Sanni Vanhanen

Sanni Vanhanen (born 1 July 2005) is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national ice hockey team, currently playing in the youth department of Tappara and with Tampereen Ilves Naiset of the Naisten Liiga (NSML). She was the youngest player to represent Finland at the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship.[1]

Sanni Vanhanen
Born (2005-07-01) 1 July 2005
Nokia, Pirkanmaa, Finland
Height 165 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight 57 kg (126 lb; 9 st 0 lb)
Position Forward
Shoots Left
U15 AAA team
NSML team		 Tappara Tampere U15
Ilves Tampere
National team  Finland
Playing career 2019–present
Medal record
World Championships
2021 Canada

Playing career

Vanhanen began playing ice hockey with the youth department of HC Nokia in her hometown of Nokia, in the Pirkanmaa region of southwestern Finland. As HC Nokia did not have a girls' ice hockey section, she played with HC Nokia's top boys' teams for her age. In the 2017–18 season, her last with HC Nokia, she played with boys' teams in the under-12 (U12) AAA league and the U13 AA and U13 AAA leagues.[lower-alpha 1][2]

Vanhanen joined the junior department of Tappara hockey club in Tampere, a neighboring municipality some 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Nokia, ahead of the 2018–19 season.[3]

Note

  1. Skill designations for minor ice hockey leagues in Finland are analogous to those used in North America, i.e. AAA is the highest level of competition, followed by AA, A, B, and so on.

International play

Vanhanen participated in the 2019 Women's U16 European Cup, winning silver with the Finnish team.[4] She joined the Finnish national under-18 team in the 2019–20 season, playing in nineteen international matches in addition to competing at the 2020 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship, where Finland finished fourth.[5]

Vanhanen's first invitation to a senior national team training camp was the roster selection camp for the World Championship in March 2021. National team head coach Pasi Mustonen described her as a player with "absolutely tremendous potential" and identified her adaptability as a key attribute that led to her selection.[6]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2020-21 Tappara U15 Black U15 AAA alkusarja 14 2 7 9 0 – – – – –
2020-21 Ilves (L) Naisten Liiga 2 2 2 4 0 7 1 1 2 0

Sources: [7]

International
Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
2020 Finland WW18 4th 6 0 0 0 0

References
  1. Huttunen, Sasha (7 April 2021). "15-vuotias teinilupaus valittiin yllättäen Suomen MM-joukkueeseen: "Totesin, että huh huh" – myös pelaaja itse yllättyi". Iltalehti (in Finnish). Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  2. Aalto, Markku. "Pelaajat: Sanni Vanhanen, 2017-2018". Leijonat.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  3. Teiskonlahti, Kirsi (25 April 2021). "Naisleijonien Sanni Vanhanen, 15, on poikkeuksellinen kyky, joka muistuttaa päävalmentajasta Sebastian Ahoa – "Hänellä on hartioiden päällä tietokone"". Aamulehti (in Finnish). Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  4. O'Brien, Derek (1 May 2019). "Russia wins Women's U16 European Cup". IIHF. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  5. "IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship – Player Statistics by Team: FIN - Finland". IIHF. 2 January 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  6. Lund, Sakari (7 April 2021). "Naisleijonien päävalmentaja vaikuttui MM-joukkueen 15-vuotiaasta kuopuksesta jo toissa vuonna: "Sannilla on ihan järjettömän huikea potentiaali"". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  7. "U15 AAA alkusarja, lohko 2 – Pelaajatilastot (Kaikki) – Tappara Musta" (XLS). tulospalvelu.leijonat.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. 29 November 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
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