Vaasan Sport Naiset were a women's ice hockey team in Finland. They played in Vaasa, on the west coast of Finland, at the

Vaasan Sähkö Areena Vaasan Sähkö Areena (, Vaasa Energy Arena) is a multipurpose arena in Vaasa, Finland. It was previously called the ''Kuparisaaren jäähalli'' (Copper Island Ice Rink) and locals often use the old name in conversation. The arena first opened i ...

. Founded in 1983, the team most recently played in the Naisten Liiga from the 2018–19 season until being relegated at the conclusion of the 2021–22 season . The team was dissolved following relegation.

History

The women’s representative team of Vaasan Sport debuted in the Naisten SM-sarja, predecessor of the Naisten Liiga, in the 1983–84 season. Sport quickly established themselves as a competitive team, finishing in the top half of the league during their first five seasons and achieving Finnish Championship bronze in 1986. The 1988–89 season was the first time the team finished in the bottom of the league, ranking seventh of eight teams. Following the disappointing season, the team was financially relegated. Vaasan Sport gained promotion to the SM-sarja in 1993 but the team struggled with the high level of competition and finished in last place. They were able to stave off relegation in the 1993–94 qualifiers but were unable to do so in the following season and were relegated to the

Naisten I-divisioona 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 ...

(renamed Naisten Mestis in 2012) in 1995. In the following two decades, Vaasan Sport played in either the second-tier I-divisioona or third-tier Naisten II-divisioona (renamed Naisten Suomi-sarja in 2003). The team spent at least seven consecutive seasons in the Suomi-sarja prior to their return to the Mestis in the 2015–16 season. The return to Mestis marked a positive shift in the performance of the team and they continued to markedly improve over the ensuing seasons, culminating in their promotion to the Naisten Liiga for the 2018–19 season.

Players and personnel

2021–22 roster

Coaching staff and team personnel * Head coach:

Susanne Uppgård Susanne may refer to: * Susanne (given name), a feminine given name (including a list of people with the name) *, later USS ''SP-411'', a United States Navy patrol boat in commission from 1917 to 1919 *, the proposed name and designation for a ves ...

* Assistant coach: Juhani Sarilo * Goaltending coach:

Jonathan Iilahti Jonathan Iilahti (born 27 April 1992) is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender and coach, currently serving as the goaltending coach of Vaasan Sport Naiset in the Naisten Liiga and as the Vaasan Sportin Juniorit director of coaching for the under-15 t ...

* Goaltending coach: Vesa Perkiö * Team manager: Leena Kuusisto * Equipment managers: Jani Kuusisto & Mika Myllyniemi

Team captaincy history

* Susanne Uppgård, 2015–2016 * Elina Ojala, 2016–2020 * Pauliina Suoniemi, 2020–2022

Head coaches

Ove Kvist Ove or OVE may refer to *Ove (given name) *Ové, a surname *Ove Peak in Antarctica *''A Man Called Ove (novel)'', a novel by Fredrik Backman *'' A Man Called Ove'', a 2015 Swedish film based on the novel *Danish Organisation for Renewable Energy (O ...

, 2013–2017 *

Mika Nummi Mika is a given name, a nickname and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr. * Mika (footbal ...

, 2017–2019 *

Marko Haapala Marko may refer to: * Marko (given name) * Marko (surname) * Márkó, a village in Hungary See also *Marco (disambiguation) *Markko (disambiguation) *Marka (disambiguation) *Markov *Marku Marku is an Albanian surname. Notable people with the ...

, 2019–1 December 2020 * Susanne Uppgård, 1 December 2020–2022

Team honours

Finnish Championship

* Naisten SM-sarja Third Place ''(1)'': 1986

Notable alumni

Years active with Sport listed alongside players' names. * Sari Krooks, 1983–1989 & 1993–94 *

Hanna Hakala Hannah or Hanna may refer to: People, biblical figures, and fictional characters * Hannah (name), a female given name of Hebrew origin * Hanna (Arabic name), a family and a male given name of Christian Arab origin * Hanna (Irish surname), a fam ...

, 1986–1988 *

Tiina Suominen Tiina is an Estonian and Finnish feminine given name. People named Tiina include: * Tiina Ala-aho (born 19??), Finnish Paralympic track and field athlete *Tiina Benno (born 1961), Estonian politician *Tiina Intelmann (born 1963), Estonian diplom ...

, 1986–1988 * Ida Kuoppala, 2017–2019

References

External links

*Team information and statistics fro
Eliteprospects.com
an
Official site
(in Finnish) * * Naisten Liiga (ice hockey) teams Sport in Vaasa 1983 establishments in Finland {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaasan Sport Naiset