Nina Minttu Maria Tikkinen (born 6 February 1987) is a retired

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

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. She played with the Finnish national team from 2004 until 2014 and won bronze medals at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and at the

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and

2009 IIHF Women's World Championship The 2009 IIHF World Women's Championships was held in Hämeenlinna, Finland, from April 4 to 12, 2009. Goaltending leaders (minimum 40% team's total ice time) ''TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against averag ...

s. Tikkinen played

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hockey with the

Minnesota State Mavericks The Minnesota State Mavericks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Minnesota State University, Mankato. The school's athletic program includes 21 varsity sports teams. More than 600 students participate each year in athletics ...

Minnesota State University, Mankato Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 123,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is t ...

from the 2007–08 season to the 2010–11 season. She played in the Finnish Naisten SM-sarja with TPS Turku and

Kärpät Naiset Oulun Kärpät Naiset ('Oulu's Ermine Women') are an ice hockey team in the Naisten Liiga. They play in Oulu, a city on the northeastern coast of the Bothnian Bay in the Finnish north-central region of North Ostrobothnia, at the ('Raksila tr ...

Playing career

Finland

She spent three years competing with the Finnish national team and selected Rookie of the Year in 2003–04. She participated in the 2007 World Championships and the 2006 Four Nations Tournament as a member of Finland's National Team. In 2006–07, she tallied three goals and four assists for seven points for her club team, Karpat Oulu. Tikkinen joined three fellow Western Collegiate Hockey Association players: two from Minnesota Duluth and one from Minnesota on the 2010 Olympic team roster. There was also one from Ohio State of the CCHA. Tikkinen also played with Finland in the 2013 Women's World Championship.

Minnesota State Mavericks

In 2008–09, Tikkinen played in 28 games for the Mavericks. Her rookie season was 2007–08, and she finished the season as the top freshman scorer with 5 goals, 6 assists and 11 points. Her first multi-point game was on Feb. 9, 2008 (two assists) was the first of her collegiate career. The first goal of her NCAA career was scored on October 13, 2007 at Connecticut. On November 5 and 6, 2010, Tikkinen accumulated five points as the Mavericks won back-to-back conference games against St. Cloud State. Tikkinen had three points on November 5. The three points were all assists on Minnesota State's first three scores, including teammate Kathleen Rogan's game-winning goal in the first period. The following day, Tikkinen gave the Mavericks a 2–0 lead midway through the second period. The two victories gave Minnesota State their first home ice series sweep since October 31-November 1, 2008 when they beat Bemidji State. On November 12 and 13, Nina Tikkinen produced a four-goal, five-point series as the Mavericks won twice on the road against league rival Ohio State. For her efforts, she was named WCHA Player of the Week for the second straight time. Tikkinen had two goals and one assist for three points as Minnesota State won by a 5–3 tally on November 12. Both of her goals tied the game (2–2 in the second period, 3–3 in the third). On November 13, she broke a 3–3 tie with a game-winning goal with only 3:45 left. Tikkinen now has a four-game winning streak. It also marked her second straight five-point weekend.

Career statistics

Finland

Minnesota Mankato

Awards and honors

*WCHA Scholar-Athlete, 2009 *All-WCHA Academic Team, 2009 *WCHA Offensive Player of the Week (Week of November 10, 2010) *WCHA Offensive Player of the Week, (Week of November 17, 2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tikkinen, Nina 1987 births Living people Finnish women's ice hockey forwards Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Minnesota State Mavericks women's ice hockey players Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic ice hockey players for Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey People from Salo, Finland Sportspeople from Southwest Finland Minnesota State University, Mankato alumni