| Minttu Tuominen | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Tuominen with theMetropolitan Riveters in 2022 | |||
| Born | (1990-06-26)26 June 1990 (age 35) Helsinki, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) | ||
| Weight | 71 kg (157 lb; 11 st 3 lb) | ||
| Position | Defense | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for | |||
| National team |  Finland | ||
| Playing career | 2006–2025 | ||
Minnamari "Minttu" Tuominen (Chinese:托米宁;pinyin:Tuōmǐníng; born 26 June 1990) is a Finnish retiredice hockey player and the strength and conditioning coach ofKiekko-Espoo in theAuroraliiga (called Naisten Liiga until 2024). A member of theFinnish national ice hockey team from 2008 until 2022, she earned medals at threeWinter Olympic Games and fiveIIHF Women's World Championships.[1][2][3]
Tuominen played for theEspoo Blues Naiset in the Naisten SM-sarja (NSMs; rebranded as Naisten Liiga in 2017) and attendedMäkelänrinne Upper Secondary School in Helsinki. At Makelanrinne, she captained the ice hockey team after being named one of the school's top athletes of 2007 and 2008.[4] As a member of the Espoo Blues, she won the Finnish Championship three times (2007, 2008, 2009). One of her teammates with the Espoo Blues wasEmma Terho (née Laaksonen).
Milestones at Ohio State include:
Tuominen signed with theMetropolitan Riveters of thePremier Hockey Federation (PHF) for the2022–23 season, during which she served as an alternate captain. She played on the first defensive pairing alongsideAnna Kilponen and scored nine goals on the season, the second-most goals scored in a season by a defenseman in league history. As the backbone of the first power play unit she scored six power play goals, setting a league record.
She re-signed with the club for the2023–24 season in May 2023.[5] The PHF was bought out and dissolved in late June 2023 and her contract was terminated, prompting her return to Finland.
Tuominen was selected in the fourteenth round, 84th overall byPWHL Minnesota in the2023 PWHL Draft. She was the second Finnish player to be drafted into theProfessional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), followingSusanna Tapani, who was also selected by Minnesota.[6]
In August 2023, she signed with Kiekko-Espoo for the2023–24 Naisten Liiga season, but her contract included the option to leave the team during the season. At the time, it was speculated that the provision was in place to allow Tuominen to play in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), a new North American league that replaced the PHF and began its first season in January 2024.[7] Rather than joining the PWHL, Tuominen left Kiekko-Espoo mid-season for several months to join Shenzhen KRS for the inaugural season of theChinese Women's Ice Hockey League (WCIHL). After winning the 2024 WCIHL championship with Shenzhen KRS, she returned to Kiekko-Espoo for the remainder of the Naisten Liiga regular season and playoffs.
As a junior player with theFinnish national under-18 team, Tuominen participated in the2008 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship.
Tuominen made her debut with the Finnish national team in 2008, appearing in a series againstSweden in September, the2008 Four Nations Cup in November, and helping Finland win theEuro Hockey Tour in December.
She was a member of the bronze medal-winning Finnish team at the2009 Winter Universiade inHarbin, China and played at the2009 MLP Nations Cup inRavensburg, Germany. Tuominen won a bronze medal at the2010 Four Nations Cup inSt. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.
Her first majorInternational Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) tournament with the Finnish national team was thewomen's ice hockey tournament at the2010 Winter Olympics inVancouver, where she won her first Olympic bronze medal. At the2011 IIHF Women's World Championship, she recorded her first point at a major IIHF tournament – the primary assist onAnnina Rajahuhta's goal againstKazakhstan in the preliminary round – and her first major tournament goal, scoring twice againstRussia in the bronze medal game, which Finland ultimately won in overtime.
Having established herself as a core player on the national team, Tuominen went on to play at the subsequent seven IIHF Women's World Championships, winning a silver medal in2019 and bronze medals in2015,2017, and2021. She was selected as a top-three player for Finland by the coaches at the 2015 tournament.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2003–04 | KS Noux | N. Suomi-sarja | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | — | ||
| 2004–05 | KS Noux | Naisten I-div. | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | – | – | – | – | — | ||
| 2005–06 | KS Noux | Naisten I-div. | 11 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 6 | – | – | – | – | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Espoo Blues | NSMs | 17 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2007–08 | Espoo Blues | NSMs | 11 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2008–09 | Espoo Blues | NSMs | 22 | 14 | 21 | 35 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 2009–10 | Ohio State Buckeyes | NCAA | 23 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 8 | – | – | – | – | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Ohio State Buckeyes | NCAA | 32 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 10 | – | – | – | – | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Ohio State Buckeyes | NCAA | 32 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 22 | – | – | – | – | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Ohio State Buckeyes | NCAA | 37 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 22 | – | – | – | – | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Espoo Blues | NSMs | 24 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 24 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 6 | ||
| 2014–15 | Espoo Blues | NSMs | 26 | 17 | 32 | 49 | 40 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 2015–16 | Espoo Blues | NSMs | 28 | 13 | 45 | 58 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 8 | ||
| 2016–17 | Linköping HC | SDHL | 32 | 17 | 9 | 26 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2017–18 | Espoo Blues | NSML | 20 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 12 | ||
| 2018–19 | Espoo Blues | NSML | 30 | 13 | 50 | 63 | 18 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 | ||
| 2019–20 | Kiekko-Espoo | NSML | 30 | 19 | 21 | 40 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 4 | ||
| 2020–21 | KRS Vanke Rays | ZhHL | 24 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2021–22 | Kiekko-Espoo | NSML | 15 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 2 | – | – | – | – | — | ||
| 2021–22 | KRS Vanke Rays | ZhHL | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 12 | ||
| 2022–23 | Metropolitan Riveters | PHF | 24 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 10 | – | – | – | – | — | ||
| 2023–24 | Shenzhen KRS | WCIHL | ||||||||||||
| 2023–24 | Kiekko-Espoo | NSML | 18 | 5 | 26 | 31 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 6 | ||
| NCAA totals | 124 | 16 | 33 | 49 | 62 | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Naisten Liiga totals | 223 | 111 | 218 | 329 | 130 | 61 | 21 | 46 | 67 | 48 | ||||
| ZhHL totals | 36 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 24 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 16 | ||||
Sources:[8]
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Finland | WC18 | 6th | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| 2009 | Finland | Uni |  | 7 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 | |
| 2010 | Finland | OG | | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2011 | Finland | WC | | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | |
| 2012 | Finland | WC | 4th | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 2013 | Finland | WC | 4th | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 2014 | Finland | OG | 5th | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 2015 | Finland | WC | | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |
| 2016 | Finland | WC | 4th | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 2017 | Finland | WC | | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
| 2018 | Finland | OG | | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |
| 2019 | Finland | WC |  | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| 2021 | Finland | WC | | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| 2022 | Finland | OG | | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |
| Senior totals | 74 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 46 | ||||
Sources:[9][10][11][12][13][14]
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