Tiia-Riitta Johanna Reima (born 1 February 1973) is a

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 ...

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 ...

player and coach.

Playing career

A trailblazer of women's ice hockey in Finland, her career with the Finnish national ice hockey team began in the mid-1980s, the early days of women’s international ice hockey competition, and spanned nearly two decades. During her tenure with the national team, she was one of Finland’s most productive and decorated forwards, winning five

IIHF World Women's 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 ...

bronze medals, five IIHF European Women Championship medals (four gold and one bronze), and an Olympic bronze in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

. Reima’s club career spanned 26 seasons and was played in Finland with Ilves-Kiekko,

Ilves Tampere Ilves (; Finnish for " Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Tampere Deck Arena. The colors of Ilves, green, yellow, and black, were taken from what was then the coat of arms of the cit ...

, IHK Helsinki, and 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 ...

of the Naisten SM-sarja, and in Switzerland with SC Lyss Damen and the Ladies Team Lugano of the Leistungsklasse A (LKA; renamed SWHL A in 2014).

Coaching career

She served as coach to the Espoo Blues during 2011 to 2013 and as assistant coach during the 2013–14 season, winning 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 ...

in 2013 and 2014. She was assistant coach to

Espoo United 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 ...

during the 2016–17 season, in which they achieved silver in the Finnish Championship.

Honours and achievements

Prior to the 2010–11 season, the Naisten SM-sarja renamed its annual award recognizing the top goal scorer in the regular season, dubbing it the

Tiia Reima Award The Tiia Reima Award () is an ice hockey trophy seasonally awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the top goal scorer of the Naisten Liiga regular season. It is named after Tiia Reima, one of the trailblazers of women's ice hockey in ...

. The rebranding of the league as

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 ...

for the 2017–18 season, did not impact the trophy, which has been awarded in every season since the renaming. Reima was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame Finland in 2015 as ('Finnish Ice Hockey Lion') number 230.

References

External links

* * * * 1973 births Living people Finnish women's ice hockey forwards Ice hockey people from Tampere Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey Olympic ice hockey players for Finland Espoo Blues Naiset players Ilves Naiset players IHK Naiset players Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland Naisten Liiga (ice hockey) coaches {{Finland-Winter-Olympic-medalist-stub