Ice Hockey - Team Finland

OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES
One of four nations to compete at all six Olympic women’s ice hockey tournaments, Finland has contested the bronze medal match five times, winning three of those encounters. They have played their rivals Sweden twice for bronze, losing 2-1 in Salt Lake City (2002), but winning 3-2 in overtime in Vancouver (2010). Their worst finish (5th) was in Sochi 2014, after losing to Sweden in the quarterfinals. At PyeongChang 2018, they defeated the Olympic Athletes from Russia 3-2, to win their third bronze medal.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Contested the bronze medal match at the first 18 world championships, winning 12 times. Faced Sweden for bronze eight times, with victories in 1990, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2005 and 2009. Defeated the United States for the first time in 2008 in the qualifying round, Heidi Pelttari scoring four minutes into overtime to secure a 1-0 win. Defeated Canada for the first time in 2017 during the preliminary round. Tied 3-3, it was Ronja Savolainen (FIN) who scored the winner with 1:41 remaining. Canada later defeated Finland 4-0 in the semifinals.

Playing at home in 2019, Finland recorded their second victory against Canada in the semifinals. After losing to Canada 6-1 in the preliminary round, they responded with a 4-2 victory, thanks to a three-point performance from Savolainen (2 goals, 1 assist). Playing in their first final and with the scores tied 1-1 halfway into overtime, Finland looked to have snatched victory when Petra Nieminen knocked a rebound into the goal. Officials reviewed the play for 10 minutes, eventually ruling that Jenni Hiirikoski (FIN) made incidental contact with goaltender Alex Rigsby (USA), negating the goal. Despite two overtime powerplays they failed to capitalise, losing the penalty shootout 2-1.

Won their sixth bronze medal at the 2021 World Championship in Calgary, defeating Switzerland 3-1. The Finns only suffered defeats to Canada and the United States (twice).

QUALIFICATION
Qualified for Beijing 2022 after finishing third in qualification seeding, following the cancelled 2020 World Championships in Canada.

World Ranking: 3rd (3100 pts)

OLYMPIC RECORD
15 wins, 2 overtime wins, 16 losses

vs. Canada (0 wins, 6 losses)
vs. Czech Republic (Olympic debut)
vs. Denmark (Olympic debut)
vs. Japan (1 win, 0 losses)
vs. People's Republic of China (4 wins, 0 losses)
vs. Russian Federation (4 wins, 0 losses) - includes OAR
vs. Sweden (3 wins, 2 losses)
vs. Switzerland (2 wins, 0 losses)
vs. United States (0 wins, 8 losses)

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