# Krista Parkkonen

Krista Parkkonen (born 25 June 2002) is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national team. She plays with the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey program in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) conference of the NCAA Division I.

## Playing career

Parkkonen first played ice hockey at age 4 or 5, participating in a youth hockey school in her hometown of Lappeenranta, a city in South Karelia situated 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the Russian border. She played on girls' teams for a few years. Early on, she set her sights on playing for the national team and having a college ice hockey career in the United States, which prompted her to switch to playing with the boys' teams for her age group in the minor ice hockey department of SaiPa. At age fifteen, she made her debut with SaiPa Naiset, SaiPa's representative women's team in the third-tier Naisten Suomi-sarja but, as the women's team was not very competitive, she continued to spend most of her time playing on the boys' junior teams.
At age seventeen, Parkkonen was recruited to play for IFK Helsinki (HIFK) by the team's general manager and head coach, Saara Niemi. HIFK had gained promotion to the Naisten Liiga (NSML), the premier women's league in Finland, at the end of the previous season and Parkkonen was one of several stand-out players brought in to bolster the ranks. She saw great success in her first Naisten Liiga season, leading all HIFK defenders in scoring with five goals and sixteen assists for 21 points in 28 games, and was recognized with the Noora Räty Award as Naisten Liiga Rookie of the Year.
A staple of HIFK's blue line during the following two seasons, she earned second team Naisten Liiga All-Star selections in both the 2020–21 season and 2021–22 season.

### College

In Autumn 2022, Parkkonen began her college ice hockey career with the Vermont Catamounts women's ice hockey program in the Hockey East (HEA) conference of the NCAA Division I. She was selected as an Hockey East Second-Team All-Star for the 2023–24 season.
Parkkonen and her Catamounts teammate Natálie Mlýnková left Vermont to join the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey program ahead of the 2024–25 season.

## International play

As a junior ice hockey player with the Finnish national under-18 team, Parkkonen participated in the IIHF U18 Women's World Championships in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
She made her debut with the senior national team at the 2022 IIHF Women's World Championship, at which she scored a goal and two assists in seven games. Representing Finland at subsequent IIHF Women's World Championships, she notched three assists at the 2023 tournament and won a bronze medal in 2024.
Parkkonen was named to The Hockey News' Top-35 U-23 Players in Women's Hockey in September 2022.

## Career statistics
### Regular season and playoffs

| | | | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2019–20 | HIFK | NSML | 28 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 63 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020–21 | Ketterä U18 | U18 Mestis | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | — |
| 2020–21 | HIFK (L) | NSML | 22 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| 2021–22 | HIFK | NSML | 19 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 39 |
| 2022–23 | Vermont Catamounts | HEA | 34 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 16 | – | – | – | – | — |
| 2023–24 | Vermont Catamounts | HEA | 33 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 8 | – | – | – | – | — |
| Naisten Liiga totals | Naisten Liiga totals | Naisten Liiga totals | 69 | 14 | 35 | 49 | 75 | 20 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 39 |
| NCAA totals | NCAA totals | NCAA totals | 67 | 6 | 20 | 26 | 24 | – | – | – | – | – |

### International

| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2017 | Finland U18 | WC18 | 5th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018 | Finland U18 | WC18 | 5th | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2019 | Finland U18 | WC18 | | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 2020 | Finland U18 | WC18 | 4th | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 2022 | Finland | WC | 6th | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 2023 | Finland | WC | 5th | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 2024 | Finland | WC | | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Junior totals | Junior totals | Junior totals | Junior totals | 22 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 24 |
| Senior totals | Senior totals | Senior totals | Senior totals | 21 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
Sources:

## Awards and honors

| Award | Year |
| International ||
| World U18 Bronze Medal | 2019 |
| World Championship Bronze Medal | 2024 |
| College ||
| All-Hockey East Second Team | 2023–24 |
| Naisten Liiga ||
| Noora Räty Award (Rookie of the Year) | 2019–20 |
| All-Star Second Team | 2020–21, 2021–22 |