The Emma Laaksonen Award () is an

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 h ...

trophy awarded by the

Finnish Ice Hockey Association The Finnish Ice Hockey Association ( fi, Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto, sv, Finlands Ishockeyförbund) is the governing body of ice hockey in Finland. In 1927, the Finnish Skating Association introduced ice hockey as part of its program and, throu ...

to the fair play player of the year 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 ...

, called the until 2017. The award recognizes a player who best contributes to the scoring of their team while "playing fair," that is to say, while incurring very few

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

. Winners typically exceed one

point Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

per game and are issued fewer than ten penalty minutes (PIM) over a full season. It is named after

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

Emma Terho ( née Laaksonen), former captain of the Finnish women's national ice hockey team and general manager of

Kiekko-Espoo 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 als ...

. Despite being named after a defenceman, it has only ever been awarded to forwards. The trophy was first awarded in 2011, to Christine Posa of the

Espoo Blues The Espoo Blues were an ice hockey team in the SM-liiga. They played in Espoo, Finland, at the Espoo Metro Areena. The club went bankrupt at the end of the 2015–16 Liiga season. History The club was established in February 1984 as Kiekko-Espoo ...

Saila Saari Saila Saari (born 1 November 1989) is a Finnish retired ice hockey forward. She represented in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2018 Winter Olympics, winning a bronze medal, and at the IIHF Women's World Championships in 2015 and 201 ...

is the sole player to have received the trophy twice, first in 2013, while playing with

JYP Jyväskylä JYP is an ice hockey team playing in the Finnish top division Liiga. They play in Jyväskylä, Finland, at the LähiTapiola Areena. History JYP was founded in 1923. First it was the ice hockey section of the sports club ''Jyväskylän Palloilija ...

, and again in 2018, while playing with

Oulun Kärpät Oulun Kärpät (Finnish for "Oulu Ermines", sometimes referred to as Kärpät Oulu) is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Oulu and playing in the top-tier Finnish Liiga. Kärpät have won the Finnish championship title eight times, ...

Emilia Vesa Emilia Vesa (born 3 January 2001) is a Finnish ice hockey winger and member of the Finnish national ice hockey team, currently playing in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) with Frölunda HC. International play As a junior player with t ...

, recipient for the 2018–19 season, is the only honoree to have won the trophy while scoring less than one point per game. In 2022, French national team player

Emmanuelle Passard Emmanuelle Lahouratate-Passard (born 27 January 1992) is a French ice hockey player and member of the French national ice hockey team, currently playing in the FFHG Féminin Élite (FFHG FÉ) with Évry Viry. Passard has represented France at ...

became the first international player to win the award and also the first to be so honored while incurring zero penalty minutes in a season. The trophy holder is Jenna Hietala, who won the award while playing with KalPa Kuopio in the 2022–23 season.

Award winners

Source: Elite Prospects

All time award recipients

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emma Laaksonen Award Naisten Liiga (ice hockey) trophies and awards Sportsmanship trophies and awards