Katja Riipi Award

rdf:langString Katja Riipi Award

rdf:langString Katja Riipi Award

rdf:langString Elisa Holopainen, 2022

rdf:langString Finnish Ice Hockey Association

rdf:langString Ice hockey

rdf:langString The Katja Riipi Award (Finnish: Katja Riipi -palkinto) is an ice hockey trophy, seasonally awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the best forward of the Naisten Liiga, previously the Naisten SM-sarja. Best forward in the Naisten Liiga was first awarded in the 2005–06 season, to Saara Niemi (née Tuominen). The award was named in honor of Katja Riipi during the 2010–11 season. The most Katja Riipi Awards won by a single player is four, a record held by two iconic players of the 2010s: Linda Leppänen (née Välimäki) and Elisa Holopainen. Leppänen, a centre, first won the trophy in the , while playing with Ilves Tampere – the team she would later coach during 2020 to 2022. Her later three titles were awarded while playing with the Kiekko-Espoo franchise, winning consecutive trophies in the and , when the team was called the Espoo Blues, and in the , when the team was called Espoo United. Young phenom Elisa Holopainen, a left winger, is the current title holder and has won the award in each of the past four seasons, making her the first player to win the award more than two consecutive times. Anne Helin, who won the trophy in the and , is the only other player to have been awarded the Katja Riipi Award more than once.

rdf:langString Saara Tuominen, 2006

rdf:langString Best forward