Kirsi Hänninen

Kirsi Hänninen
Born (1976-10-03) 3 October 1976 (age 47)
Joensuu, Finland
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 68 kg (150 lb; 10 st 10 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for JoKP Joensuu
Kiekko-Espoo
JYP Jyväskylä
KalPa Kuopio
Oulun Kärpät
National team  Finland
Playing career 1992–2002
Medal record
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Nagano Ice hockey
World Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Canada
Bronze medal – third place 1999 Finland
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Canada
Bronze medal – third place 1994 United States
European Championship
Gold medal – first place 1995 Latvia
Gold medal – first place 1993 Denmark
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Russia

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 ice hockey tournament at the 1998 Winter Olympics.[1]

Playing career

Over her ten-year ice hockey career, Hänninen played with five different teams in the Naisten SM-sarja, the highest level women's hockey league in Finland. She spent four seasons, from 1996 to 2000, with JYP Jyväskylä and won the SM-sarja Championship with them in 1996 and 1997. She also played with JoKP (1992–93), Kiekko-Espoo (1993–94), KalPa (1995–96), and Oulun Kärpät (2001-02).[2]

Hänninen is well known in Finland for her career in the Superpesis, Finland's top pesäpallo league, where she competed from 1993 to 2005 and was a five-time Finnish Champion.[3]

Personal life

Hänninen is a founding member of VRT Finland, an underwater structural inspection company operating in the Baltic Sea and Central Europe, and currently serves as CEO of the company.[4]

Awards and honors

Ice Hockey
Award Year
Naisten SM-sarja Champion 1997 (JyP HT)

1998 (JYP)

Most Points by a Defenceman

in the Olympic Ice Hockey women's tournament

1998 (7 points)
tied with Thérèse Brisson
Best Defenceman

in the IIHF World Women's Championships

1999
IIHF World Women's Championships All-Star Team 1999
Suomen Jääkiekkoleijona
Inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame Finland 		2018
Pesäpallo
Award Year
Superpesis Best Runner

Most Runs in the Regular Season

1995, 1996, 2000
Superpesis Champion 1996 (Jyväskylän Kiri)

1997 (Jyväskylän Kiri)

2000 (PattU)

Finnish Pesäpallo Association Player of the Year

Suomen Pesäpalloliitto Naispesäpalloilijaksi

2000, 2004
Superpesis Best Batter

Most Hits in the Regular Season

2004
Superpesis Golden Bat

Player-elected Best Offensive Player

2004

[5][6]

References

  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen. Mallon, Bill (ed.). "Kirsi Hänninen Bio, Stats, and Results". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Player Profile: Kirsi Hänninen". eliteprospects.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  3. ^ Ruusu, Susanna (10 May 2022). "Olympiamitalisti Kirsi Hänninen tapasi pelikavereitaan – "Urheilu kuuluu yhä elämääni"". Finnish Ice Hockey Association (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 11 June 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Kirsi Hänninen aateloidaan Jääkiekkoleijonaksi" [Kirsi Hänninen honored as a Jääkiekkoleijona]. Pesäpalloliitto (in Finnish). 24 October 2018. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Pattijoelle naisten Suomen mestaruus pesäpallossa" [Pattijoki are the Finnish Women's Pesäpallo Champions] (in Finnish). MTV3 Uutiset. 16 September 2000. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  6. ^ "Hänninen ylitti 500 tuotua, Vehniäinen 400 lyötyä" [Hänninen exceeded 500 runs, Vehniäinen beat 400] (in Finnish). MTV3 Uutiset. 11 July 2005. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.

External links