Jenna Suokko (born 14 June 1995) is a Finnish

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 ...

player, currently playing with the

Buffalo Beauts The Buffalo Beauts are a professional ice hockey team based in Amherst, New York, United States. The team was established in 2015 as one of the four founding franchises of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), originally named the National Women' ...

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).

Playing career

At age 15, Suokko made her debut in the Naisten SM-sarja (renamed Naisten Liiga in 2017), the premier women’s ice hockey league in Finland, 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, Pirkanm ...

in the 2010–11 season. She remained with the team the following season, winning

Aurora Borealis Cup The Aurora Borealis Cup ( fi, Aurora Borealis -malja) is the trophy awarded to the Finnish Champion in women's ice hockey, the victorious team of the Naisten Liiga playoffs. The Aurora Borealis Cup was created to honor the quality of play in Na ...

silver medals in 2011 and again in 2012. Ilves won the

IIHF European Women's Champions Cup IIHF European Women's Champions Cup (EWCC) was an annual women's ice hockey club tournament, contested by the national women's ice hockey champions from several European ice hockey playing nations. The event was established and organized by th ...

(EWCC) 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 ...

– the only Finnish team to ever win the tournament – and Suokko recorded a goal against

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 round-robin finals. Suokko's teammates from the 2011 EWCC Chazmpion roster included

Anna Kilponen Anna Kilponen (born 16 May 1995) is a Finnish ice hockey defenceman, signed with the Metropolitan Riveters of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) for the 2022–23 PHF season, 2022–23 season. She played four seasons of college ice hockey in th ...

Sari Kärnä Sari Kärnä (born 2 April 1988) is a Finnish retired ice hockey player. She won a silver medal at the 2011 Winter Universiade and bronze medals at the IIHF World Women's Championships in 2015 and 2017 as a member of the Finnish national team. ...

Rosa Lindstedt Rosa Lindstedt (born 24 January 1988) is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national ice hockey team, currently serving as captain of Brynäs IF Dam in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). She won bronze medals at the 201 ...

Saara Niemi Saara Elisa Niemi, (born 1 January 1986) is a Finnish retired ice hockey player and current general manager and head coach of HIFK Naiset of the Naisten Liiga (NSML). At the 2006 Torino Olympics, Tuominen competed for . scoring one goal and fo ...

(),

Heidi Pelttari Heidi Marianne Pelttari (born 2 August 1985) is a Finnish retired ice hockey defenceman and member of the Finnish national ice hockey team. She represented Finland in the women's ice hockey tournament at both the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympic Ga ...

, and

Mari Saarinen Mari Saarinen (born 30 July 1981) is a Finnish retired ice hockey forward and current assistant coach of Team Kuortane in the Naisten Liiga (NSML). She was the head coach of HPK Kiekkonaiset during the 2020–21 season. Her playing career wa ...

. In 2012, Suokko joined Team Oriflame Kuortane, where she reunited with former Ilves teammate Anna Kilponen and joined a roster of rising stars in Finnish women's ice hockey, including Suvi Ollikainen,

Tiina Ranne Tiina Ranne (born 6 December 1994) is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender, currently playing with KalPa Kuopio of the Naisten Liiga and the Finnish national team. She previously played for Team Oriflame Kuortane, JYP Jyväskylä Naiset, and HPK Ki ...

Vilma Tanskanen Vilma Tanskanen (born 14 April 1995) is a Finland, Finnish retired ice hockey player. As a member of the Finland women's national ice hockey team, Finnish national team, she won a bronze medal at the 2015 IIHF Women's World Championship and play ...

Saana Valkama Saana Valkama (born 27 June 1994) is a Finnish ice hockey player, currently playing in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) with AIK Hockey Dam. Valkama represented Finland at the IIHF Women's World Championship in 2012, 2016, and 2017, winn ...

, and

Ella Viitasuo Ella Viitasuo (born 27 May 1996) is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national team. She most recently played during the 2022–23 season with HV71 of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). Viitasuo represented Finland ...

. Team Kuortane won the U20 SM-turnaus ('Under-20 Finnish Championship tournament') in 2013 and 2014 but they struggled in the SM-sarja and were forced to save themselves from being

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

to the

Naisten Mestis Naisten Mestis (; from ''Mestaruussarja'' meaning 'Championship series') is the second-highest women's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was founded as Naisten I-divisioona (Women's First Division) in 1985 by the Finnish Ice Hockey Associ ...

in the 2013–14 season. Suokko returned to Ilves for the 2014–15 season and won Finnish Championship bronze. In the 2015–16 season, she played two games with Team Kuortane before enrolling at

Olds College Olds College of Agriculture & Technology is an Alberta public post-secondary institution located in Olds, Alberta, established in 1913 as Olds Agricultural College. Total student enrollment for the 2020–2021 academic year was 5446. The college ...

Olds, Alberta Olds ( ) is a town in central Alberta, Canada within Mountain View County and the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. It is approximately south of Red Deer and north of Calgary. The nearest towns are Didsbury to the south, Bowden to the north, Su ...

, Canada and joining the Olds College Broncos women's ice hockey program of the

Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) is the governing body for collegiate sports in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1964, as the Western Inter-College Conference, the ACAC is represented by eighteen schools, including one in Saskatchewan, t ...

(ACAC). She led the team in scoring, with 8 goals and 4 assists for 12 points in 22 games, and was honoured as the 2015–16 ACAC Women's Hockey Rookie of the Year. The following season, Suokko signed with

Leksands IF Dam Leksands Idrottsförening Dam or Leksands IF Dam are a professional ice hockey team in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). They play in Leksand, a town in the western-central Swedish province of Dalarna, at the Tegera Arena. Until 2021, th ...

of the

Swedish Women's Hockey League The Swedish Women's Hockey League ( sv, Svenska damhockeyligan), abbreviated SDHL, is the elite league for women's ice hockey in Sweden. It was established in 2007 as the by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association and was renamed prior to the 2016– ...

(SDHL). She tallied 5 goals and a team-leading 37

penalty minutes A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penaltie ...

(PIM) in the 36 game

2016–17 SDHL season The 2016–17 SDHL season was the tenth season of the Swedish Women's Hockey League. The season began in September 2016 and ended in March 2017. It was the first season the league was known under the SDHL name, having changed from Riksserien the p ...

. After playing two seasons abroad, she returned to Finland in 2017 to begin university studies and to play with Ilves Tampere. The move quickly paid off and Ilves won Aurora Borealis Cup silver medals in 2017–18 and 2018–19. Suokko developed from seventh ranked for team scoring in the 2017–18 season to third in 2018–19 (behind only

Linda Leppänen Linda Leppänen née Välimäki (born 31 May 1990) is a Finnish retired ice hockey forward and coach. Representing , she won bronze medals at the Winter Olympic Games in 2010 and 2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: T ...

() and

Riikka Noronen Riikka Noronen (born 23 November 1982) is a Finnish ice hockey coach and retired forward, currently an assistant coach with Tampereen Ilves Naiset. The all-time leading point scorer in the Naisten Liiga, she also holds the records for youngest p ...

) to the team’s top scorer in the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons. She served as an

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 ...

, along with Kreetta Kulhua, Jenna Lehtiniemi and Helen Puputti, in the leadership group of captain Anna Kilponen during the 2020–21 season and was named to the 2021 Naisten Liiga All-Star Team II. At the conclusion of the 2020–21 season, Suokko had played 249 regular season games in the Naisten Liiga and amassed 116 goals and 107 assists for 223 points, a career average of 0.90

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

. On 4 August 2021, Suokko signed a one year contract with the Buffalo Beauts of the PHF. She is the second Finn to play in the league and the first since the collapse of the

Canadian Women's Hockey League The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey féminin ‒ LCHF) was a women's ice hockey league. Established in 2007 as a Canadian women's senior league in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, and Ottawa, the league ...

(CWHL) and founding of the

Professional Women's Hockey Players Association The Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization dedicated to advocating for the promotion of professional women's ice hockey. It was founded in May 2019 following the dissolution of the Canadian W ...

(PWHPA); the first Finn to play in the PHF (then called the NWHL) was goaltender

Meeri Räisänen Meeri Räisänen (born 2 December 1989) is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender and member of the Finnish national ice hockey team, currently playing in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) with the Connecticut Whale. As a member of the Finnish natio ...

, who played with the Connecticut Whale in the 2018–19 season.

International play

Suokko was a member of the Finnish national under-18 team during 2010 to 2013 and represented Finland at the IIHF Women's World U18 Championships (WW18) 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 ...

, and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

. At the 2011 tournament, Finland beat

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in the bronze medal match to earn its first U18 Worlds medal. At the senior level, Suokko has played with the Finnish national under-22 team (also called the Finland National Development Team) and the Finnish national team, first in August 2014. She represented Finland at the Nations Cup in 2016 and won silver after the team successfully pushed

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 overtime in the gold medal match. As of August 2021, Suokko has played 17 international matches with the Finnish national team but has not been selected to represent Finland 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 offi ...

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Personal life

Suokko has a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in nursing from

Tampere University of Applied Sciences Tampere University of Applied Sciences ( fi, Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulu, TAMK) is a university of applied sciences (a polytechnic) in the region of Pirkanmaa, Finland. Together with Tampere University, TAMK constitutes the Tampere higher edu ...

and has worked as a

hemodialysis Hemodialysis, also spelled haemodialysis, or simply dialysis, is a process of purifying the blood of a person whose kidneys are not working normally. This type of dialysis achieves the extracorporeal removal of waste products such as creatinin ...

nurse.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

''* Postseason results for the 2013–14 season are from the qualification series () rather than the playoffs and are not calculated with playoff totals.''

References

External links

* Living people 1995 births Finnish women's ice hockey forwards Ice hockey people from Tampere Buffalo Beauts players Ilves Naiset players Leksands IF (women) players Team Kuortane players Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States {{DEFAULTSORT:Suokko, Jenna