Venla Hovi

Venla Hovi, née Heikkilä, (born 28 October 1987) is a Finnish retired ice hockey forward. She played with the Finnish national team and won bronze medals at the 2010 and 2018 Winter Olympic Games and at the 2008, 2009, and 2017 IIHF Women's World Championships, and a silver medal at the 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship. Hovi announced her retirement from top athletic competition the day following the achievement of silver at the 2019 Worlds.[1][2]

Venla Hovi
Born (1987-10-28) 28 October 1987
Tampere, Finland
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 67 kg (148 lb; 10 st 8 lb)
Position Forward
Shot Left
Played for Ylöjärvi Ilves
Tampereen Ilves
Niagara Purple Eagles
HPK Hämeenlinna
KalPa Kuopio
Herlev Hornets
Manitoba Bisons
Calgary Inferno
National team  Finland
Playing career 2003–2019
Medal record
Olympic Games
2010 VancouverTeam
2018 PyeongchangTeam
World Championships
2019 Finland
2008 China
2009 Finland
2017 United States

Following her retirement, Hovi has served as an on-ice instructor with True North, the Winnipeg Jets' hockey development program. She is the first woman ever to be hired as a coach by the organization and is one of a small number of women working as on-ice instructors in the NHL or NHL affiliated programs.

Playing career

In her native Finland, Hovi played in the Naisten SM-sarja (Women's Finnish Championship Series) with Ylöjärvi Ilves, Tampereen Ilves, HPK Hameenlinna, and KalPa.[3]

Canada

Hovi played in Canada with the University of Manitoba Bisons of U Sports. Playing out of the Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her contributions helped the Bisons defeat the University of Western Ontario Mustangs in the 2018 U Sports Women's Ice Hockey Championship and secure the team's first Golden Path Trophy.[4] She was additionally recognized at the University of Manitoba as the 2017-18 Bison Sports Female Athlete of the Year.[5][6]

Hovi played with the Calgary Inferno of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) for the 2018–19 season. Coincidentally, she would score the first goal of her CWHL career against her Finnish national team teammate, Noora Räty, in a game versus the Shenzhen KRS Rays. Qualifying for the 2019 Clarkson Cup Finals, the Inferno would defeat Les Canadiennes de Montreal by a 5–2 tally to win the second Cup in franchise history. With the win, Hovi became the first player from Finland to win the Clarkson Cup.[7][8]

Personal life

Hovi has a Bachelor's degree in Communications and Applied Linguistics from the University of Vaasa. She studied in the post graduate program for Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language at the University of Manitoba.[9]

For the 2018-19 season she served as Assistant Coach to the University of Manitoba Bisons women's ice hockey program.[10]

As of July 2019, Hovi had been hired by True North as a coach in the Winnipeg Jets' Hockey Development program. She was the first woman ever to be hired as a coach by the organization and one of a small number of women working as on-ice instructors in any capacity for a NHL organization. She will be working alongside other instructors to teach players of all ages and skill levels. Reflecting on her new role, Hovi said, "It's been different but also a really fun change for myself. I don't think I should be limited to just coaching females. Same thing, Dave [Cameron (True North head on-ice instructor)] shouldn't just be coaching guys."[11]

Career statistics
EventGoalsAssistsPointsShotsPIM+/-
2010 Winter Olympics202261
2018 Winter Olympics 123022

[12][13][14][15][16]

References
  1. Foster, Meredith (15 April 2019). "Venla Hovi announces retirement". The Ice Garden. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  2. Levine, Justin (25 April 2019). "Venla Hovi Announces Retirement From Professional Women's Hockey". The Puck Authority. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  3. "Player Profile: Venla Hovi". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  4. Ates, Murat. "Q&A: Venla Hovi, three time Finnish Olympian, on her love of Winnipeg and the future of women's hockey". The Athletic. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  5. "Venla Hovi and Justus Alleyn selected as the 2017-18 Bison Sports Athletes of the Year". University of Manitoba Athletics. 24 March 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  6. Ates, Murat (21 September 2018). "From Tampere to the Olympics, Winnipeg, and beyond: the lifelong journey of Venla Hovi". The Athletic. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  7. Staffieri, Mark (20 June 2019). "IIHF: Venla Hovi | Finland". Women's Hockey Life. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  8. Bell, Jason (3 May 2019). "Ex-U of M player supports her hockey sisters in quest for working wage". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  9. Jalonen, Pekka (19 October 2016). "Winnipegissä kolmaskin suomalaiskiekkoilija - ei ihan pärjää palkkavertailussa Patrik Laineelle" [There's a third Finnish hockey player in Winnipeg - not a good wage comparison to Patrik Laine] (in Finnish). Iltalehti. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  10. "Team Staff Profile: Venla Hovi". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  11. McIntyre, Mike (5 July 2019). "True North, Bisons coach starting at the Finnish line of her sparkling international hockey career". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  12. "Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics – results & video highlights". 8 September 2017.
  13. "Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics – results & video highlights". 8 September 2017.
  14. "Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics – results & video highlights". 8 September 2017.
  15. "Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics – results & video highlights". 8 September 2017.
  16. "Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics – results & video highlights". 8 September 2017.
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