Emma Laaksonen

Emma Laaksonen (born 17 December 1981) is a Finnish female ice hockey defenseman. She played on the women's ice hockey team for Finland at the 1998 Winter Olympics, winning a bronze medal.http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/FIN/winter/1998/ICH/ She was the youngest woman on the team (16 years, 54 days). Laaksonen played for the Ohio State women's ice hockey team from the 2000-01 to 2003-04 seasons. At Ohio State, Laaksonen was the first to earn All-America, was a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award and had her number 3 retired.http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=1600593 Her number was retired by Ohio State on October 11, 2008. The ceremony occured prior to the football game between Ohio State and Purdue Saturday at Ohio Stadium, where Laaksonen was recognized on the field at the 50-yard line.http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=1600593 She was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame on 25 September 2009.http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2009/06/24/osu_fame_6-24.ART_ART_06-24-09_C3_N0E96KU.html?sid=101
Laaksonen is a three-time Olympian, serving as co-captain in 2002 and 2006, as well as competing in seven world championships, serving as captain in 2008 and 2009. Named Finland's Player of the Year in 2002 and 2006, Laaksonen was recognized by the Buckeye program during the first home series of the 2008-09 season when her No. 3 was the first women's hockey player number retired.
In Finland she has played for Espoo Blues, where she has won the Finnish Championship five times (1999, 2000, 2005, 2007 and 2009). With Espoo Blues she has finished third three times (1997, 1998 and 2006). 2007-2008 she played for SKIF (Nižni Novgorod, Russia), where she won the Russian Championship.
She is also Finnish Olympic Committee board member.http://www.noc.fi/in_english/finnish_olympic_committee/board/
== References ==
Category:Female ice hockey players
Category:Finnish hockey players
Category:1998 Olympian
Category:2002 Olympian
Category:2006 Olympian
Category:2010 Olympian
Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Finland
Category:Olympic ice hockey players of Finland