Anna Vanhatalo (born 29 February 1984) is a Finnish retired

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

and ringette player and former member of the Finnish national ice hockey team and the Finnish national ringette team. Representing

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, she won a bronze medal in the women's ice hockey tournament at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, she won gold in the

World Ringette Championships The World Ringette Championships (WRC) is the premier international competition in ringette and is governed by the International Ringette Federation (IRF). Unlike most international competitions, all of the WRC's elite athletes are female rather ...

Ringette career

Vanhatalo made her goaltending debut in the premier Finnish ringette league, the

Ringeten SM-sarja SM Ringette, previously "", is the elite semi-professional ringette league in Finland's first division and its highest. The league features the best ringette players in Finland and is run by Ringette Finland. The league was known as until it wa ...

, at age 18 in 2002. She was a member of the Finnish national ringette team in

and

. Vanhatalo won two

gold medals, one in the 2004 World Ringette Championship held in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, where she was elected the best goaltender of the tournament, and the other gold medal in the 2007 World Ringette Championship held in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. In 2006, Vanhatalo went to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

to play one season for the

Montreal Mission Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

in the

National Ringette League The National Ringette League (NRL), ''(french: Ligue Nationale de Ringuette, LNR)'', is the premier sports league for the sport of ringette in North America and Canada's national league for elite ringette players aged 18+. All of the NRL's eli ...

. In exchange, her Finnish team,

Helsinki Ringette Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, received Montreal Mission goalkeeper Claudia Jetté.

Ice hockey career

Vanhatalo began playing ice hockey at age 25 in 2009, joining the powerhouse

Espoo Blues Naiset Kiekko-Espoo Naiset are an ice hockey team in the Naisten Liiga. They play in the Tapiola district of Espoo, Finland at the ('training arena') of the Tapiolan urheilupuisto. The team was founded as Espoon Kiekkoseura (EKS) in 1989 and has al ...

in Finland’s top league, the Naisten SM-sarja, as their starting goaltender. Her first ice hockey season was a resounding success, she recorded a magnificent .952

save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various goal-scoring sports that track saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse, it is a statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal ...

across ten games played in the regular season and backstopped the team to silver medals in the Finnish Championship and the 2010 European Women's Champions Cup. Her performance earned the

Tuula Puputti Award The Tuula Puputti Award () is an ice hockey trophy awarded seasonally by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the best goaltender of the Naisten Liiga and its predecessor, the Naisten SM-sarja. It is named after Tuula Puputti, the first Olympic ...

in 2010, recognizing her as the Naisten SM-sarja Goaltender of the Year. The following season, Vanhatalo signed alongside Finnish national team teammate

Karoliina Rantamäki Karoliina Stina Margaretha "Karo" Rantamäki (born 23 February 1978) is a Finnish ice hockey Forward (ice hockey), forward and Captain (ice hockey), captain of Stadin Gimmat (HIFK Naiset) of the Naisten Liiga (ice hockey), Naisten Liiga (NSML), t ...

as the only expatriates with

SKIF Nizhny Novgorod HC SKIF Nizhny Novgorod () are a Russian ice hockey team in the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL). They play in Nizhny Novgorod at the CEC Nagorny, which is also home to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL. SKIF have won the Russian Championship in ...

in the Russian Women's Hockey League. Undaunted by the international relocation, Vanhatalo played as the backup to starter

Valentina Ostrovlyanchik Valentina may refer to: Entertainment Film * ''Valentina'' (1950 film), a 1950 Argentine film * ''Valentina'' (2008 film), a 2008 Argentine film Television * ''Valentina'' (1993 telenovela), a 1993 Mexican telenovela * Valentina (2013 telenov ...

and maintained her stellar-caliber statistics, ending the season with a .949 save percentage and a solid 1.36

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

(GAA) in eight games played. Unable to continue playing with SKIF due to restrictions placed by the RWHL on the number of import players per team, she opted to play the 2011–12 season in the Swiss Women's Hockey League A (SWHL A) with the

ZSC Lions Frauen Zamalek Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الزمالك للألعاب الرياضية), commonly referred to as Zamalek, is an Egyptian sports club based in Giza. It is one of the most successful football clubs in Africa and the Middle East, and ...

based in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

. Though she split the goal with Canadian-Swiss goaltender Vanessa Clavadetscher during the SWHL A season, she was the starting netminder for the

EWHL Super Cup The EWHL Super Cup is an ice hockey tournament for women's club teams organized by the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation (HIHF/MJSZ) and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded by the IIHF in 2011 in an effort to provided opp ...

in 2012 and the 2012 European Women's Champions Cup, backstopping the team to silver medal finishes in both tournaments. Vanhatalo did not play ice hockey in the 2012–13 regular season but she returned to the starting role with the ZSC Lions for the EWHL Super Cup in 2013, contributing a magnificent .970 save percentage and 0.79 GAA to the team’s first Super Cup victory. She was also the team’s starter for the 2013 European Women's Champions Cup, at which the Lions placed fourth.

International play

Vanhatalo was selected to the Finnish Olympic team in her first season playing ice hockey. She won a bronze medal in the women’s ice hockey tournament at the 2010 Winter Olympics while serving as third goaltender behind starter Noora Räty and backup

Mira Kuisma Mira Kuisma (born 6 May 1987) is a Finnish retired ice hockey goaltender and current head coach of the Finland women's national under-18 ice hockey team, Finnish women's national under-18 ice hockey team and Team Kuortane of the Naisten Liiga (i ...

. Representing Finland she also won bronze medals at the

2010 4 Nations Cup The 2010 4 Nations Cup was an international women's ice hockey competition held in Clarenville, Newfoundland and Labrador and St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador from November 9 to November 13, 2010. Games were played at the Clarenville Event ...

and the

2011 IIHF Women's World Championship The 2011 IIHF World Women's Championships was held in April 2011 in Zürich and Winterthur, Switzerland, and took place at Hallenstadion and Deutweg rink. Leading goaltenders Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have play ...

, and a silver medal in the women's ice hockey tournament at the

2011 Winter Universiade The XXV Winter Universiade, took place in Erzurum, Turkey between 27 January to 6 February. Erzurum is the city at the highest altitude in Turkey, at , and has over 320 cultural landmarks. Located in Eastern Anatolia Region, it is a city on the tr ...

Personal life

During her stay in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

in 2006, she learned the French language. She is multi-lingual and speaks Finnish, Swedish, German, English and French. In 2009, she obtained her MBA in marketing from the

Helsinki School of Economics The Aalto University School of Business ( fi, Aalto-yliopiston kauppakorkeakoulu; sv, Aalto-universitets handelshögskola), is the largest business school in Finland. Founded in 1911, it is the second oldest business school in Finland and one of ...

. Her thesis examined the motivations of companies when sponsoring women’s sports, using ringette as a case study.

Honors and achievements

Ice hockey

Club competition * Silver Medal at the

2009–10 IIHF European Women's Champions Cup The 2009–10 IIHF European Women's Champions Cup was the sixth holding of the IIHF European Women Champions Cup (EWCC). Tornado Moscow Region of the Russian Women's Hockey League won the tournament for the first time, becoming the second conse ...

with the Espoo Blues * Silver Medal in the Finnish Championship in 2010 with the Espoo Blues * Silver Medal in the Russian Championship in 2011 with SKIF Nizhny Novgorod * Silver Medal at the

2011–12 IIHF European Women's Champions Cup The 2011-12 IIHF European Women Champions Cup was the eighth playing of the IIHF European Women Champions Cup. Tornado Moscow Region of the Russian Women's Hockey League won the tournament for the second time in three seasons. First round The ...

with the ZSC Lions * Gold Medal in the Swiss Championship in 2012 with the ZSC Lions * Silver Medal at the

in 2012 with the ZSC Lions * EWHL Super Cup champion in 2013 with the ZSC Lions International competition * Bronze Medal at the

* Bronze Medal in the women's ice hockey tournament at the

* Silver Medal in the women's ice hockey tournament at the

* Bronze Medal at the

Ringette

* 3x Finnish Champion with Helsinki Ringette * Gold Medal in the

2004 World Ringette Championships The 2004 World Ringette Championships (''2004 WRC'') was an international ringette tournament and the 7th (XII) World Ringette Championships. The tournament was organized by the International Ringette Federation (IRF) and was contested in Stock ...

* Gold Medal in the

2007 World Ringette Championships The 2007 World Ringette Championships (''2007 WRC'') was an international ringette tournament and the 8th (VIII) of the World Ringette Championships. The tournament was organized by the International Ringette Federation (IRF) and was contested in ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vanhatalo, Anna 1984 births Living people Espoo Blues Naiset players Finnish women's ice hockey goaltenders Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic ice hockey players of Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey Ringette players HC SKIF players Ice hockey people from Helsinki Universiade medalists in ice hockey Universiade silver medalists for Finland Competitors at the 2011 Winter Universiade European Women's Hockey League players