Anna Kilponen (born 16 May 1995) is a Finnish ice hockey defenceman, signed with the Metropolitan Riveters of the

Premier Hockey Federation The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), is a women's professional ice hockey league located in the United States and Canada. The league was established in 2015 with four league-owned teams and ha ...

(PHF) for the 2022–23 season. She played four seasons of college ice hockey in the NCAA Division I, two seasons with the North Dakota Fighting Hawks and two seasons with the Quinnipiac Bobcats. Following her college career, she has played in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) with Linköping HC Dam, in the Finnish

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 ...

(NSML) with the

Tampereen Ilves Naiset Tampereen Ilves Naiset (lit. 'Tampere Lynx Women') are an ice hockey team in the Naisten Liiga, the premier women's ice hockey league in Finland. They are the representative women's team of the multi-sport club Ilves, based in Tampere, Pir ...

, and in the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL) with the KRS Vanke Rays. As a member of the Finnish national team, Kilponen won bronze medals at the

IIHF Women's World Championship The IIHF World Women's Championship (WW or WWC), officially the IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship, is the premier international tournament in women's ice hockey. It is governed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The of ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and represented Finland in the women's ice hockey tournament at the

2014 Winter Olympic Games , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

Playing career

Kilponen began her senior career in Naisten SM-sarja, the highest level women's hockey league in Finland, in 2009 with the

. She was named an Ilves

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 2010–11 season when she was 15 years old. Kilponen also played with

Team Oriflame Team Kuortane is an ice hockey team in the Naisten Liiga, the premier women's hockey league in Finland. They are based at the Kuortaneen urheilulukio in Kuortane, a small town in South Ostrobothnia, and play at the (). The team was founded by ...

in the Naisten SM-sarja from the 2011–12 to 2013–14 season and served as team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

for the 2012–13 season. In the 2014–15 season she returned to Ilves and served as captain. Leading up to the 2015–16 season, Kilponen moved to the United States to attend the University of North Dakota and play NCAA hockey with the North Dakota Fighting Hawks. She played with the Fighting Hawks for two seasons, serving as an alternate captain in 2016–17, until the women's ice hockey program was cut by the university in March 2017. Kilponen then transferred to Quinnipiac University and played for the Quinnipiac Bobcats until graduating in 2019. Kilponen signed with Linköping HC Dam of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) and made her debut with the team in the 2019–20 season. Her one-goal and two assists across the 36-game season marked a career low for Kilponen.

International career

Kilponen was selected for the Finland women's national ice hockey team in the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

. She played in all six games, recording two assists. As of 2014, Kilponen has also appeared for Finland at two

IIHF Women's World Championships The IIHF World Women's Championship (WW or WWC), officially the IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship, is the premier international tournament in women's ice hockey. It is governed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The of ...

. Her first appearance came in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. Kilponen made three appearances for the Finland women's national under-18 ice hockey team, at the IIHF World Women's U18 Championships, with the first in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, when she won a bronze medal as part of the team in

Career statistics

International

Source:

References

External links

*
Quinnipiac bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilponen, Anna 1995 births Living people Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Finnish women's ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics Ilves Naiset players Linköping HC Dam players Metropolitan Riveters players North Dakota Fighting Hawks women's ice hockey players Olympic ice hockey players of Finland People from Orivesi Quinnipiac Bobcats women's ice hockey players Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays players Sportspeople from Pirkanmaa Team Kuortane players