Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction February 2025
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/18/2025
Featuring a bevy of biscuits from a variety of international competitions, offered here is this collection of seventeen (17) IIHF and Olympic Games game and souvenir pucks that date from 1981 up to 2024 and hail directly from the personal collection of Kimmo Leinonen. Paced by pairs (2) of game pucks from the 2002 Salt Lake City, 2006 Torino and 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games that saw Canada, Sweden and then Canada again (over Sweden coincidentally) claim gold medals in Men's Hockey for their respective country's, all three (3) Women's tournament's were won by Team Canada. Including a mix of manufactures including Viceroy, Rubena and Gufex throughout the group, the Olympic pucks display screened on logos over each of the observe and reverse faces that remain in overall good condition while the slugs themselves show some light handling/surface wear that is worth noting for accuracy. For the rest of the collection, included are game pucks from the; 1991 IIHF World Junior Championship that has been signed by Eric Lindros, 2012 IIHF World Championship, 2022 IIHF Women's World Championship - Division III - Group "A", 2022 Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Final Qualification - Group "C", 2022 Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Pre-Qualification - Group "F", 2023 IIHF World Championship, 2023 IIHF World Championship - Division III - Group "B", 2023 IIHF U20 World Championship - Division II - Group "B", 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship - Division II - Group "A" and 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship - Division I - Group "B". Once again all featuring screened on logos over both faces, each puck is found to be in overall excellent condition logo wise while only light handling/surface wear affects the slugs themselves. Lastly, a souvenir puck from the 2016 IIHF U18 World Championship is also included and presents in the same condition as all the others, as well as a lacquerware puck from the 1998 Nagano Olympics that is still housed in its original box and packaging.
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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