| Sanni Rantala | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (2002-07-08)8 July 2002 (age 23) Riihimäki, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Weight | 63 kg (139 lb; 9 st 13 lb) | ||
| Position | Defense | ||
| Shoots | Right | ||
| SDHL team Former teams | Frölunda HC | ||
| National team |  Finland | ||
| Playing career | 2017–present | ||
Sanni Rantala (born 8 July 2002) is a Finnishice hockey player and member of theFinnish national team. She is signed withSwedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) clubFrölunda HC for the2024–25 season.
Rantala won bronze medals in thewomen's ice hockey tournament at the2022 Winter Olympics inBeijing and at the2024 IIHF Women's World Championship inUtica, New York.[1]
Rantala made her senior club debut withTeam Kuortane in the 2017–18 season of the FinnishNaisten Liiga (NSML). Her rookie season was capped by Team Kuortane winningFinnish Championship (SM) bronze in the 2018 playoffs, the first SM medal in team history.[2]
After four seasons with Team Kuortane, she joinedKiekko-Espoo for the2021–22 season and won theAurora Borealis Cup inthat season's playoffs. The 2021–22 season marked the first instance of her career in which she averaged more than a point per game (25 points/21 games=1.19) across the regular season and was highlighted by her selection to theNaisten Liiga All-Star First Team.[3]
Ahead of the2022–23 season, Rantala left Kiekko-Espoo to sign withKalPa.[4] She led all Naisten Liiga defensemen in assists during the 2022–23 regular season, with 32, and was KalPa's top point-scoring defender, notching 39 points in 30 games. In eight games of the2023 Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs, she contributed two goals and eight assists to KalPa’s SM bronze medal-winning effort. Her play earned a second selection to the All-Star First Team.[5]
Rantala was the league's top scoring defenseman in the2023–24 season, tallying 34 points (13+21) in 30 games, and was selected to the Naisten Liiga All-Star First Team for the third consecutive time.[6]
In early April 2024, Frölunda HC announced the signings of Rantala and KalPa teammateElisa Holopainen for the 2024–25 SDHL season.[7]
Rantala was officially named to the Finnish roster for the2020 IIHF Women's World Championship on 4 March 2020, before the tournament was cancelled on 7 March 2020 due to public health concerns related to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[8][9] She appeared on the national team roster for all four of the tournaments of the2019–20 Euro Hockey Tour.[10][11]
After a knee injury sustained in a preseason game kept her in rehabilitation and off the ice for the entire 2020–21 season,[12] the 2022 Winter Olympics served as Rantala's senior-level IIHF debut.[13][14] She played in all seven games and scored twopoints in the tournament, agoal and anassist, both tallied against theRussian Olympic Committee (ROC) during the group stage.[15] Her eightpenalty minutes led all Finnish players in the tournament.[16]
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Finland | U18 | 5th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2019 | Finland | U18 |  | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2020 | Finland | U18 | 4th | 6 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2022 | Finland | OG | | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| 2022 | Finland | WC | 6th | 7 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2023 | Finland | WC | 5th | 7 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | |
| 2024 | Finland | WC | | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 2025 | Finland | WC | | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Junior totals | 17 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 4 | ||||
| Senior totals | 35 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 16 | ||||
| Award | Year or period |
|---|---|
| International | |
| World U18 Bronze Medal | 2019 |
| World U18 Top-3 Player on Team | 2019[19] |
| 2020[20] | |
| World U18 Media All-Star | 2020[21] |
| Olympic Bronze Medal | 2022 |
| World Championship Bronze Medal | 2024,2025 |
| Naisten Liiga | |
| Finnish Championship Bronze Medal | 2018 |
| 2023 | |
| 2024 | |
| All-Star First Team | 2021–22 |
| 2022–23 | |
| 2023–24 | |
| Aurora Borealis Cup Champion | 2022 |
