Saara Elisa Niemi (born 1 January 1986) 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 ...

coach and former player. She has served as head coach of IFK Helsinki in the

Auroraliiga The is the national premier league for women's ice hockey in Finland. Founded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association as the Naisten Suomen mestaruus, SM-sarja (NSMs; ) in 1982, it was known as the Naisten Liiga (NSML;) from 2017 until being rebr ...

since 2018, and as an assistant coach to the Finnish national team since 2021. At the 2006 Torino Olympics, Tuominen competed for . scoring one goal and four assists. She was an

alternate captain In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captai ...

for Finland's women's ice hockey team at the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

in Vancouver where the Finns won the bronze medal. She graduated in 2010 from the

University of Minnesota Duluth The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the University of Minnesota System. UMD offers 17 bachelor's degrees in 87 majors, graduate programs in 24 different fields, a tw ...

(UMD) and was a two-year captain of the

Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Minnesota Duluth. They were first named Bulldogs in 1933. Their colors are maroon and gold. The school competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

, the NCAA Division I national champions in 2008 and 2010. She was a 2009 and 2010 WCHA All-Academic Team member, a 2008 All-WCHA Third Team selection and a member of the 2007 All-WCHA Rookie Team.

Playing career

After graduation, she joined the

Minnesota Whitecaps The Minnesota Whitecaps were a professional ice hockey team in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). They played in Richfield, Minnesota, part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, at the Richfield Ice Arena. Established in 2004, the ...

for their 2010–11 season. On 8 October, against former WCHA rival Minnesota Golden Gophers, Tuominen scored a goal. The following day, against former WCHA rival St. Cloud State, she scored a goal.

Career statistics

Awards and honors

* 2006 Naisten SM-sarja Best Forward * 2008 All-WCHA Third Team *

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Naisten Liiga Coach of the Year *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Naisten Liiga Coach of the Year

Gallery

File:SaaraT1.JPG, Saara Tuominen takes a face-off during a game against the University of New Hampshire at the DECC arena in Duluth, MN on Saturday, 13 March 2010. File:Saara2.JPG, Saara Tuominen in a game against the University of New Hampshire at the DECC arena in Duluth, MN on Saturday, 13 March 2010. File:Saara Tuominen 3.jpg, Saara Tuominen in a game against the University of Wisconsin Badgers at the DECC arena in Duluth, MN on Sunday, 17 January 2010.

References

External links

* * * 1986 births Living people Competitors at the 2011 Winter Universiade Finnish ice hockey administrators Finnish ice hockey coaches Finnish women's ice hockey forwards FISU World University Games silver medalists for Finland HIFK Naiset players Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Ilves Naiset players Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs women's ice hockey players Minnesota Whitecaps players Naisten Liiga (ice hockey) coaches Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic ice hockey players for Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey Ice hockey people from Ylöjärvi Winter World University Games medalists in ice hockey Women ice hockey executives 21st-century Finnish sportswomen {{Finland-Winter-Olympic-medalist-stub