Women's Ice Hockey in Finland

Women's Ice Hockey in Finland has 2 593 players in 2005Source in Suomen naisten jääkiekkomaajoukkuem http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suomen_naisten_jääkiekkomaajoukkue and 4 694 in 2011.http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/countries/finland.html The Jääkiekon naisten SM-sarja (Finnish national Women's league ) is the league elite of Women's ice Hockey. This league is organized by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association.
==History==
The first league was created in 1982–1983. Several teams in this first Finnish Women's League were established at the beginning of 1970s. However, it took a long time before the women's hockey spread widely in the country. In 1978, the tournament of lipstick became a kind of "unofficial" national Women's championship during some years. Finally in 1982-83 began a series of efforts with the new league Jääkiekon naisten SM-sarja. The first season was played in two division of five teams each (10 teams). The first Playoffs was played at Tampere on March 12 and 13, 1983.In http://www.whockey.com/country/finland 
==Championships==
* 1983-84 Helsingin Jääkiekkoklubi HJK
* 1984-85 Helsingin Jääkiekkoklubi HJK
* 1985-86 Tampereen Ilves(jääkiekko)
* 1986-87 Tampereen Ilves(jääkiekko)
* 1987-88 Tampereen Ilves (jääkiekko)
* 1988-89 Tampereen Ilves(jääkiekko)
* 1989-90 Etelä-Vantaan Urheilijat EVU
* 1990-91 Tampereen Ilves (jääkiekko)
* 1991-92 Tampereen Ilves (jääkiekko)
* 1992-93 Tampereen Ilves (jääkiekko)
* 1993-94 Tampereen Ilves (jääkiekko)
* 1994-95 Keravan Shakers
* 1995-96 Keravan Shakers
* 1996-97 Keravan Shakers	
* 1997-98 JYP
* 1998-99 JYP
* 1999-00 Espoo Blues
* 2000-01 Espoo Blues
* 2001-02 Espoo Blues
* 2002-03 Espoo Blues
* 2003-04 Blues
* 2004-05 Blues
* 2005-06 Espoo Blues
* 2006-07 Tampereen Ilves (jääkiekko)
* 2007-08 Espoo Blues
* 2008-09 Espoo Blues
* 2009-10 Espoo Blues
* 2010-11 Tampereen Ilves (jääkiekko)
* 2011-12 HPK Hämeenlinna
* 2012-13 Espoo Blues
* 2013-14 Espoo Blues
==Developmental league==
The number of young women in junior level increased slowly, at the beginning of 500 players to approximately 2000 today.http://www.whockey.com/country/finland/history.html The growth rate was not satisfactory at the woman's Ice hockey. Consequently, the Finnish Ice Hockey Association decided to invest in development of the Women's ice hockey by supporting leagues. The number of teams considerably increased: There are now 12 teams in the Women's 1st Division NAISTEN I-DIVISIOONA ( second level after the Finnish National Women's league).
===Lohko 1===
Team 	City
HPK 	Hameenlinna
ILVES 	Tampere
REIPAS 	Lahti
MARSKI-HOCKEY	Mikkeli
SAIPA 	Lappeenranta
ASSAT 	Pori
===Lohko 2 ===
Team 	City
EPS 	Espoo
HG-92 	Tuusula
K-KISSAT	Vantaa
PAKA 	Kuusamo
SPORT 	Vaasa
TAPPARA 	Tampere
==Tournaments==
The following IIHF tournaments were hosted in Finland.
Event 	Location 	Finish
1992 IIHF Women's World Championship 	Tampere 	BronzeCollins gem Hockey Facts and Stats 2009-10, p.540, Andrew Podnieks, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, Toronto, Canada, ISBN 978-1-55468-621-6
1998 Four Nations Cup 	Kuortane 	Bronze
1999 IIHF Women's World Championship 	Espoo 	Bronze
2001 Four Nations Cup 	Vierumäki and Tampere	Silver
2005 Four Nations Cup 	Hämeenlinna 	Bronze
2008–2009 IIHF European Women's Champions Cup	Lohja 	Espoo Blues Bronze
2009 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships 	Hämeenlinna 	Bronze
2009 Four Nations Cup 	Vierumäki 	Fourth
==Leading scorers==
===IIHF Worlds===
*Riikka Nieminen is Finland’s all-time leader with 41 points (23 goals, 18 assists). She participated in four IIHF Worlds. She led two World Championships (1994 and 1997) in scoring. Her 41 points ranks seventh all-time in World Championship scoring. She appeared in 118 games for Finland, scoring 109 goals, 95 assists and 204 points.
*Tiia Reima ranks second all-time with 34 points (14 goals, 20 assists) and participated in six tournaments. Her 20 assists is the Finnish career mark for most assists in World Championship play.She earned five bronze medals at the '90, '92, '94, '97 and '99 World Championships.
===Olympics===
*Riikka Nieminen ranks as the all time leading Olympic scorer for Finland. She was the top point producer at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games.
==Famous firsts==
*1983: The official start of a women's league in Finland.
*1989: The Finnish Women's National Team win the first Women’s European Championships.
*1990: Finland claims the bronze in the first IIHF Women’s World Championships.
*May 21, 2010: Riikka Nieminen 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 and the first from Finland.
==References==
==External links==
This page was written with a translation of Jääkiekon naisten SM-sarja on Finnish Wikipedia
* Women's Hockey History in Finland 
* Women's Finnish championship
==See also==
* Finland Women's National Team
 
Category:Women's ice hockey leagues