Krista Parkkonen

Finnish ice hockey player

Ice hockey player
Krista Parkkonen
Born (2002-06-25) 25 June 2002 (age 21)
Lappeenranta, Finland
Height 168 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Position Defense
Shoots Left
NCAA team
Former teams
Vermont Catamounts
HIFK Helsinki
SaiPa Lappeenranta
National team  Finland
Playing career 2017–present

Krista Parkkonen (born 25 June 2002) is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national team, currently playing with the Vermont Catamounts women's ice hockey program in the Hockey East (HEA) 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.[1] 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 junior ice hockey department of SaiPa.[2] At age fifteen, she made her debut with SaiPa Naiset, the club'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.[3]

After turning seventeen and becoming ineligible to play in boys' leagues any longer, Parkkonen was recruited to play for newly-created women's team HIFK Naiset by general manager and head coach Saara Niemi.[1]

International play

Parkkonen represented Finland at the IIHF Women's World Championships in 2022 and 2023.[4][5] She was named to The Hockey News' Top-35 U-23 Players in Women's Hockey in September 2022.[6]

Career statistics

International

Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
2017 Finland U18 WW18 5th 5 1 0 1 0
2018 Finland U18 WW18 5th 5 0 1 1 4
2019 Finland U18 WW18 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 0 0 0 14
2020 Finland U18 WW18 4th 6 0 0 0 6
2022 Finland WW 6th 7 1 1 2 4
2023 Finland WW 5th 7 0 3 3 0
Junior totals 22 1 1 2 24
Senior totals 14 1 4 5 4

Sources: [7][8]

Awards and honors

Award Year
International
World U18 Bronze Medal 2019
College
All-Hockey East Second Team 2023–24[9]
Naisten Liiga
Noora Räty Award (Rookie of the Year) 2020
All-Star Second Team 2021, 2022

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Seppä, Lassi (9 November 2021). "SaiPan poikajoukkueista leijonaedustuksen porteille − HIFK:n Krista Parkkonen on urallaan todistanut olevansa huippupelaaja". Jatkoaika (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  2. ^ Sipiläinen, Kalle (20 January 2019). "Läksyt tehty ja mitalikahvit juotu, pian pääsee taas rymistelemään — SaiPan MM-mitalisti Krista Parkkonen tykkää kiekkoilla poikien kanssa: "Siellä saa pelata kovaa ja taklata"". Etelä-Saimaa (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  3. ^ Seppä, Lassi (2 February 2022). "HIFK:n Krista Parkkonen lähtee Yhdysvaltojen yliopistosarjaan toteuttamaan lapsuuden unelmaansa − "Vermont tarjosi sopivimmat puitteet opiskelun ja jääkiekon yhdistämiseen"". Jatkoaika (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  4. ^ Löfman, Sini (3 August 2022). "Naisten MM-joukkue Tanskan MM-kisoihin valittu – Mukana iso kasa viime kauden arvokisamitalisteja". Finnish Ice Hockey Association (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  5. ^ Silvennoinen, Anssi (3 August 2022). "SaiPa-kasvatti Krista Parkkonen valittiin Suomen MM-kisajoukkueeseen Tanskaan". Etelä-Saimaa (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  6. ^ Kennedy, Ian (8 September 2022). "Top 35 U-23 Players in Women's Hockey". The Hockey News. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  7. ^ Podnieks, Andrew; Nordmark, Birger, eds. (2019). "Active Skaters, Women". IIHF Guide & Record Book 2020. Toronto: Moydart. p. 657. ISBN 9780986796470.
  8. ^ "2023 IIHF Women's World Championship – Player Statistics by Team: FIN - Finland". International Ice Hockey Federation. 16 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  9. ^ Kennedy, Ian (1 March 2024). "Hockey East Names 2023-2024 Women's Hockey All-Stars". The Hockey News. Retrieved 4 March 2024.

External links

  • Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com