This article needs to be updated.(August 2023) |
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationality | Finland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Karinainen (Finland) | 8 February 1983|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 154 lb (70 kg; 11 st 0 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Forward | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shoots | Left | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Updated on August 28, 2023 |
Marjukka Virta (born 1983 in Karinainen, Finland) is a retired elite Finnish ringette player who played forward in semi-professional ringette in Finland and for the Finland national ringette team, but now coaches the sport. [1]
Virta (now retired as a player) has won six World Ringette Championships gold and one silver as a player for Team Finland Senior. For six of those national team world victories, Virta was the captain. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
As a semi-professional player, Virta played in Finland's SM Ringette league, Finland's premiere ringette league, formerly known as Ringeten SM-sarja.
The Finnish ringette association, Ringette Finland, froze Virta's jersey number 4 on November 1, 2022, in Turku and is the first Finnish ringette player in history to receive this honour. [9] The freeze officially took place in the Rajupaja Areena before the game against Team Canada. [10]
Marjukka Virta has been playing ringette since she was 8 years old and during her junior career played for the TPS Turku sports club. She eventually won the Finnish junior championship silver medal. Virta played ice hockey for a time as well, [11] but in 2006 decided to focus only on ringette because of the sense of belonging. [12]
Virta has competed as a ringette player for Team Finland and was captain six times. [1]
At her first world championships, the 2002 World Ringette Championships, she won silver. [13] [14]
At the 2007 World Ringette Championships, the final was between Team Canada and Team Finland. Both teams played in overtime because with just over a minute remaining in regulation time, Virta scored the goal that tied the game 4-4. It was her teammate, Anne Pohjola, who scored the game-winning goal that allowed Finland to win the gold medal and the world title. [15] [16]
At the 2010 World Ringette Championships, she was named captain of the Finland national ringette team and once again led her team to the world title. [17]
At the 2013 World Ringette Championships she was chosen as the tournament's Most Valuable Player. [13]
As a coach, she was one of the assistant coaches of 2022 Team Finland Senior at the 2022 World Ringette Championships when the team won gold. [1]
Virta joined the semi-professional elite national ringette league of Finland. Ringeten SM-sarja, now called SM Ringette, is known as the Finnish national ringette league by English speakers.
Finland's Association of Sports Journalists selected Virta as the best ringette player of 2014, and in 2020 she was awarded the Agnes Jacks Trophy as the most valuable player in SM Ringette. [18] She was selected to the All Stars team of SM Ringette in 2003, 2008, 2010, 2020 and 2021. [19]
While a player, Virta represented various clubs including: Turun Ringette, Hyvinkää Ringette , Espoon Kiekkoseura , Lapinlahten Luistin -89 , Tuusula Blue Rings, and NoU Ringette . As a player with Lapinlahden Luistin -89, she won the national championship twice and since 2016 has been the player-coach for the team. [13]
She won the Finnish championship with the Lapinlahti team in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2021 and with Nokia (NoU) in 2015 and 2016. [20] [21] [22]
Virta last played for Lapinlahden Luistin -89 for the 2021–22 season after which she retired as a player. She finished in second place after the 2021–22 season in the all-time point statistics of SM Ringette. She has played 620 matches in the SM division and scored a total of 3,088 power points (1,408 goals and 1,680 assists). [23] She crossed the 3 000 power point mark as the second player after Anne Pohjola and the 600 game mark as the fourth. [1]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2023) |
This section needs to be updated.(August 2023) |
Year | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | Results | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | World Ringette Championships [24] | 4 | 10 | 10 | 20 | - | 8 | Gold | ||
2010 | World Ringette Championships [25] | 5 | 7 | 11 | 18 | - | 2 | Gold |
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2023) |
Isku Areena is an ice rink located at the Lahden urheilukeskus in Lahti, Finland. It is primarily used for ice hockey, and is the home arena of Lahti Pelicans who play in the ice hockey Jääkiekon SM-liiga, and the Lahti Ringette team who play in the SM Ringette, ringette league which is Finland's elite semi-professional ringette league. It opened in 1973 and holds 5,530 people. It was renovated in 2007 and 2010.
Martti Lautala was a Finnish former cross-country skier who competed in the 1950s. He won a bronze medal in the 30 km event at the 1954 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun.
Sara Kristiina Mustonen was a Finnish alpine skier. She is the youngest skier ever to win the Finnish alpine ski championship with her gold medal in the women's slalom in 1977 when she was only 14 years old.
Matti Havulinna was a Finnish sprint canoeist who competed in the early 1950s. He was eliminated in the heats of the C-2 1000 m event at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He was born in Tampere.
The Ringette World Club Championship (RWCC) was an international ringette competition organized by the International Ringette Federation (IRF). It featured the top teams from Canada's National Ringette League (NRL), Finland's Ringeten SM-sarja, and Sweden's Ringette Dam-SM. The World Club Championship was only held twice, the first time in 2008 and the last time in 2011.
Susanna Jenni "Suski" Tapani is a Finnish multi-sport athlete who competes in ice hockey, ringette, and in-line hockey. She plays professional ice hockey in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) with the Boston Fleet and is a member of both the Finnish national ice hockey team and Finnish national ringette team.
The 2007 World Ringette Championships was an international ringette tournament and the 8th (VIII) of the World Ringette Championships. The tournament was organized by the International Ringette Federation (IRF) and was contested in Ottawa, Canada, between October 30 and November 3, 2007. The competition took place at the Ottawa Civic Centre which has since been renamed, "TD Place Arena" and was broadcast in Canada by Rogers TV.
The 2004 World Ringette Championships was an international ringette tournament and the 7th (XII) World Ringette Championships. The tournament was organized by the International Ringette Federation (IRF) and was contested in Stockholm, Sweden, between November 23 and 27, 2004. The game for the world title final between Canada and Finland took place at the Visättra SportCenter in Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden.
The 2002 World Ringette Championships was an international ringette tournament and the 6th (XI) World Ringette Championships. The tournament was organized by the International Ringette Federation (IRF) and was contested in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, between November 25 and November 30, 2002, at the Northlands AgriCom Arena, now called the Edmonton Expo Centre. The final match was broadcast in Canada and followed by over 140,000 televiewers.
The 1992 World Ringette Championships was an international ringette tournament, the 2nd (II) World Ringette Championships, and was organized by the World Ringette Council, the precursor to the International Ringette Federation (IRF). The tournament was contested in Helsinki, Finland, from March 4 to 8, 1992.
The 1990 World Ringette Championship was an international ringette tournament and the first World Ringette Championship in history. Three countries took part: Canada, Finland, and the United States. The tournament was organized by the World Ringette Council, the precursor to the International Ringette Federation (IRF). The event was held in the Canadian city of Gloucester, Ontario from January 29 to February 3, 1990, with eight competing teams at Earl Armstrong Arena.
The Finland national ringette team,, more commonly known as "Team Finland", is the ringette team representing Finland internationally. Finland has both a senior national team, Team Finland Senior, and a junior national team, Team Finland Junior. Both national teams compete in the World Ringette Championships (WRC) and are overseen by Ringette Finland, which is a member of the International Ringette Federation (IRF). Finland's first appearance in international ringette took place at the first World Ringette Championships in 1990.
Ringette Finland, is the national governing body for the sport of ringette in Finland and was founded in 1983. It is responsible for the organization and promotion ringette on a nationwide basis and organizes Finland's semi-professional ringette league, SM Ringette, formerly known as Ringeten SM-sarja. In 1986 the organization became a member of the International Ringette Federation which at the time was known as the "World Ringette Council".
Stéphanie Séguin, is an elite level Canadian ringette player who competes as a forward. Séguin currently plays for the Montreal Mission in the National Ringette League (NRL). She has been a member of Canada's national ringette team as a player and coach. In 2023, Séguin is an assistant ringette coach for Team Canada Junior (U21) competing in the 2023 World Ringette Championships.
Anne Pohjola , is an elite Finnish ringette player who plays forward and is a prolific scorer. She has been a member of the Finland national ringette team several times and currently plays in Finland's semi-professional ringette league, SM Ringette. The league is known as the Finnish national ringette league to English speakers.
Timo Himberg is a Finnish ringette coach. He was the head coach of the Finland national ringette team in the years 2011–2020 and won the World Ringette Championships in 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2019.
SM Ringette, previously "Ringeten SM-sarja", is the elite semi-professional ringette league in Finland's first division and its highest. The league features the best ringette players in Finland and is run by Ringette Finland. The league was known as Ringeten SM-sarja until it was rebranded in 2021 and is known as the "Finnish National Ringette League" by English speakers. The National Ringette League (NRL) is its Canadian equivalent.
Salla Kyhälä, is a retired elite Finnish ringette player and world champion in both ringette and ice cross downhill. She played semi-pro ringette as a centre for Espoon Kiekkoseura in the elite Finnish semi-professional league, SM Ringette and the Saskatoon Wild and BC Thunder in Canada's semi-pro National Ringette League. Kyhälä was also member of the Finland national ringette team several times.
Raision Nuorisokiekko ry is a Raisio ice sports club whose sports are ice hockey and ringette. The club's teams play their home games in Raision in Kerttula's ice rinks.
Lapinlahden Luistin -89 in Lapinlahden, from the municipality Pohjois-Savosta, is a home club specializing in ice sports, whose sports include ice hockey, rinkball and ringette. The club's home arena is the Lapinlahti Ice Hall. The club also has several junior teams in ice hockey and ringette.