Krista Parkkonen

Krista Parkkonen (born 25 June 2002) is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national team. She plays with the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey program in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) conference of the NCAA Division I.

Krista Parkkonen
Born	(2002-06-25) 25 June 2002 (age 22) Lappeenranta, Finland
Height	168 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Position	Defense
Shoots	Left
NCAA team Former teams	Minnesota Vermont IFK Helsinki SaiPa Lappeenranta
National team	Finland
Playing career	2017–present
Medal record World Championship 2024 United States

Playing career

Parkkonen first played ice hockey at age 4 or 5, participating in a youth hockey school in her hometown of Lappeenranta, a city in South Karelia situated 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the Russian border.^[1] She played on girls' teams for a few years. Early on, she set her sights on playing for the national team and having a college ice hockey career in the United States, which prompted her to switch to playing with the boys' teams for her age group in the minor ice hockey department of SaiPa.^[2] At age fifteen, she made her debut with SaiPa Naiset, SaiPa's representative women's team in the third-tier Naisten Suomi-sarja but, as the women's team was not very competitive, she continued to spend most of her time playing on the boys' junior teams.^[3]

At age seventeen, Parkkonen was recruited to play for IFK Helsinki (HIFK) by the team's general manager and head coach, Saara Niemi. HIFK had gained promotion to the Naisten Liiga (NSML), the premier women's league in Finland, at the end of the previous season and Parkkonen was one of several stand-out players brought in to bolster the ranks.^[1] She saw great success in her first Naisten Liiga season, leading all HIFK defenders in scoring with five goals and sixteen assists for 21 points in 28 games, and was recognized with the Noora Räty Award as Naisten Liiga Rookie of the Year.

A staple of HIFK's blue line during the following two seasons, she earned second team Naisten Liiga All-Star selections in both the 2020–21 season and 2021–22 season.

College

In Autumn 2022, Parkkonen began her college ice hockey career with the Vermont Catamounts women's ice hockey program in the Hockey East (HEA) conference of the NCAA Division I. She was selected as an Hockey East Second-Team All-Star for the 2023–24 season.^[4]

Parkkonen and her Catamounts teammate Natálie Mlýnková left Vermont to join the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey program ahead of the 2024–25 season.^[5]

International play

As a junior ice hockey player with the Finnish national under-18 team, Parkkonen participated in the IIHF U18 Women's World Championships in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.^[6][7]

She made her debut with the senior national team at the 2022 IIHF Women's World Championship, at which she scored a goal and two assists in seven games.^[8] Representing Finland at subsequent IIHF Women's World Championships, she notched three assists at the 2023 tournament and won a bronze medal in 2024.^[9][10]

Parkkonen was named to The Hockey News' Top-35 U-23 Players in Women's Hockey in September 2022.^[11]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2019–20	HIFK	NSML		28	5	16	21	63		3	0	1	1	0
2020–21	Ketterä U18	U18 Mestis		5	1	0	1	0		–	–	–	–	—
2020–21	HIFK (L)	NSML		22	4	10	14	8		8	1	4	5	0
2021–22	HIFK	NSML		19	5	9	14	4		9	1	4	5	39
2022–23	Vermont Catamounts	HEA		34	0	5	5	16		–	–	–	–	—
2023–24	Vermont Catamount	HEA		33	6	15	21	8		–	–	–	–	—
Naisten Liiga totals				69	14	35	49	75		20	2	9	11	39
NCAA totals				67	6	20	26	24		–	–	–	–	–

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2017	Finland U18	WC18	5th		5	1	0	1	0
2018	Finland U18	WC18	5th		5	0	1	1	4
2019	Finland U18	WC18			6	0	0	0	14
2020	Finland U18	WC18	4th		6	0	0	0	6
2022	Finland	WC	6th		7	1	1	2	4
2023	Finland	WC	5th		7	0	3	3	0
2024	Finland	WC			7	0	0	0	0
Junior totals					22	1	1	2	24
Senior totals					21	1	4	5	4

Sources: ^[12][13]

Awards and honors

Award	Year
International
World U18 Bronze Medal	2019
World Championship Bronze Medal	2024
College
All-Hockey East Second Team	2023–24[14]
Naisten Liiga
Noora Räty Award (Rookie of the Year)	2019–20
All-Star Second Team	2020–21, 2021–22

See also

• List of Finnish women in North American collegiate ice hockey

References

1. Seppä, Lassi (9 November 2021). "SaiPan poikajoukkueista leijonaedustuksen porteille − HIFK:n Krista Parkkonen on urallaan todistanut olevansa huippupelaaja". Jatkoaika (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
2. Sipiläinen, Kalle (20 January 2019). "Läksyt tehty ja mitalikahvit juotu, pian pääsee taas rymistelemään — SaiPan MM-mitalisti Krista Parkkonen tykkää kiekkoilla poikien kanssa: "Siellä saa pelata kovaa ja taklata"". Etelä-Saimaa (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
3. Seppä, Lassi (2 February 2022). "HIFK:n Krista Parkkonen lähtee Yhdysvaltojen yliopistosarjaan toteuttamaan lapsuuden unelmaansa − "Vermont tarjosi sopivimmat puitteet opiskelun ja jääkiekon yhdistämiseen"". Jatkoaika (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
4. "Hockey East Names 2023–24 Women's All-Star Teams". Hockey East Association (Press release). 1 March 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
5. "Gophers Add Pair of Transfers to Bolster 2024–25 Roster". University of Minnesota Athletics (Press release). 13 May 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
6. Haimila, Taimi (17 January 2020). "Tyttöjen MM-joukkueessa taistellut Krista Parkkonen panostaa täysillä rakastamaansa lajiin – haaveena on ammattilaisura, vaikka se on naisten jääkiekossa vielä harvinaista". Länsi-Saimaan Sanomat [fi] (in Finnish). Retrieved 4 November 2024.
7. Podnieks, Andrew; Nordmark, Birger, eds. (2019). "Active Skaters, Women". IIHF Guide & Record Book 2020. Toronto: Moydart. p. 657. ISBN 9780986796470.
8. Silvennoinen, Anssi (3 August 2022). "SaiPa-kasvatti Krista Parkkonen valittiin Suomen MM-kisajoukkueeseen Tanskaan". Etelä-Saimaa (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
9. Löfman, Sini (3 August 2022). "Naisten MM-joukkue Tanskan MM-kisoihin valittu – Mukana iso kasa viime kauden arvokisamitalisteja". Finnish Ice Hockey Association (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
10. Silvennoinen, Anssi (15 April 2024). "Krista Parkkonen erottui SaiPassa määrätietoisuudellaan – Näin MM-pronssimitalistia arvioi kaksi hänet tuntevaa lappeenrantalaista". Etelä-Saimaa (in Finnish). Retrieved 4 November 2024.
11. Kennedy, Ian (8 September 2022). "Top 35 U-23 Players in Women's Hockey". The Hockey News. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
12. Podnieks, Andrew; Nordmark, Birger, eds. (2019). "Active Skaters, Women". IIHF Guide & Record Book 2020. Toronto: Moydart. p. 657. ISBN 9780986796470.
13. "2023 IIHF Women's World Championship – Player Statistics by Team: FIN – Finland". International Ice Hockey Federation. 16 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
14. Kennedy, Ian (1 March 2024). "Hockey East Names 2023–2024 Women's Hockey All-Stars". The Hockey News. Retrieved 4 March 2024.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or The Internet Hockey Database