organizing committee of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City that displays event logos and joined by a seat cushion from the Opening Ceremony of the same Games, both are found to be in overall excellent condition and shows just light signs of use and handling. Accompanied also by various coins and medallions, including a group of six (6) 1952 Finland 500 marks coins that each display the Olympic rings over one (1) side, other coins/medallions included are found through an unopened roll of Canadian quarters minted in 2010 that commemorated their hosting of the Winter Games in 2010, a group of six (6) Los Angeles to Sarajevo medallions, including two (2) still in their cardboard holders, a $5 silver Canadian silver coin commemorating the 1976 Summer Olympics, a pair of 10 Deutsche Mark coins commemorating the 1972 Summer Olympics, three (3) commemorative quarters from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, a pair of Bulgarian coins commemorating the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and finally, a pair of Korean coins, one (1) gold in colour the other silver, commemorating the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. Rounding out the lot, present is a glass bottle featuring a label for Olympia Pure Fruit Drink which is still largely intact and in good condition, a pair of plates plus a bowl from the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics and limited edition jersey pin sets featuring the hockey sweaters worn during the 2006 and 2018 Winter Olympic Games. All in overall good condition or better with no major flaws unless otherwise noted and showing just normal wear from use/age/handing, all the items hail from the personal collection of Kimmo Leinonen and are accompanied by a Classic Auctions LOA.
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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