Women's ice hockey in Finland

Women's ice hockey in Finland had 2 593 players in 2005 and 4 694 in 2011.^[1] The Jääkiekon naisten SM-sarja (Finnish national women's league) is the league elite of women's ice hockey. This league is organized by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association.

History

The first league was created in 1982–1983. Several teams of this first Finnish Women's League were established in the beginning of the 1970s. In 1978, the tournament of lipstick became a kind of "unofficial" national women's championship for some years. Finally in 1982-83 began a series of efforts with the new league, Jääkiekon naisten SM-sarja. The first season was played in two division of five teams each (10 teams). The first playoffs were at Tampere on March 12 and 13, 1983.^[2] For 2004-2005, the number of teams was reduced to 6, until it was widened in 2008 to 8 and 9 in 2010.

Teams 2014-15

Championships

Developmental league

The number of young women in the junior level increased slowly, from 500 players at the beginning to approximately 2000 today.^[3] The growth rate was not satisfactory, so the Finnish Ice Hockey Association decided to invest in development of women's ice hockey by supporting leagues.^[3] The number of teams considerably increased: there are now 12 teams in the Women's 1st Division, NAISTEN I-DIVISIOONA (second level after the Finnish National Women's League).

Lohko 1

Lohko 2

Tournaments

The following IIHF tournaments were hosted in Finland.

Event	Location	Finish
1992 IIHF Women's World Championship	Tampere	03 ! Bronze[4]
1998 Four Nations Cup	Kuortane	03 ! Bronze
1999 IIHF Women's World Championship	Espoo	03 ! Bronze
2001 Four Nations Cup	Vierumäki and Tampere	02 ! Silver
2005 Four Nations Cup	Hämeenlinna	03 ! Bronze
2008–2009 IIHF European Women's Champions Cup	Lohja	Espoo Blues 03 ! Bronze
2009 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships	Hämeenlinna	03 ! Bronze[4]
2009 Four Nations Cup	Vierumäki	Fourth

Leading scorers

IIHF Worlds

• Riikka Nieminen is Finland’s all-time leader with 41 points (23 goals, 18 assists). She participated in four IIHF Worlds. She led two World Championships (1994 and 1997) in scoring.^[5] Her 41 points ranks seventh all-time in World Championship scoring. She appeared in 118 games for Finland, scoring 109 goals, 95 assists and 204 points.^[6]
• Tiia Reima ranks second all-time with 34 points (14 goals, 20 assists) and participated in six tournaments. Her 20 assists is the Finnish career mark for most assists in World Championship play.She earned five bronze medals at the '90, '92, '94, '97 and '99 World Championships.

Olympics

• Riikka Nieminen ranks as the all time leading Olympic scorer for Finland.^[7] She was the top point producer at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games.

Famous firsts

• 1983: The official start of a women's league in Finland.^[8]
• 1989: The Finnish Women's National Team won the first Women’s European Championships.
• 1990: Finland claimed the bronze in the first IIHF Women's World Championships.
• May 21, 2010: Riikka Nieminen was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame on 21 May 2010 in Cologne, Germany, as part of the World Championship festivities. She was only the fourth woman to receive this honor and the first from Finland.

Finnish women in NCAA

See also

• Finland women's national ice hockey team
• 2009–10 Finland women's national ice hockey team
• Finland women's national U-18 ice hockey team

References

External links

This page was written with a translation of Jääkiekon naisten SM-sarja on Finnish Wikipedia.

• Women's Hockey History in Finland
• Women's Finnish championship