Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction February 2025
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/18/2025
The worldwide governing body for the sport of ice hockey and founded in 1908, the International Ice Hockey Association is based in Zurich, Switzerland and currently contains eighty-four (84) member countries. Offered here, we present this large collection of IIHF memorabilia collection that dates from the 1950s to the 2020s and hails from the personal collection of Kimmo Leinonen. Including a number of items such as pennants, commemorative gifts, pucks and more, notable items in the collection include an ashtray from the 1959 IIHF World Championships in Czechoslovakia, a commemorative plate gifted by the Kuwait Ice Hockey Federation, commemorative gifts from the 2000 and 2017 IIHF World Championships in St. Petersburg and Cologne/Paris via a paper weight Faberge style egg and a corkscrew/bottle topper, a paperweight from the 2023 IIHF U18 Women's Division II - Group A World Championships, various commemorative pucks from World Championships in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2023, a trio of IIHF patches, including one from the federation's 90th anniversary, commemorative pucks from the IIHF Hall of Fame induction classes of 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2023, and various pennants/flags from many tournamnets, federations and teams that are of various sizes and styles which date from the 1960s to 2020s. All remaining in overall good condition with expected light wear from age and handling observed throughout the group, a Classic Auctions LOA will accompany the lot.
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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