Emma Laaksonen Award

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Emma Laaksonen Award
Emma Laaksonen -palkinto (Finnish)
SportIce hockey
League Naisten Liiga
Awarded forFair play player
Presented byFinnish Ice Hockey Association
History
First award2011
First winner Christine Posa
Most wins Saila Saari (2)
Most recent Jenna Hietala, 2023

The Emma Laaksonen Award (Finnish : Emma Laaksonen -palkinto) is an ice hockey trophy awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the fair play player of the year of the Naisten Liiga, called the Naisten SM-sarja until 2017. The award recognizes a player who best contributes to the scoring of their team while "playing fair," that is to say, while incurring very few penalties. Winners typically exceed one point per game and are issued fewer than ten penalty minutes (PIM) over a full season. It is named after defenceman Emma Terho (née Laaksonen), former captain of the Finnish women's national ice hockey team and general manager of Kiekko-Espoo Naiset. Despite being named after a defenceman, it has only ever been awarded to forwards.

Contents

The trophy was first awarded in 2011, to Christine Posa of the Espoo Blues. [1] Saila Saari is the sole player to have received the trophy twice, first in 2013, while playing with JYP Jyväskylä, and again in 2018, while playing with Oulun Kärpät. [2] Emilia Vesa, recipient for the 2018–19 season, is the only honoree to have won the trophy while scoring less than one point per game. [3] In 2022, French national team player Emmanuelle Passard became the first international player to win the award and also the first to be so honored while incurring zero penalty minutes in a season. The current trophy holder is Jenna Hietala, who won the award while playing with KalPa Kuopio in the 2022–23 season.

Award winners

SeasonWinnerTeamGPPtsPIM
2010–11 Christine Posa Espoo Blues 26284
2011–12 Satu Niinimäki Ilves Tampere 19282
2012–13 Saila Saari JYP Jyväskylä 28392
2013–14 Tiina Paananen JYP Jyväskylä 28318
2014–15 Noora Tulus Espoo Blues 25388
2015–16 Sanni Hakala JYP Jyväskylä 23364
2016–17 Tanja Niskanen KalPa Kuopio 22366
2017–18 Saila Saari Kärpät Oulu 26448
2018–19 Emilia Vesa Team Kuortane 28214
2019–20 Viivi Vainikka Team Kuortane 30526
2020–21 Johanna Juutilainen KalPa Kuopio 25352
2021–22 Emmanuelle Passard HIFK Helsinki 28330
2022–23 Jenna Hietala KalPa Kuopio 35506

Source: Elite Prospects [4]

All time award recipients

PlayerWinsYears won
Saila Saari 22013
2018 [2]
Sanni Hakala 12016
Jenna Hietala 12023 [5]
Johanna Juutilainen 12021 [6]
Satu Niinimaki 12012
Tanja Niskanen 12017
Tiina Paananen 12014
Emmanuelle Passard 12022 [7]
Christine Posa 12011 [1]
Noora Tulus 12015
Viivi Vainikka 12020 [8]
Emilia Vesa 12019 [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 Mennander, Pasi (11 March 2011). "Naisten SM-sarjan palkinnot 2010–11 – Tässä nimilista!". leijonat.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association . Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  2. 1 2 Mennander, Pasi (8 March 2018). "Naisten Liigan kauden 2017–18 palkitut pelaajat, erotuomarit ja tähtikentät". leijonat.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association . Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  3. 1 2 Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto; Jääkiekkon SM-liiga Oy. Aaltonen, Juha (ed.). Jääkiekkokirja 2019–2020 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Uusi Suomi/Kiekkolehti. p. 554. ISSN   0784-3321. OCLC   476321083 . Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  4. ↑ "Awards - Naisten Liiga (W) Fair Play Player (Emma Laaksonen Award)". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  5. ↑ Mennander, Pasi (10 June 2023). "Naisten Liigan kauden 2022–23 palkitut pelaajat, valmentajat ja tuomarit". Finnish Ice Hockey Association (in Finnish). Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  6. ↑ Niemeläinen, Jonne (16 March 2021). "Huikeat tehot kerännyt 19-vuotias KalPa-hyökkääjä Elisa Holopainen palkittiin Naisten Liigan runkosarjan parhaana – huomenna edessä kauden tärkein peli". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  7. ↑ Mennander, Pasi (13 June 2022). "Naisten Liigan kauden 2021–22 palkitut pelaajat ja tähtikentät". leijonat.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association . Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  8. ↑ Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto; Jääkiekkon SM-liiga Oy (2020). Aaltonen, Juha (ed.). Jääkiekkokirja 2021: Suomen Jääkiekkoliiton ja Liiga Kausijulkaisu 2020–2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Uusi Suomi/Kiekkolehti. p. 528. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
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