Emma Laaksonen Award

The Emma Laaksonen Award (Finnish: Emma Laaksonen -palkinto) is an ice hockey trophy awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the fair play player of the year of the Naisten Liiga, called the Naisten SM-sarja until 2017. The award recognizes the player who best contributes to their team while "playing fair," that is to say, incurring very few penalties. Winners typically exceed one point per game and are issued fewer than 10 penalty minutes (PIM) over a full regular season. It is named after defenceman Emma Terho (née Laaksonen), former captain of the Finnish women's national ice hockey team and current general manager of Kiekko-Espoo. Despite being named after a defenceman, the trophy has only ever been awarded to forwards.

Emma Laaksonen Award
SportIce hockey
LeagueNaisten Liiga
CompetitionNaisten Liiga regular season
Given forFair play player of the year
Local nameEmma Laaksonen -palkinto  (Finnish)
CountryFinland
Presented byFinnish Ice Hockey Association
History
First award2011
Editions10
First winnerChristine Posa
Most winsSaila Saari (2)
Most recentViivi Vainikka, 2020

The trophy was first awarded in 2011, to Christine Posa of the Espoo Blues. Saila Saari is the lone player to have received the trophy twice, first in 2013, while playing with JYP Jyväskylä, and again in 2018, while playing with Oulun Kärpät. Emilia Vesa, recipient for the 2018–19 season, is the only honoree to have won the trophy while scoring less than one point per game. The most recent winner is Viivi Vainikka in the 2019–20 season, while playing with Team Kuortane.

Award winners
Season Winner Team GP Pts PIM
2010–11 Christine Posa Espoo Blues 26 28 4 [1]
2011–12 Satu Niinimäki Ilves Tampere 19 28 2
2012–13 Saila Saari JYP Jyväskylä 28 39 2
2013–14 Tiina Paananen JYP Jyväskylä 28 31 8
2014–15 Noora Tulus Espoo Blues 25 38 8
2015–16 Sanni Hakala JYP Jyväskylä 23 36 4
2016–17 Tanja Niskanen KalPa Kuopio 22 36 6
2017–18 Saila Saari Kärpät Oulu 26 44 8 [2]
2018–19 Emilia Vesa Team Kuortane 28 21 4 [3]
2019–20 Viivi Vainikka Team Kuortane 30 52 6 [4]

Source: Elite Prospects[5]

All time award recipients
  Player active in Naisten Liiga
  Player active in league other than Naisten Liiga
Player Wins Years won
Saila Saari22013, 2018
Sanni Hakala12016
Satu Niinimaki12012
Tanja Niskanen12017
Tiina Paananen12014
Christine Posa12011
Noora Tulus12015
Viivi Vainikka12020

References
  1. Mennander, Pasi (11 March 2011). "Naisten SM-sarjan palkinnot 2010–11 – Tässä nimilista!". leijonat.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  2. Mennander, Pasi (8 March 2018). "Naisten Liigan kauden 2017–18 palkitut pelaajat, erotuomarit ja tähtikentät". leijonat.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  3. Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto; Liiga. Aaltonen, Juha (ed.). Jääkiekkokirja 2019–2020 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Uusi Suomi/Kiekkolehti. p. 554. ISSN 0784-3321. OCLC 476321083. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  4. Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto; Jääkiekkon SM-liiga Oy (2020). Aaltonen, Juha (ed.). Jääkiekkokirja 2021: Suomen Jääkiekkoliiton ja Liiga Kausijulkaisu 2020–2021 [Ice Hockey Book 2021: The Finnish Ice Hockey Association and Liiga Guide & Record Book 2020–2021] (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Uusi Suomi/Kiekkolehti. p. 237. ISSN 0784-3321. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  5. "Naisten Liiga (W) Awards – Fair Play Player (Emma Laaksonen Award)". EliteProspects.com. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
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