Wikipedia

Draft:Oona Koukkula

Oona Koukkula
Born (2003-08-22) 22 August 2003 (age 21)
Riihimäki, Finland
Height 165 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight 63 kg (139 lb; 9 st 13 lb)
Position Defense
Shoots Left
SDHL team
Former teams		 Brynäs IF
National team  Finland
Playing career 2017–present

Oona Koukkula (born 22 August 2003) is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national ice hockey team. She is singed in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) with Brynäs IF through the 2025–26 season.

Playing career

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Koukkula began playing ice hockey at an ice hockey school in her hometown of Riihimäki around age nine. The following year, she joined the minor ice hockey department of the Riihimäki-based club Nikkarit [fi] and played with its boys teams, as there were no organized girls teams in the area at that time.[1] During the 2016–17 season, she continued to play with Nikkarit boys teams and also played with a boys under-13 (U13) team of Jää-Ahmat [fi] in Hyvinkää, a town about 16 km (10 mi) south of Riihimäki.

She made her senior women's league debut at age fourteen with KJT Hockey in the 2017–18 Naisten Liiga season. Across eighteen games with KJT that season, she scored one goal and accumulated four penalty minutes. Concurrent to her time playing in the Naisten Liiga during the 2017–18 season, Koukkula also played with the KJT U16 girls team and with various Jää-Ahmat boys teams at the U14 and U15 levels.[2]

In 2018, Koukkula relocated to Kuortane, a village 265 km (165 mi) north of Riihimäki, to attend Kuortaneen urheilulukio and join Team Kuortane. The 2018–19 season marked her first season with Team Kuortane and her first full season played in the Naisten Liiga. She played with Team Kuortane through the 2021–22 season, steadily improving her offensive production from one point on one assist across thirty games in her first season to leading all team defensemen in scoring in her final season, with 3 goals and 14 assists for 17 points in 26 games. Her career with the team culminated in her selection to the Naisten Liiga All-Star second team in 2022.[3]

– 2023–24 Naisten Liiga All-Star second team[4]

International play

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As a junior player with the Finnish national under-18 team, Koukkula was recognized by the team coaches as a standout defenseman and she participated in the 2020 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship in Bratislava, Slovakia.[5]

She made her senior national team debut during pre-Olympic friendlies against Canada in late 2021.[6][7]

2023–24 EHT

– 3N in Vierumäki[8]

– Deutschland Cup[9]

– secondary assist on Yrjanen goal against Germany, primary assist by Kiti Seikkula → eighth goal in an 8–1 victory

2024 IIHF WC

– named to roster[10]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2017-18 KJT NSML 18 1 0 1 4 — — — — —
2018-19 Team Kuortane NSML 30 0 1 1 14 4 0 0 0 2
2019-20 Team Kuortane NSML 28 1 6 7 14 7 0 3 3 2
2020-21 Team Kuortane NSML 27 2 8 10 12 2 0 0 0 0
2021-22 Team Kuortane NSML 26 3 14 17 16 3 0 1 1 4
2022-23 HPK NSML 26 4 9 13 16 8 0 1 1 2
2023-24 HPK NSML 32 2 17 19 2 8 1 1 2 4
Naisten Liiga totals 187 13 55 68 78 32 1 6 7 14

International

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Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
2020 Finland WC18 4th 6 0 0 0 2

Source: IIHF[11]

Awards and honors

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Award Year
Naisten Liiga
All-Star Second Team 2021–22[3]
2023–24[12]

References

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  • Aalto, Markku. "Pelaaja: Oona Koukkula". Finnish Ice Hockey Association (in Finnish). Retrieved 31 March 2024.

Notes

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  1. ^ Viljanen, Markus (14 December 2019). "Tyttöleijonien Oona Koukkula: "Tasoni riittää nyt paremmin kansainvälisissä peleissä"". Finnish Ice Hockey Association (in Finnish). Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  2. ^ Aalto, p. 2017-2018.
  3. ^ a b Mennander, Pasi (13 June 2022). "Naisten Liigan kauden 2021–22 palkitut pelaajat ja tähtikentät". Finnish Ice Hockey Association (in Finnish). Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  4. ^ Kennedy, Ian (20 February 2024). "Naisten Liiga Names First and Second Team All-Stars". The Hockey News. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Nikkari-kasvatti Oona Koukkula tyttöjen Pohjola-leirin paras puolustaja". Aamuposti (in Finnish). 14 February 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  6. ^ Seppä, Lassi (11 March 2022). "Nuori Oona Koukkula kasvoi Kuortaneella urheilijaksi ja teki debyyttinsä Naisleijonissa tällä kaudella − "Täytyy kehittyä nopeammassa eteenpäin pelaamisessa"". Jatkoaika (in Finnish). Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  7. ^ "2021-22 National Women's Team Centralization – Rosters: Finland". Hockey Canada. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  8. ^ Lainesalo, Joonas (7 August 2023). "HPK:n Oona Koukkula ja Kiti Seikkula EHT-turnaukseen, Suomi kohtaa kotiturnauksessaan Ruotsin ja Tshekin". Hämeen Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  9. ^ Kauhala, Topias (25 November 2023). "Oona Koukkulan olympiatavoite rakentuu askel askeleelta – 20-vuotias riihimäkeläispuolustaja on jo kuin kotonaan maajoukkueympyröissä". Aamuposti (in Finnish). Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  10. ^ Kauhala, Topias (11 March 2024). "HPK-puolustaja Oona Koukkula sai mieluisan kutsun Suomen MM-kisajoukkueeseen – "On se aika iso juttu, että pääsee vihdoin mukaan"". Hämeen Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  11. ^ "2020 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship – Player Statistics by Team: FIN - Finland". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2 January 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  12. ^ Löfman, Heikki (20 February 2024). "Valmentajien nimeämät All Star -kentälliset ovat nyt selvillä". Finnish Ice Hockey Association (in Finnish). Retrieved 12 March 2024.
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