Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction February 2025
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/18/2025
The second Winter Olympic Games to see players from the National Hockey League representing their respective country's, the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City was also the second to feature a women's tournament as well. Seeing Team Canada's men's squad claim their first Olympic gold medal in fifty (50) years, the Canadian women would avenge their gold medal game loss to the United States in 1998 by knocking off the Americans and starting a run of four (4) straight Olympic golds. Offered here, and hailing directly from the personal collection of Kimmo Leinonen, is this collection of twelve (12) signed International Ice Hockey Federation "Player Entry Forms" from the men's and women's tournaments at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Including the likes of Dominik Hasek (Czech Republic), Jaromir Jagr (Czech Republic), Joe Sakic (Canada), Teemu Selanne (Finland), Igor Larionov (Russia), Nicklas Lidstrom (Sweden), Brian Leetch (USA), Kim Martin (Women's - Sweden), Miroslav Satan (Slovakia), Arturs Irbe (Latvia), Hayley Wickenheiser (Women's - Canada) and Cammi Granato (Women's - USA), each displays the IIHF logo at the top left hand corner as well as "International Ice Hockey Federation" and "Player Entry Form", items listed on the form include things such as; IIHF Championship, date and location as well as player information including name, birthday, citizenship, passport number, NHL club, National Association, previous IIHF participation and more. Listing a bevy of rules and regulations at the bottom of each form, the bottom also shows the validation stamps from each individual federation represented as well as signatures from each of the included players. All remaining in overall good condition and with each signed individually by the represented players with either blue or black ballpoint pen ink signatures, all the autographs display well and without issue. 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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