| Riikka Sallinen | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hockey Hall of Fame, 2022 | |||
| Born |
12 June 1973 Jyväskylä, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) | ||
| Weight | 60 kg (132 lb; 9 st 6 lb) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for | |||
| Coached for | HV71 | ||
| National team |
 Finland | ||
| Playing career |
1988–2003 2013–2019 | ||
| Coaching career | 2019–2021 | ||
Hanna-Riikka Sallinen (née Nieminen, previously Välilä; born 12 June 1973) is a Finnish retired ice hockey, bandy, rinkball, and pesäpallo player.[1] She is one of the most highly decorated players to have ever competed in international ice hockey.[2][3]
Sallinen played sixteen seasons with the Finland women's national ice hockey team and earned two Olympic bronze medals, one World Championship silver and six bronze medals, and three European Championship gold medals. In 2007, Sallinen was one of the first two women inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame, along with defenceman Marianne Ihalainen. She 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 and the first European woman to receive this honor.[4] She is currently the leading all-time European scorer in World Championships and Olympics.
Sallinen's bronze medal at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang made her the oldest player to ever win an Olympic medal in ice hockey, replacing her compatriot Teemu Selänne who set the record at the 2014 Winter Olympics after winning bronze in the men's ice hockey tournament at age 43. Sallinen was awarded the medal at age 44, twenty years after she first won an Olympic medal in the inaugural women's Olympic hockey tournament.[5]
In 2022 she became the ninth woman player named to the Hockey Hall of Fame;[6] she is the first woman not born in North America to be so honoured.[7]
- ^ Freijd, Johan (16 December 2019). "Riikka Sallinen ny assisterande tränare i HV71 Dam" [Riikka Sallinen new assistant coach to HV71 Dam] (in Swedish). HV71. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
- ^ Foster, Meredith (15 June 2019). "Team Finland legend Riikka Sallinen retires". The Ice Garden. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
- ^ Murphy, Mike (27 December 2019). "Making the case that Riikka Sallinen is the GOAT". The Ice Garden. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ "IIHF Hall of Fame inducts six new members". National Hockey League. Archived from the original on 8 March 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
- ^ "Winter Olympics: Finland beat OAR 3–2 to claim women's ice hockey bronze". BBC. 21 February 2018. Archived from the original on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
- ^ "Canuck icons Henrik, Daniel Sedin, Sens star Alfredsson lead 2022 Hockey Hall of Fame class". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. 27 June 2022. Archived from the original on 27 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ "Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Daniel Alfredsson headline Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2022". Sportsnet. 27 June 2022. Archived from the original on 27 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.