Jenniina Nylund (born 18 June 1999) 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 h ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

and member of the Finnish national ice hockey team, currently serving as captain of the St. Cloud State Huskies women's ice hockey program in the

Western Collegiate Hockey Association The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

(WCHA) conference of the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

Playing career

At four years of age, Nylund followed in the footsteps of her three older brothers and began playing ice hockey with the minor department of Jeppis Hockey, an ice hockey club in her hometown of

Jakobstad Jakobstad (; fi, Pietarsaari) is a town and municipality in Ostrobothnia, Finland. The town has a population of () and covers a land area of . The population density is . Neighboring municipalities are Larsmo, Pedersöre, and Nykarleby. The ...

() on the coast of Ostrobothnia. She joined the women's under-16 (U16) team of

Kokkolan Hermes Kokkolan Hermes is a Finnish semi-professional ice hockey club based in Kokkola that plays in the Mestis, the second-tier men's league in Finland after Liiga. The club was founded in 1953 and plays their home games at the Kokkolan jäähalli, wh ...

, a club in

Kokkola Kokkola (; sv, Karleby, ) is a town and municipality of Finland. The town is located in the Central Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipali ...

(approx. northeast of Jakobstad), in her early teens and played on both the Hermes women's U16 team and the Jeppis men's U16 team during the 2014–15 season. Ahead of the 2015–16 season, Nylund moved from home to

Kuortane Kuortane is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The neighboring municipalities of Kuortane are Al ...

to attend the

Kuortaneen urheilulukio Kuortaneen lukio ja urheilulukio or the Kuortane Lukio and Sports Academy is a general and sports-specialised in Kuortane, Finland. The sports academy is overseen by the Finnish Olympic Committee and affiliated with the Kuortane Olympic Trainin ...

('Kuortane Sports

Lukio ''Gymnasium'' (and variations of the word) is a term in various European languages for a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university. It is comparable to the US English term '' preparatory high school''. Bef ...

') and join the school's team in the Naisten SM-sarja, the top-tier women's ice hockey league in Finland (renamed Naisten Liiga in 2017). On Team Kuortane, she played alongside several future national team teammates, including Petra Nieminen,

Viivi Vainikka Viivi Vainikka (born 23 December 2001) is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national team, currently playing in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (; SDHL) with Luleå HF/MSSK. Playing career Vainikka began playing hockey ...

, Sini Karjalainen, and Anni Keisala. Nylund ranked among the team's top four point earners during her three seasons in Kuortane. In the 2017–18 Naisten Liiga season, she led the team in points and goals during the regular season and topped the league's points table in the

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 ...

playoffs. Buoyed by the sublime scoring production of Nylund, Nieminen, and Vainikka, Team Kuortane won the 2018 Finnish Championship bronze medal – the best postseason finish in team history. She has played 83 regular season games in the Naisten SM-sarja/Naisten Liiga, scoring 43 goals and notching 36 assists. In the

playoffs, she has netted nine goals and seven assists in ten games. Upon graduating from the Kuortaneen urheilulukio, Nylund opted to play

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

in the United States and joined the St. Cloud State Huskies women's ice hockey program as a freshman for the 2018−2019 season. As of the conclusion of the 2020–21 season, she has scored 19 goals and 27 assists for 46 points in 84 games.

International play

Nylund was a member of the Finnish national under-18 ice hockey team from 2013 to 2017. She played in the 2016 IIHF World Women's U18 Championships in St. Catharines,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, at which Finland placed sixth. Despite the team's lower-than-desired finish, Nylund had a great tournament, notching two goals and four assists for six points in five games. Her point total ranked second on the Finnish team, behind Petra Nieminen (4+2), and tenth of all players participating in the tournament. At the

2017 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship The 2017 IIHF Women's U18 World Championship was the tenth Women's U18 World Championship in ice hockey. The tournament was played in Přerov and Zlín, Czech Republic. For the third straight year the United States defeated Canada for the gold, ...

, Nylund again ranked second on the Finnish team in scoring, netting three goals in five games. The team roster featured many future senior national team players, including fellow 2021 World Championship debutants Sini Karjalainen, Julia Liikala, and

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 ...

. The team was talented and had quality depth, but an overtime loss to the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

in the group stage and a loss to Sweden in the quarterfinals limited them to a fifth-place finish. Nylund first played with the senior Finnish national team in three matches during the 2016–17 international season, not recording a point. She continued to pursue the goal of being named to a World Championship roster while pursuing her college career in the United States, participating in the 2018 Four Nations Cup, at which Finland won bronze, and at two of the four tournaments in the

2019–20 Women's Euro Hockey Tour The 2019–20 Women’s Euro Hockey Tour was the second season of the six-team Women's Euro Hockey Tour (EHT) format, originally implemented in the 2018–19 season. It was played over four tournaments: a four nation tournament in Finland, a fiv ...

. Her goal was finally realized in April 2021, when she was named to the Finnish roster for 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 ...

Personal life

Nylund is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Sources: Elite Prospects, USCHO

International

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nylund, Jenniina Living people 1999 births Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Finnish ice hockey centres Finnish women's ice hockey forwards Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players of Finland Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey People from Jakobstad Sportspeople from Ostrobothnia (region) St. Cloud State Huskies women's ice hockey players Swedish-speaking Finns Team Kuortane players