Finland women's national ice hockey team

Finland
Nickname(s) Naisleijonat (Lady Lions)
Association Finnish Ice Hockey Association
Head coach Pasi Mustonen
Assistants Juuso Toivola
Captain Jenni Hiirikoski
Most games Karoliina Rantamäki (256)
Most points Riikka Nieminen (204)
IIHF code FIN
Ranking
Current IIHF 3 Steady
Highest IIHF 3 (first in 2003)
Lowest IIHF 4 (first in 2006)
First international
 Finland 6–0 Norway 
(Copenhagen, Denmark; 26 December 1988)
Biggest win
 Finland 34–0 Czechoslovakia 
(Düsseldorf, West Germany; 4 April 1989)
Biggest defeat
 Canada 15–0 Finland 
(St. John's, Canada; 12 November 2010)
World Championships
Appearances 18 (first in 1990)
Best result Bronze: (1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017)
European Championships
Appearances 5 (first in 1989)
Best result Gold: (1989, 1991, 1993, 1995)
Olympics
Appearances 6 (first in 1998)
Medals Bronze (1998, 2010, 2018)
International record (W–L–T)
198–169–12
Finland women's national ice hockey team
Medal record
Olympic Games
1998 NaganoTeam
2010 VancouverTeam
2018 PyeongchangTeam
World Championships
1990 Canada
1992 Finland
1994 United States
1997 Canada
1999 Finland
2000 Canada
2004 Canada
2008 China
2009 Finland
2011 Switzerland
2015 Sweden
2017 United States
European Championships
1989 West Germany
1991 Czechoslovakia
1993 Denmark
1995 Latvia
1996 Russia

The Finnish women's national ice hockey team represents Finland at the International Ice Hockey Federation's IIHF World Women's Championships. The women's national team is controlled by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Finland has 5,950 female players in 2016.[1]

Finnish national women's ice hockey team at the Women's Air Canada Cup 2008 in Ravensburg, Germany.

History

Finland has finished third or fourth in almost every World Championships and Olympics, with one exception being a 5th place finish at the 2014 Winter Olympics. They are ranked behind Canada (#1) and the USA (#2). Finland's main rival is Sweden, which finished second to Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Finland finished fourth, losing the game for the bronze medal to the USA. Finland defeated the USA for the first time, in the 2008 World Championship in China, 2–1 after overtime. Finland defeated Canada 4-3 for the first time at the 2017 World Championship in the United States. However, they lost the semifinal against Canada in the same tournament, so the Finns were relegated to the bronze medal game.

Tournament record

Olympic Games

GamesFinish
Japan 1998 Nagano Bronze
United States 2002 Salt Lake City4th
Italy 2006 Turin4th
Canada 2010 Vancouver Bronze
Russia 2014 Sochi5th
South Korea 2018 Pyeongchang Bronze
China 2022 BeijingTo be determined

World Championships

YearLocationResult
Canada 1990Ottawa Bronze
Finland 1992Tampere Bronze
United States 1994Lake Placid Bronze
Canada 1997Ontario Bronze
Finland 1999Espoo Bronze
Canada 2000Ontario Bronze
United States 2001Minnesota4th
Canada 2004Halifax and Dartmouth Bronze
Sweden 2005Linköping and Norrköping4th
Canada 2007Winnipeg and Selkirk4th
China 2008Harbin Bronze
Finland 2009Hämeenlinna Bronze
Switzerland 2011Zurich Bronze
United States 2012Burlington4th
Canada 2013Ottawa4th
Sweden 2015Malmö Bronze
Canada 2016Kamloops4th
United States 2017Plymouth Bronze
Finland 2019Espoo

European Championship

YearLocationResult
West Germany 1989Füssen, Landsberg and Kaufbeuren Gold
Czechoslovakia 1992Frydek-Mistek, Havirov Gold
Denmark 1994Esbjerg Gold
Latvia 1997Riga Gold
Russia 1999Yaroslavl Bronze

3/4 Nations Cup

  • 1995 – Finished in 4th place (4 Nations Cup)
  • 1996 – Won Bronze Medal
  • 1997 – Won Bronze Medal
  • 1998 – Won Bronze Medal
  • 1999 – Won Bronze Medal
  • 2000 – Won Bronze Medal (4 nations Cup)
  • 2001 – Won Silver Medal
  • 2002 – Won Bronze Medal (4 Nations Cup)
  • 2003 – Won Bronze Medal (4 Nations Cup)
  • 2004 – Finished in 4th place (4 Nations Cup)
  • 2005 – Won Bronze Medal (4 Nations Cup)
  • 2006 – Finished in 4th place (4 Nations Cup)
  • 2007 – Won Bronze Medal (4 Nations Cup)
  • 2008 – Finished in 4th place (4 Nations Cup)
  • 2009 – Finished in 4th place (4 Nations Cup)
  • 2010 – Won Bronze Medal (4 Nations Cup)
  • 2011 – Finished in 4th place (4 Nations Cup)
  • 2012 – Finished in 4th place (4 Nations Cup)
  • 2013 – Won Silver Medal (4 nations Cup)
  • 2014 – Finished in 4th place (4 Nations Cup)
  • 2015 – Won Bronze Medal (4 Nations Cup)
  • 2016 – Won Bronze Medal (4 Nations Cup)
  • 2017 – Won Bronze Medal (4 Nations Cup)

Women's Nations Cup

Formerly known as the Air Canada Cup, the MLP Nations Cup and the Meco Cup.

  • 2003 – Won Bronze Medal (Air Canada Cup)
  • 2004 – Finished in 4th place (Air Canada Cup)
  • 2005 – Won Silver Medal (Air Canada Cup)
  • 2006 – Won Silver Medal (Air Canada Cup)
  • 2007 – Finished in 6th place (Air Canada Cup)
  • 2008 – Won Silver Medal (Air Canada Cup)
  • 2009 – Finished in 5th place ( MLP Nations Cup)
  • 2010 – Finished in 5th place ( MLP Nations Cup)
  • 2011 – Finished in 6th place ( MLP Nations Cup)
  • 2012 – Won Silver Medal (Meco Cup)
  • 2013 – Won Bronze Medal (Meco Cup)
  • 2014 – Won Gold Medal (Meco Cup)
  • 2015 – Won Bronze Medal (Meco Cup)
  • 2016 – Won Silver Medal (Women's Nations Cup)
  • 2017 – Won Gold Medal (Women's Nations Cup)
  • 2018 – Won Bronze Medal (Women's Nations Cup)

Canada Cup

  • 2009 Canada Cup – Won Bronze Medal

Current roster

The Finnish roster for the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2018 Winter Olympics was published on 22 January 2018.[2][3]

Head coach: Finland Pasi Mustonen Assistant coaches: Finland Juuso Toivola

No. Pos. Name Height Weight Birthdate Birthplace 2017–18 team
1GEveliina Suonpää1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)64 kg (141 lb)12 April 1995KiukainenFinland Lukko (Liiga)
2DIsa Rahunen1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)66 kg (146 lb)16 April 1993KuopioFinland Kärpät (Liiga)
4DRosa Lindstedt1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)80 kg (180 lb)24 January 1988YlöjärviSweden HV71 (SWHL)
6DJenni Hiirikoski – C1.61 m (5 ft 3 in)62 kg (137 lb)30 March 1987LempääläSweden Luleå HF (SWHL)
7DMira Jalosuo1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)80 kg (180 lb)3 February 1989LieksaFinland Kärpät (Liiga)
8DElla Viitasuo1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)66 kg (146 lb)27 May 1996LahtiFinland Blues (Liiga)
9FVenla Hovi1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)67 kg (148 lb)28 October 1987TampereCanada Univ. of Manitoba (CWUAA)
10FLinda Välimäki1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)72 kg (159 lb)31 May 1990YlöjärviFinland Ilves (Liiga)
11FAnnina Rajahuhta1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)69 kg (152 lb)8 March 1989HelsinkiChina Kunlun Red Star (CWHL)
13FRiikka Välilä – A1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)60 kg (130 lb)12 June 1973JyväskyläSweden HV71 (SWHL)
15DMinnamari Tuominen1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)71 kg (157 lb)26 June 1990HelsinkiFinland Blues (Liiga)
18GMeeri Räisänen1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)62 kg (137 lb)2 December 1989TampereFinland HPK (Liiga)
19FPetra Nieminen1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)64 kg (141 lb)4 May 1999TampereFinland Team Kuortane (Liiga)
22FEmma Nuutinen1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)73 kg (161 lb)7 December 1996VantaaUnited States Mercyhurst University (NCAA)
23FSanni Hakala1.53 m (5 ft 0 in)56 kg (123 lb)31 October 1997JyväskyläSweden HV71 (SWHL)
24FNoora Tulus1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)67 kg (148 lb)15 August 1995VantaaSweden Luleå HF (SWHL)
26FSara Säkkinen1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)61 kg (134 lb)7 April 1998TampereFinland Team Kuortane (Liiga)
27FSaila Saari1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)62 kg (137 lb)1 November 1989AlavusFinland Kärpät (Liiga)
33FMichelle Karvinen – A1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)70 kg (150 lb)27 March 1990Rødovre, DenmarkSweden Luleå HF (SWHL)
41GNoora Räty1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)65 kg (143 lb)29 May 1989EspooChina Kunlun Red Star (CWHL)
61FTanja Niskanen1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)69 kg (152 lb)9 November 1992JuankoskiFinland KalPa (Liiga)
77FSusanna Tapani1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)60 kg (130 lb)2 March 1993LaitilaFinland Lukko (Liiga)
88DRonja Savolainen1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)70 kg (150 lb)29 November 1997HelsinkiSweden Luleå HF (SWHL)

Awards and honors

  • Kirsi Hanninen, Directorate Award, Best Defender, 1999 IIHF Women's World Championship[4]
  • Jenni Hiirikoski, Directorate Award, Best Defender, 2009 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships[5]
  • Noora Räty, Most Valuable Player, 2008 IIHF Women's World Hockey Championships[6]
  • Noora Räty, Best Goalie, 2007 IIHF Women's World Hockey Championships
  • Noora Räty, Best Goalie, 2008 IIHF Women's World Hockey Championships[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Profile
  2. ↑ "Suomi naisten olympiaturnaukseen tällä joukkueella!". Leijonat.fi (in Finnish). 22 January 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  3. ↑ Team Roster Finland
  4. ↑ Collins gem Hockey Facts and Stats 2009–10, p.542, Andrew Podnieks, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, Toronto, Canada, ISBN 978-1-55468-621-6
  5. ↑ Awards
  6. 1 2 Collins gem Hockey Facts and Stats 2009–10, p. 546, Andrew Podnieks, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, Toronto, Canada, ISBN 978-1-55468-621-6.
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