Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction February 2025
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/18/2025
The first time Slovakia hosted the World Championships since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the 2011 IIHF World Championships were won decisively by a talented Finnish squad, defeating Sweden 6-1 in the gold medal game. This was Finland's 2nd title. We offer a 2011 IIHF World Championships gold medal along with a participation medal that both hail from the personal collection of noted Finnish hockey executive and writer Kimmo Leinonen. At just over 2 3/4" in diameter with the original red, white and blue ribbon attached, the obverse of the gold medal features a pair of silhouetted players over a background of engraved players, with openings above and below designed in the shape of hockey sticks, with "IIHF World Championship Slovakia 2011" in raised letters. The reverse has an IIHF logo along with a lined background designed to look like an ice surface with skate marks. The participation medal appears as a large gold coin and comes in a large display box with gilded lid, 2 1/2" in diameter, with "2011 World Championship Slovakia Kosice Bratislava" on the obverse and a globe design with "Gold Medal", "World Championship" and "2011 Ice Hockey" in raised letters on the reverse. Both medals remain in stunning near mint 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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