Julia Liikala
Born (2001-03-20) 20 March 2001
Peräseinäjoki, Finland
Height 166 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight 64 kg (141 lb; 10 st 1 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shoots Left
NSML team
Former teams		 HIFK Helsinki
HPK Hämeenlinna
National team  Finland
Playing career 2016–present
Medal record
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place2022 BeijingIce hockey
World Championship
Bronze medal – third place2021 Canada

Julia Liikala (born 20 March 2001) is a Finnish ice hockey winger and member of the Finnish national ice hockey team, currently playing in the Naisten Liiga (NSML) with HIFK Naiset (Stadin Gimmat).

Playing career

Liikala was born and raised in Peräseinäjoki, which was merged with Seinäjoki in 2005. As a child, she began playing ice hockey with the local club, S-Kiekko. Her debut in a women's league came at age 13, in a Naisten Suomi-sarja game between S-Kiekko and the Kisa-Eagles on 7 February 2015, where she scored the sixth goal in a 10–0 whitewash.[1]

At age 16, Liikala considered joining Team Kuortane of the Kuortaneen urheilulukio in Kuortane, 42 km (26 mi) east of Seinäjoki, where a significant number of players from the Finnish national U18 team played and attended secondary school (Finnish: lukio). Ultimately, she felt that Kuortane was too close to home and opted instead to sign with HPK Kiekkonaiset and continue her studies in Hämeenlinna, 235 km (146 mi) away.[2]

International play

As a junior player with the Finnish national U18 team, Liikala participated in three IIHF World Women's U18 Championships, winning a bronze medal in 2019.

In 2019, Finnish national team head coach, Pasi Mustonen, described Liikala as having an extremely high potential of earning a roster position on the team for the 2022 Winter Olympics[3] and she was selected to represent Finland at the 2020 IIHF Women's World Championship. She was officially named to the roster on 4 March 2020,[4] prior to the cancellation of the tournament on 7 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5][6] She had previously appeared with the national team at all of the tournaments of the 2019–20 Women's Euro Hockey Tour.[7][8][9]

Liikala ultimately made her World Championship debut in 2021, recording two assists in seven games and winning bronze. As predicted, she was selected to represent Finland in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and took home an Olympic bronze medal.

She recorded her first World Championship goal in the preliminary round of the 2022 IIHF Women's World Championship, the lone goal scored for Finland in a 1–4 loss to Canada.[10]

Statistics

YearTeamEventResult   GPGAPtsPIM
2017Finland U18WW185th 50002
2018Finland U18WW185th 53360
2019Finland U18WW183rd place, bronze medalist(s) 63030
2021FinlandWW3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 70220
2022FinlandOG3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 70000
2022FinlandWW6th 71122
2023FinlandWW5th 72460
Junior totals 166392
Senior totals 2837102

Sources: [11][12]

References

  1. ↑ "2014–15 Naisten Suomi-sarja, lohko 2: S-Kiekko – Kisa-Eagles". tilastopalvelu.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. 7 February 2015. Archived from the original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  2. ↑ Teiskonlahti, Kirsi (7 November 2019). "Julia Liikala on yksi Naisleijonien tulokkaista, jonka erityinen pelikäsitys voi tehdä hänestä tulevaisuudessa tähden – matkalla menestykseen HPK-hyökkääjää neuvoo liigan ennätysnainen". Yle (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  3. ↑ Virtanen, Samuli (18 November 2019). "Naisleijonien päävalmentaja tarkasti HPK:n – "Liikala ja Karjalainen potentiaalisia olympiapelaajia 2022"". Hämeen Sanomat (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  4. ↑ Koivunen, Pertti (4 March 2020). "HPK-kaksikon kausi huipentuu MM-jäillä – Ida Karjalainen ja Julia Liikala debytoivat naisten arvokisoissa Kanadassa" (in Finnish). Hämeen Sanomat. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  5. ↑ Malmberg, Henna (4 March 2020). "Naisleijonien MM-joukkue valittu – Sukupolven vaihdos tuo MM-joukkueeseen seitsemän ensikertalaista". leijonat.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  6. ↑ Steiss, Adam (7 March 2020). "Women's Worlds cancelled". IIHF. Archived from the original on 7 March 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  7. ↑ "Player Profile: Julia Liikala". eliteprospects.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  8. ↑ "EHT: 4 Nations Tournament 20.-24.8.2019, FIN: Kokoonpanot". tilastopalvelu.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  9. ↑ "5 Nations Tournament 6.-10.11.2019, Dmitrov, RUS: Kokoonpanot". tilastopalvelu.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  10. ↑ Rautiainen, Reima (25 August 2022). "Jäähyillyt Kanada kaatoi Naisleijonat MM-avauksessa rutiinilla – Suomelle jäi ylivoimapelissä parannettavaa". Turun Sanomat (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  11. ↑ Podnieks, Andrew; Nordmark, Birger, eds. (2019). "Active Skaters, Women". IIHF Guide & Record Book 2020. Toronto: Moydart. p. 653. ISBN 9780986796470.
  12. ↑ "2023 IIHF Women's World Championship – Player Statistics by Team: FIN - Finland". International Ice Hockey Federation. 16 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
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