Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction February 2025
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/18/2025
A fan favourite of the bleu, blanc et rouge for a total of 14 season, Saku Koivu spent nine of his seasons in Montreal serving as team captain before moving on to play out the rest of his National Hockey League career with the Anaheim Ducks. The 21st overall pick of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, Koivu would win multiple Olympic and IIHF medals over the course of his career, including Olympic silver in 2006 and World Championship gold in 1995. Hailing from the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy where he served as Team Finland's captain and helped his country to a silver medal, offered here is this photo-matched Team Finland jersey worn by Koivu that comes directly from the personal collection of Kimmo Leinonen. A Nike made offering sporting a brand label that displays a size "54" designation affixed to the inner collar above additional sewn in tags reading "IIHF Authentic Collection" and "Made in Canada", Nike Swoosh logos appear over the reverse neckline and right breast. Decorated over the front of the jersey with a Team Finland coat of arms crest that features embroidered details throughout its entirety, "Suomi" is spelt out over the lower front in single layer white twill letters that have been individually sewn on while the distinguished captain's "C" appears over the left breast. Having had matching Team Finland crests added atop of both shoulders, the sleeves and verso have been accented with Koivu's number "11" in single layer white twill numerals while "S. Koivu" is spelt out in matching style letters that have been heat pressed on across the affixed matching nameplate at the top of the reverse. Retaining its fight strap and Nike Team Sports barcode on the interior, the jersey, worn for just a single game during the tournament on February 18th, 2006 vs the Czech Republic, shows just light wear via a board burn above the right elbow, light pilling on the exterior of the right elbow and small stick marks over the reverse numbers. Regarding the photo-match, the jersey is photo-matched with Getty Image #56881506 (February 18th, 2006 vs Czech Republic - 2006 Olympics Preliminary Round) to the details of the front crest including the small white coloured gap in the navy line underneath the area between "L" and "A" of Finland, the extra bit of white stitching underneath the first "N" of "Finland" and the extra bit of navy stitching extending into the bottom left portion of the "A" in "Finland".
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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