Tanja Niskanen | |||
---|---|---|---|
Born | Juankoski, Finland | 11 September 1992||
Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
Weight | 70 kg (154 lb; 11 st 0 lb) | ||
Position | Centre | ||
Shot | Left | ||
Played for | KalPa Kuopio JYP Jyväskylä | ||
National team | ![]() | ||
Playing career | 2010–2022 | ||
Tanja Niskanen (born 11 September 1992) is a Finnish retired ice hockey player and former member of the Finnish national team. Following her second Olympic bronze medal win in February 2022, she announced her retirement from the national team and, in March 2022, confirmed her intention to step away from elite-level club competition following the 2022 Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs. [1] [2]
Niskanen first joined the senior Finnish national team in 2009 and made her major tournament debut at the 2011 IIHF Women's World Championship. Representing Finland, she won bronze medals in the women’s ice hockey tournaments at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. She won a silver medal at the IIHF Women's World Championship in 2019, won bronze medals at the tournaments in 2011, 2017 and 2021, and participated in the 2016 IIHF Women's World Championship. [3] [4]
As a junior player with the Finnish national under-18 ice hockey team, Niskanen participated in the IIHF Women's U18 World Championships in 2008, 2009, and 2010.
The Finnish women's national ice hockey team represents Finland at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women's World Championships, the Olympic Games, the Four Nations Cup, and other international-level women's ice hockey competitions. The women's national team is overseen by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association and its general manager is Tuula Puputti. Finland's national women's program is ranked third in the world by the IIHF and had 5,858 active players as of 2019.
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