Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction February 2025
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/18/2025
Perhaps the strongest international hockey program in the game’s history, the Soviet Union National Team played in some of the sports top moments and won at least one medal each year at either the Ice Hockey World Championships or the Olympic hockey tournament from 1954 to 1991. The only country to claim a Canada Cup crown aside from the nation the tournament was named after, the 1981 edition of the competition saw the mighty Soviets knock off Team Canada in the Finals, with goalie Vladislav Tretiak claiming MVP honors. Offered here, we present this vintage 1981 Canada Cup Russian National Team / CCCP game-issued jersey that carries the number "13" which was worn in the tournament by Nikolai Drozdetsky. A light weight ultrafil knit offering made by Maska, a brand label is affixed to the inner collar while a tag featuring a faded size "46" designation is affixed to the interior right shoulder seam. Having had the Maska logo embroidered into the reverse hem, the front of the jersey is decorated with the Soviet's famed "CCCP" moniker in single layer red twill letters while vinyl white diamonds that show some cracking/damage are found over the lower front and reverse. Styled over the sleeve and verso with the number "13" in single layer red twill numerals, the jersey is void of a nameplate over its upper reverse and shows no evidence of one ever having been applied. Retaining a ribbon style fight strap on the interior, the jersey remains in overall excellent condition, showing just a small handful of light spot stains/marks throughout. Hailing from the personal collection of Kimmo Leinonen, a Classic Auctions LOA will accompany the piece.
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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