Susanna Tapani

Susanna "Suski" Tapani (born 2 March 1993) is a Finnish multi-sport elite athlete who competes in ice hockey, ringette, and in-line hockey, currently playing in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) with PWHL Boston.

She is captain of the Finnish national ringette team and a member of the Finnish national ice hockey team.

Tapani made three appearances with the Finnish women's national under-18 ice hockey team at the IIHF Women's World U18 Championship, in 2009, 2010, and 2011, winning a bronze medal at the 2011 tournament.

Tapani played ringette for Team Finland Junior at the 2009 World Junior Ringette Championships (U19) and the 2012 World Junior Ringette Championships.

She has represented Finland at every IIHF Women's World Championship since 2011, except the 2016 tournament.

In the United States, Tapani played with the North Dakota Fighting Hawks women's ice hockey program during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey season.

In Russia, Tapani played professional ice hockey in the Russian Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL) with the KRS Vanke Rays during the later part of the 2021–22 ZhHL season.

Tapani has also competed with the Finnish national team at the Winter Olympic Games, debuting in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Though Finland suffered their worst Olympic placement in team history, finishing in fifth place, Tapani saw individual success and tied teammate Riikka Välilä for third rank on the Finnish scoring list, with 1 goal and 4 assists for 5 points in six games.

Tapani is the subject of a Finnish documentary, Jäänsärkijä ('Icebreaker'), which follows her life as she competes in elite ringette, ice hockey, and in-line hockey from 2015 to 2019.

Tapani played ice hockey in Finland in the Naisten Liiga with TPS Naiset, Lukko Naiset, Espoo Blues Naiset, and HPK Kiekkonaiset.

In Sweden, Tapani played in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) with Linköping HC Dam.

At the 2017 IIHF Women's World Championship, she was Finland's leading scorer and ranked fifth for scoring in the tournament overall with 3 goals and 6 assists for 9 points in 5 games.

In the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Finland won bronze and Tapani finished fourth in the team's scoring ranks, with 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points in six games.

The women's ice hockey tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing saw Tapani take another step in offensive production, ranking first on the team in scoring with 6 goals and 2 assists for 8 points in seven games, and leading Finland to another bronze medal victory.

In 2021, Finnish national ice hockey team head coach Pasi Mustonen called Tapani the team's best forward among a roster which also included internationally recognized forwards Michelle Karvinen and Petra Nieminen.

Note: Italics indicate postseason relegation series; statistics not included in playoff totals.

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Tapani began playing ringette as a child.

At the international level of competition, Tapani has served as the captain of the Senior Finland national ringette team.

She has also served as the captain of the (RNK) Flyers ringette team in the SM Ringette league, formerly known as (RSMs).

SM Ringette is Finland's semi-professional ringette league and is also its top elite ringette league.

Tapani has had an illustrious career in ringette before transitioning to ice hockey.

She has won numerous titles and awards that have helped cement her status as one of the greatest ringette players of all time in Finland.

Here are some of her significant achievements in semi-professional ringette:

Susanna Tapani's achievements in ringette have made her one of the most successful players in the sport's history in Finland, and she has also carried her speed, agility, and puck-handling abilities over to her successful ice hockey career.

During the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons, Tapani played with the TPS Juniorijääkiekko men's under-18 (U18) team, known as TPS U18 Akatemia, of the U18 Mestis/U18 Suomi-sarja until scheduling conflicts forced her to choose between ringette and ice hockey in November 2020.

When it became clear that the TPS U18 Akatemia was unable or unwilling to alter its schedule to accommodate Tapani, she chose to leave the team and continue playing ringette with RNK Raisio of the Finnish Championship ringette league, the (now known as SM Ringette), which is the ringette team she captains.

Regarding the situation, Tapani stated, "I’m not commenting on the discussions [with TPS] or the way this came to be, but combining the two sports didn’t fit when there were too many overlapping games."

She signed a contract for the 2023–24 season in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) with the Metropolitan Riveters in May 2023.

The PHF was bought out and dissolved in late June 2023 and her contract was voided before she was able to play in the league.

Tapani was drafted in the fifth round, 25th overall by the PWHL Minnesota in the 2023 PWHL Draft.

She was the first Finnish player to be drafted by a PWHL team and, along with Minttu Tuominen, was one of two Finnish players drafted in 2023.

She later signed a two-year contract with Minnesota, through the 2024–25 season.

On 11 February 2024, PWHL Minnesota traded Tapani and defender Abby Cook to PWHL Boston in exchange for Sophie Jaques in the PWHL's inaugural trade.

Prior to being traded, Tapani had recorded two goals and three assists in nine games with Minnesota.

Tapani trained with several men's professional ice hockey players during the extended pause between the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons due to COVID-19.

Under the direction of Ismo Lehkonen, the group – which included NHLers Kaapo Kakko, Artturi Lehkonen, Mikko Rantanen, and Rasmus Ristolainen, and several Liiga players – trained on the ice together for two hours a day.

Jonne Virtanen, long-time Liiga player and member of the training group, noted that Tapani's strength and toughness would be well suited to a style of play that permitted checking and enthused, "Suski is the best female player that I have ever seen."

As of 2020, Tapani ranks sixth in all-time points scored with the Finnish women's national team, tallying 75 goals and 72 assists for 147 points in 179 top division matches.