Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction February 2025
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/18/2025
A veteran of 831 National Hockey League games as well 401 contests in Finland’s top pro league, Sami Kapanen would be elected to two NHL All-Star Games over his career after developing in his native Finland with KalPa before coming over to North America. Donning the colours of his home country on numerous occasions throughout his career, helping them to bronze at the 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympic Games as well as gold at the 1995 IIHF World Championships, offered here is this Team Finland jersey worn by Kapanen at the 1991 IIHF European U18 Championships where he propelled Finland to a bronze medal finish by scoring ten (10) points in six (6) games played. A mesh construction offering made by Tackla, a brand label displaying a size "XL" designation is affixed to the inner collar while the sleeves have been reinforced with a double layer of material from the elbow down. Sporting a fully sublimated design throughout its entirety, a Finnish lion and "Suomi" appear over the front while an alternating striping pattern appear over the body and both sleeves. Having had a section of mesh material that displays a sublimated alternate captain's "A" added over the left breast, a Tackla logo appears in similar style over the right breast. Styled over the sleeves and verso with Kapanen's number "24" in sublimated white numerals, a matching mesh nameplate with "Kapanen" sublimated across in white letters appears at the top of the reverse. Void of a fight strap on the interior, the jersey shows good wear via board burns and small holes over the lower front/left side/left hip and left sleeve. Hailing directly from the personal collection of Kimmo Leinonen, a Classic Auctions LOA will accompany the piece.
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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