Riikka Välilä

Hanna-Riikka Sallinen (née Nieminen, previously Välilä, born 12 June 1973) is a retired Finnish ice hockey, bandy, rink bandy, and pesäpallo player. She is known internationally for playing on the Finnish national ice hockey team during 16 seasons. Her international debut with the team was at the 1989 Women's European Championship and she notably won bronze medals at the 1998 and the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Sallinen was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame on 21 May 2010 in Cologne, Germany, as part of the World Championship festivities; she was only the fourth woman to receive this honor.
Sallinen’s bronze medal at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang made her the oldest ice hockey medallist at a Winter Olympics. She was awarded the medal at age 44, 20 years after she first won a medal in the first women's Olympic hockey tournament.
==Career==
Riikka Sallinen represented Finland in three IIHF Women's European Championships, seven IIHF World Women's Championships, and three Olympics. In her first Olympics in 1998 that she would lead the tournament in scoring, amassing 12 points (7 goals & 5 assists) in six games, while leading the Finnish team to the Bronze Medal. Sallinen would also lead the Finnish national team to three European Championship titles and four IIHF World Women's Championship bronze medals.
Over her international career she would score 109 goals, 95 assists for 204 points while accumulating only 24 PIMs.
In August 2013, the IIHF reported that she was attempting a comeback and in December 2013, following several matches in the Naisten SM-sarja, she was selected for the Finnish women's team for the Sochi Olympics. She made the Finnish Olympic team again for the 2018 Olympics, helping Finland to a bronze medal.
==Ice hockey awards and honours==
Finland
Award 	Year
Tiia Reima AwardMost goals scored in the Naisten SM-sarja regular season 	1993-94 (73 goals)
Marianne Ihalainen AwardMost points earned in the Naisten SM-sarja regular season	1993–94 (129 points)1996-97 (64 points)
Suomen JääkiekkoleijonaInducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame Finland 	2007
Karoliina Rantamäki AwardMost valuable player in the Naisten SM-sarja playoffs 	2015-16
President's Trophy 	2018
Naisten SM-sarja gold 	1988-89 (EVU)1993-94 (Shakers)1996-97 (JyP HT)1997-98 (JYP)2015-16 (JYP)
International
Award 	Year
IIHF Women's World Championship Best Forward 	1990, 1994
IIHF Women's World Championship All-Star Team	1992, 1994, 1997
IIHF Hall of Fame 	2010
==References==
==External links==
*
Category:Born in 1973
Category:Finnish women's ice hockey players
Category:Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Category:Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Category:Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics
Category:Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics
Category:International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame inductees
Category:Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Category:Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics
Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Finland
Category:Olympic ice hockey players of Finland
Category:Olympic medalists in ice hockey