Venla Hovi

Venla Hovi
Hovi in 2016
Born (1987-10-28) 28 October 1987 (age 37)
Tampere, Finland
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 67 kg (148 lb; 10 st 8 lb)
Position Forward
Shot Left
Played for
Current coach Harvard Crimson
Coached for Metropolitan Riveters
Manitoba Bisons
National team  Finland
Playing career 2003–2019
Coaching career 2018–present
Medal record
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Vancouver Team
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Pyeongchang Team
World Championship
Silver medal – second place 2019 Finland
Bronze medal – third place 2008 China
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Finland
Bronze medal – third place 2017 United States

Venla Hovi (née Heikkilä; born 28 October 1987) is a Finnish ice hockey coach and former ice hockey forward. She is an assistant coach for the Harvard Crimson women's ice hockey program,[1] and was head coach of the Metropolitan Riveters in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) during the 2022–23 PHF season.

A member of the Finnish national team for over a decade, Hovi won bronze medals at the 2010 and 2018 Winter Olympic Games and at the 2008, 2009, and 2017 IIHF Women's World Championships, and a silver medal at the 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship. Hovi announced her retirement from top athletic competition the day following the achievement of silver at the 2019 Worlds.[2][3]

Following her retirement, Hovi served as an on-ice instructor with True North, the Winnipeg Jets' hockey development program. She was the first woman ever to be hired as a coach by the organization and was one of a small number of women employed as on-ice instructors in the NHL or NHL affiliated programs.

  1. ^ Kennedy, Ian (30 October 2023). "Harvard Hires Former Riveters Head Coach Venla Hovi". TheHockeyNews.com. The Hockey News. Retrieved 30 October 2023. Venla Hovi, former head coach of the PHF's Metropolitan Riveters, has been hired as an assistant coach with Harvard University's women's hockey team.
  2. ^ Foster, Meredith (15 April 2019). "Venla Hovi announces retirement". The Ice Garden. Archived from the original on 24 September 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  3. ^ Levine, Justin (25 April 2019). "Venla Hovi Announces Retirement From Professional Women's Hockey". The Puck Authority. Archived from the original on 14 September 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2019.