Aino Karppinen (born 7 August 1997) is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national team, currently playing in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) with Leksands IF.

Playing career

Karppinen developed in the youth department of

Rovaniemen Kiekko RoKi is a Finnish ice hockey team based at Lappi Areena (capacity 3,500), Rovaniemi. Established in 1979. Full name of the club is Rovaniemen Kiekko. Honours Suomi-sarja * Suomi-sarja ''(2)'': 2011, 2013 * Suomi-sarja The Suomi-sarj ...

(RoKi), an ice hockey club in her hometown of Rovaniemi. She debuted at the women's senior level with RoKi Naiset in the 2013–14 season of the Naisten Mestis, during which she played a total of six matches. Over the following seasons, she variously played with RoKi Naiset and the RoKi under-16 and under-18 men's teams. During the 2016–17 Naisten Mestis season, Karppinen served as RoKi Naiset's

alternate captain In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captai ...

. In the 2018–19 season, she moved to

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

to play with

Kärpät Naiset Oulun Kärpät Naiset ('Oulu's Ermine Women') are an ice hockey team in the Naisten Liiga. They play in Oulu, a city on the northeastern coast of the Bothnian Bay in the Finnish north-central region of North Ostrobothnia, at the ('Raksila ...

of the

Naisten Liiga The Kansallinen Liiga ('National League') is the premier division of women's football in Finland. It was previously called the Jalkapallon naisten SM-sarja ('Women's Football Finnish Championship Series') during 1974 to 2006 and the Naisten Lii ...

. With Kärpät, she won Finnish Championship bronze in 2019 and the team qualified for the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

bronze medal game before the playoffs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After RoKi Naiset gained promotion to the Naisten Liiga at the conclusion of the 2019–20 season, Karppinen returned to her home club for the

2020–21 Naisten Liiga season The 2020–21 Naisten Liiga season was the thirty-eighth season of the Naisten Liiga, Finland's elite women's ice hockey league, since the league’s creation in 1982. The season began, as scheduled, on 5 September 2020, making the Naisten Lii ...

. In addition to playing with RoKi Naiset, she also played 21 games with the RoKi U18 men's team in the 2020–21 U18 Mestis season.

International play

Karppinen was a member of the Finnish national under-18 ice hockey team during the 2015–16 international season, which culminated with her participation in the

2016 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship The 2016 IIHF Women's U18 World Championship was the ninth Women's U18 World Championship in ice hockey. The tournament was played in St. Catharines, Canada. Top Division Preliminary round Group A Group B Relegation series ...

. At the World U18 Championship, Karppinen was Finland’s highest scoring defenseman, recording three points (1+2) in five games. At the senior level, Karppinen has appeared with the Finnish national team at various tournaments in the 2018–19 and 2019–20 international seasons, including three of the four tournaments comprising the 2019–20 Women's Euro Hockey Tour. She participated in the national team training camp in preparation for the 2020 IIHF World Women's Championship but was not selected to the final roster. The

2021 IIHF Women's World Championship The 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship was an international ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which was contested in Calgary, Alberta, from 20 to 31 August 2021, at WinSport Arena. It was origi ...

was her World Championship debut. She was the first Rovaniemi-born product of the RoKi youth system to be selected to the Finnish women's national team.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Karppinen, Aino 1997 births Living people AIK Hockey Dam players Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Finnish women's ice hockey defencemen Leksands IF (women) players Luleå HF/MSSK players Oulun Kärpät Naiset players Sportspeople from Rovaniemi RoKi Naiset players