JYP Naiset or JYP Jyväskylä Naiset is a Finnish

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team in the

Naisten Mestis Naisten Mestis (; from , 'Championship series') is the second-highest women's national ice hockey league in Finland. Founded as the Naisten I-divisioona () in 1985 by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, when the number of teams playing in the Au ...

. Their

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

is the Jyväskylän harjoitusjäähalli ('Jyväskylä training ice hall') in

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Central Finland. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Jyväskylä is approximately , while the Jyväskylä sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately ...

Central Finland Central Finland (; ) is a Regions of Finland, region ( / ) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, Northern Savonia, North Savo, and Southern Savonia, South S ...

. JYP Naiset have won the

Aurora Borealis Cup The Aurora Borealis Cup () is the trophy awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the victorious team of the Auroraliiga playoffs, the Finnish Champion in women's ice hockey. Project Christopher Shapardanov, Canadian Ambassador to Fin ...

three times, in 1997, 1998, and 2016. The team is the successor of two teams: JyP Hockey Team (HT) Naiset, which existed from 1989 to 2000 and used the name JYP Naiset during the period 1997 to 2000, and Jyväskylän Hockey Cats (JyHC), which was founded in 1996 and was known as the Cats Jyväskylä during 2004 to 2009 and JYP Naiset from 2009 to present. They are the women's representative team of the ice hockey club JYP Juniorit ry and are loosely affiliated with

JYP Jyväskylä JYP is an ice hockey team playing in the Finnish top division Liiga. They play in Jyväskylä, Finland, at the Synergia-areena, LähiTapiola Areena. History JYP was founded in 1923. First it was the ice hockey section of the sports club ''Jyväsk ...

of the

Liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mesti ...

History

JyP HT/JYP

The first JYP Naiset franchise was founded in 1989 as JyP HT Naiset by the ice hockey club JYP Jyväskylä Oy. The team competed in the Naisten I-divisioona during 1989 to 1995 and in the Naisten SM-sarja (renamed Naisten Liiga in 2017) during 1995 to 2000. JyP HT Naiset won the

Finnish Championship 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 ...

in 1997 and, after changing their name to JYP Naiset for the 1997–98 season, claimed the championship title again in 1998. In both championship seasons, the team was led by top point scorers Tiina Paananen,

Riikka Sallinen Hanna-Riikka Sallinen ( Nieminen, previously Välilä; born 12 June 1973) is a Finnish retired ice hockey, bandy, rinkball, and pesäpallo player. She is one of the most highly decorated players to have ever competed in international ice hockey. ...

(, previously Villilä),

Rose Matilainen A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be e ...

, and

Kirsi Hänninen Kirsi Maaria Hänninen (born 3 October 1976 in Joensuu, Finland) is a Finnish retired ice hockey defenceman and pesäpallo player. She played 116 games with the Finnish national ice hockey team and won a bronze medal with them in the women's i ...

, and backstopped by the

goaltending Goaltending is a violation of the rules in the sport of basketball. It consists of certain forms of player interference with the ball while it is on its way to the basket. It is goaltending if a player touches the ball when it is (a) in downwar ...

Tuula Puputti Tuula Katriina Puputti (born 5 November 1977) is a Finnish ice hockey administrator and retired goaltender. She is the head of hockey operations for PWHL Toronto of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). Playing career As a member of th ...

. They followed the back-to-back championship victories with a silver medal finish in 1999 and in fourth place in 2000. After the conclusion of the 1999–2000 season, the team was merged with the Jyväskylän Hockey Cats (JyHC) and a number of its players continued to play with JyHC. Other notable players from the JyP HC Naiset/JYP Naiset era include Pirjo Ahonen,

Katja Lehto Katja Maarit Lehto (born 14 August 1972) is a Finnish retired ice hockey player. She played with the Finnish national ice hockey team throughout the 1990s and won a bronze medal at the inaugural Olympic women's ice hockey tournament at the 199 ...

, Riikka Noronen,

Sanna Peura Sanna can refer to: Places *Sanna, Nordland, an island in Træna municipality, Nordland county, Norway *Sanna, Ardnamurchan, a village in the far west of Scotland *Sänna, a village in Rõuge Parish, Võru County, Estonia *Sanna (Inn), a river in ...

, and

Hanne Sikiö Hanne Erika Sikiö (born 19 March 1978) is a Finnish retired ice hockey player. She represented in the Ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics – Women's tournament, women's ice hockey tournament at the 2002 Winter Olympics and at three IIHF Worl ...

, among others.

Hockey Cats

Jyväskylän Hockey Cats (JyHC) was a women's ice hockey club, which was spun off from the JYP Jyväskylä in 1996 and run by the independent association Hockey Cats ry. The club operated several

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

women's teams in addition to the representative women's team, which played in the Naisten II-divisioona and Naisten I-divisioona until it making its Naisten SM-sarja debut in the 1999–2000 Postseason qualification/relegation series (; also called the qualifiers). The 1999–2000 Naisten SM-sarja season was the only instance in which both the original JYP Naiset franchise and JyHC played in the same league, though they played in separate postseason divisions – JYP in the playoffs and JyHC in the qualifiers – and never faced one another. After the season concluded, JYP Naiset was merged with the Jyväskylän Hockey Cats and the unified team took JYP's place in the Naisten SM-sarja.

JyHC/Cats Jyväskylä

The team, which changed its name from JyHC to the Cats Jyväskylä in 2004, found middling success in the Naisten SM-sarja, never finishing above fourth place or below sixth in the league rankings during the period from 2000 to 2009. Former JYP Naiset player Rose Matilainen served as JyHC/Cats Jyväskylä head coach for the 2000–01 to 2006–07 seasons. Notable players from the 2000–2009 JyHC/Cats Jyväskylä era include forwards Emmi Leinonen, Niina Mäkinen, Riikka Noronen, Saila Saari, and Anne Tuomanen;

defencemen Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference t ...

Pirjo Ahonen and Vilma Tarvainen; and goaltenders Anna-Kaisa Lemberg,

, and

Meeri Räisänen Meeri Räisänen (born 2 December 1989) is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender and member of the Finnish national team, playing with Gladiators HT in the II-divisioona (2-div.), the fourth-tier men's national league in Finland. With the Finnish ...

. The JyHC/Cats Jyväskylä were also able to attract several international players, including American goaltender Lisa Davis, Canadian defenceman Sheila Kocay, and Swiss national team goaltender Riitta Arnold-Schäublin.

JYP

In 2009, the Cats Jyväskylä became affiliated with the JYP Jyväskylä club and changed their name to JYP Naiset, through the team remained under the management of Hockey Cats ry. The team struggled in the first season after the name change, facing potential relegation in the 2009–10 season before saving themselves in the qualifiers. In 2010, 22 year old Mika Väärälä stepped in to the head coaching position and the team measurably improved, qualifying for the playoffs in 2011 and 2012, though they lost in the quarterfinals in both years. Over the 2010 to 2012 period, JYP was able to retain star skaters, like Saila Saari and Suvi Vacker, while also attracting Finnish national ice team talent, including

Jenni Hiirikoski Jenni Hiirikoski (born 30 March 1987) is a Finnish ice hockey player and captain of the Finnish national team and Luleå HF/MSSK in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). She is widely considered one of the best active ice hockey defensem ...

and Meeri Räisänen (who returned to the team in this period). JYP reached a period of historic success in the subsequent seasons, becoming one of the top two dominant teams in the Naisten SM-sarja. The era coincided with Hiirikoski being named team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in 2012–13 and her impact on the culture of the team and the ability of the club to attract other Finnish national team players was arguably an essential element to the triumphs of team. Over the following several seasons, JYP welcomed a number of elite new players, including

Sanni Hakala Sanni Hakala (born 31 October 1997) is a Finnish retired ice hockey player and former member of the Finnish national team. She played more than seven seasons with HV71 in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) after beginning her career in t ...

and

Rosa Lindstedt Rosa Lindstedt (born 24 January 1988) is a Finnish ice hockey coach and retired ice hockey defenseman, currently serving as assistant coach to Brynäs IF Dam in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). As player with the Finnish national ice h ...

in 2012,

IIHF Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Interna ...

inductee Riikka Sallinen (, previously Villilä) in 2013, and

Tiina Ranne Tiina Ranne (born 6 December 1994) is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender, currently playing with KalPa Kuopio of the Naisten Liiga and the Finnish national team. She previously played for Team Oriflame Kuortane, JYP Jyväskylä Naiset, and HPK ...

and

Marjo Voutilainen Marjo Hannele Voutilainen (born 22 March 1981) is a Finnish retired ice hockey player and current head coach of Ilves Naiset in the Naisten Liiga (NSML). During her playing career, she competed internationally with the Finnish national team, w ...

in 2014; in addition to Katja Saari assuming the head coaching position in 2013. The team was bolstered by the influx of talent and, though Saari and Hiirikoski continued to be relied upon as the top point earners, the impact of the new players can be seen in the consistent climbing of their individual point totals from 39 and 37 points respectively in the 28 games of the 2012–13 season to both players notching 61 points in the 28 games of the 2014–15 season. JYP qualified for the Aurora Borealis Cup playoff final in every season of Hiirikoski's captaincy but were defeated three consecutive times by the powerhouse

Espoo Blues Kiekko-Espoo is a Finnish professional ice hockey club founded in 2018 as a continuation of the Kiekko-Espoo team originally founded in 1984. Kiekko-Espoo men's team plays in the Liiga, where they were promoted for the 2024–25 Liiga season, 20 ...

in 2013, 2014, and 2015. For the 2015–16 season, the club signed even more elite players and iced one of the most skilled rosters in league history, which included Ranne and Räisänen in goal; Hiirikoski, Lindstedt, Emma Ritari, and Ella Viitasuo at the blue line; and Hakala,

Sari Kärnä Sari Kärnä (born 2 April 1988) is a Finnish retired ice hockey player. She won a silver medal at the 2011 Winter Universiade and bronze medals at the IIHF World Women's Championships in 2015 and 2017 as a member of the Finnish national team.< ...

Tanja Niskanen Tanja Niskanen (born 11 September 1992) is a Finnish retired ice hockey player and former member of the Finnish national team. Following her second Olympic bronze medal win in February 2022, she announced her retirement from the national team an ...

, Saari, Sallinen, and Voutilainen leading the forward ranks alongside longtime depth players. In the regular season, Hiirikoski scored 17 goals and notched 62 assists in 28 games played, setting the all-time league records for assists in a season and points earned by a defenceman. The efforts of previous seasons were finally rewarded and they claimed the Finnish Championship title, sweeping

HPK Kiekkonaiset HPK Kiekkonaiset () or HPK Naiset are an ice hockey team in the Auroraliiga, the premier women's ice hockey league in Finland. They play in Hämeenlinna, a city in the Finnish south-central province of Kanta-Häme, at the (HML hh; ), a secondar ...

in the 2016 Aurora Borealis Cup finals.

JYP

The women's representative team of Hockey Cats ry ceased in 2016, but the club’s secondary team, called JYP-Team, and its junior teams were absorbed by JYP Juniorit ry, the junior affiliate of JYP Jyväskylä Oy. JYP-Team had previously competed in the Naisten Mestis, where it continued to compete after the merger under the name JYP Naiset. Only five JYP Naiset players from the 2015–16 Naisten Liiga team appeared with the 2016–17 Naisten Mestis team as most 2015–16 players chose to transfer to other Naisten Liiga teams or sign with teams in the

Swedish Women's Hockey League The Swedish Women's Hockey League (), abbreviated SDHL, is the elite league for women's ice hockey in Sweden. It was established in 2007 as the by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association and was renamed prior to the 2016–17 season. The league has ...

(SDHL). JYP Naiset team found consistent success in the Mestis, ranking first in the league twice over the next four seasons and never finishing lower than third. The team gained promotion to the lower division of the Naisten Liiga in the 2020–21 season but were unable to retain their placement and were relegated at the end of the season.

Season-by-season results

This is a partial list of the most recent seasons completed by JYP Naiset.
Note: Finish = Rank at end of regular season; GP =

Games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

, W = Wins (3 points), OTW = Overtime wins (2 points), T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses (1 point), L = Losses, GF =

Goals for The following are statistics commonly tracked in ice hockey. Team statistics * STK – winning or losing streak * GD – ''Goal Difference'' (used as standings tie breaker) * GP – ''Games played'' – Number of games the team has played * W ...

, GA = Goals against, Pts =

Points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

, Top scorer:

( Goals+ Assists)

Players and personnel

Team captaincy history

JyP HT Naiset/JYP Naiset (JYP Jyväskylä Oy) * Ira Salmela, 1993–94 & 1995–96 *

, 1996–1998 JyHC/Cats Jyväskylä/JYP Naiset (Hockey Cats ry) *

, 2000–01 * Mirka Peltonen, 2005–06 * Vilma Tarvainen, 2007–08 * Maarit Lahtinen, 2008–2010 * Vilma Tarvainen, 2010–11 * Piia Perälä, 2011–12 *

, 2012–2016 JYP Naiset (JYP Juniorit ry) *Kati Rein, 2016–17 * Tiina Paananen, 2017–18 * Zaida Holmström, 2018– Source: Elite Prospects

Head coaches

JyP HC Naiset/JYP Naiset (JYP Jyväskylä Oy) * Jussi Melkko, 1996–1999 JyHC/Cats Jyväskylä/JYP Naiset (Hockey Cats ry) * Seppo Lahtinen, –2000 *Rose Matilainen, 2000–2007 * Mika Väärälä, 2010–2013 *Katja Saari, 2014–2016 JYP Naiset (JYP Juniorit ry) *Mikko Viitanen, 2016–17 *Perttu Silvennoinen, 2017–18 *Mikko Viitanen, 2018–19 *Patrick Kåla, 2019–20 *Joni Aho, 2020–21 * Shiela Gagnon, 2021–

Retired numbers

* #13

, 2020

Team honours

Finnish Championship

Champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world championships, and ...

''(3)'': 1996–97, 1997–98, 2015–16 * Runners-up ''(4)'': 1998–99, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15

Individual honours

Riikka Nieminen Award The Riikka Nieminen Award () is an ice hockey trophy, seasonally awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the Naisten Liiga Player of the Year. It is named after Riikka Sallinen (née Nieminen), now retired, who is widely considered the b ...

(Player of the Year) ** 2013 – Jenni Hiirikoski ** 2014 – Jenni Hiirikoski ** 2015 – Jenni Hiirikoski ** 2016 – Jenni Hiirikoski * Tuula Puputti Award (Goaltender of the Year) ** 2013 – Meeri Räisänen ** 2014 – Meeri Räisänen *

Päivi Halonen Award The Päivi Halonen Award () is an ice hockey trophy awarded seasonally by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the best defenceman in the Naisten Liiga (ice hockey), Naisten Liiga, called the Naisten SM-sarja during 1982 to 2017. It is named aft ...

(Defenceman of the Year) ** 2013 – Jenni Hiirikoski ** 2014 – Jenni Hiirikoski ** 2015 – Jenni Hiirikoski ** 2016 – Jenni Hiirikoski * Katja Riipi Award (Forward of the Year) ** 2016 – Tanja Niskanen *

Marianne Ihalainen Award The Marianne Ihalainen Award () an ice hockey trophy seasonally awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the regular season top point scorer of the Auroraliiga, known as the Naisten Liiga during 2017 to 2024, and as the Naisten SM-sarja ...

(Most points) ** 1997 – Riikka Sallinen (, previously Villilä) **2016 – Jenni Hiirikoski * Sari Fisk Award (Best plus/minus) ** 2015 – Saila Saari * Emma Laaksonen Award (Fair-play player) ** 2013 – Saila Saari ** 2014 – Tiina Paananen (b. 1985) ** 2016 – Sanni Hakala *

Karoliina Rantamäki Award The Karoliina Rantamäki Award () is an ice hockey trophy awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the playoff MVP of the Naisten Liiga, called the Naisten SM-sarja during 1982 to 2017. The Naisten SM-sarja Playoff MVP trophy was first ...

(Playoff MVP) ** 2016 – Riikka Sallinen (, previously Villilä) * Hannu Saintula Award (Coach of the Year) **2015 – Katja Saari **2016 – Katja Saari

Notable alumni

Years active with JYP Naiset listed alongside player name. *

, 2012–2016 *

, 2010–2016 *

, 1994–95 & 1996–2000 *

, 2015–16 *

, 1994–95 & 1996–2000 * Anna-Kaisa Lemberg, 2001–02 *

, 2012–2016 *

, 1996–2000 *

, 2015–16 * Riikka Noronen, 1995–2001 & 2004–2009 * Tiina Paananen (b. 1972), 1996–2002 *Tiina Paananen (b. 1985), 2001–2018 *

, 1995–2000 & 2001–02 *

, 1996–1999 & 2002–2005 *

, 2014–2016 *

, 2011–2014 & 2015–2017 * Saila Saari, 2008–2016 *

, 1989–1992, 1994–95, 1996–2002 & 2013–2016 *

, 1998–99 * Vilma Tarvainen, 1999–2011 * Ella Viitasuo, 2015–16 *

, 2014–2016

International players

* Riitta Arnold-Schäublin, 2007–08 * Lisa Davis, 2008–2010 * Sheila Gagnon (), 2008–2010 * Lea Schmid, 2011–12 * Emily Usset, 2017–18

References

Content in this article is translated from the existing

Finnish Wikipedia The Finnish Wikipedia () is the edition of Wikipedia in the Finnish language. With articles, it is currently the -largest Wikipedia and the largest Wikipedia in a Uralic language. Wikipedia is the only encyclopedia in Finnish which is still upda ...

articles at :fi:Jyväskylän Hockey Cats and :fi:JYP, and the existing German Wikipedia article at :de:JYP Naiset.

External links

* Team information and statistics fro
Eliteprospects.com
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o

(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:JYP Jyväskylä Naiset Naisten Liiga (ice hockey) teams Sport in Jyväskylä