Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction February 2025
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/18/2025
Determining the countries' seeding for the men's Olympic Ice Hockey tournament in Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics, the 2012 IIHF World Championships were jointly held in both Finland and Sweden, with an impressive tournament attendance of just north of 450,000. The Russians would win their nation's 4th title since the dissolving of the Soviet Union, with Slovakia finishing as runner-up. We offer a 2012 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 2 3/4" in diameter with the original blue ribbon attached, the obverse of the gold medal features a net motif with raised puck entering the net, with the date and venue around the perimeter in raised letters. The reverse sports an engraved IIHF logo, with the maker stamped along the edge. The participation medal comes in the original display box and is 2" in diameter, with the same net design as the gold medal on the obverse, and matching engraved IIHF logo on the reverse. There is also a small hallmark on the edge. Both medals remain in gorgeous condition, with a bit of minor oxidation to the participation medal. 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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