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Anni Keisala

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Anni Keisala
Keisala with Ilves Tampere in 2022
Born (1997-04-05) 5 April 1997 (age 27)
Lohja, Finland
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 75 kg (165 lb; 11 st 11 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
Auroraliiga team
Former teams		 HPK Hämeenlinna
National team  Finland
Playing career 2011–present
Medal record
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Beijing Ice hockey
World Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2017 United States
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Canada
Bronze medal – third place 2024 United States

Anni Keisala (born 5 April 1997) is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender and member of the Finnish national team. She is playing the 2024–25 season in the Auroraliiga with HPK Hämeenlinna.

Playing career

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Keisala made her senior club debut at age 13 as the third goaltender and an occasional forward on the women's representative team of Lohjan Kisa-Veikot (LoKV) in the 2010–11 season of the Naisten SM-sarja (NSMs; renamed Naisten Liiga (NSML) in 2017). In the following season, the role of starting netminder fell on fourteen-year-old Keisala after the starter and backup goalies from the previous season left LoKV for other NSMs teams. The teen struggled in net behind the worst team in the league, as LoKV lost all 16 games in the preliminaries – managing to record just seven goals in the series – and were relegated to the Naisten I-divisioona after finishing the 15-game promotion/relegation series in last place.

LoKV's fortunes did not improve in the 2012–13 Naisten I-divisioona season. They were further relegated to the third tier Naisten Suomi-sarja at the conclusion of the promotion and relegation series. Keisala continued playing as both a forward and goaltender during the season. Though player statistics for the season are largely incomplete, she served in goal for a minimum of four games of the preliminaries and one game of the promotion and relegation series. She tallied at least 1 goal in the promotion and relegation series while playing as a forward.[1][2]

Ahead of the 2013–14 season, Keisala relocated 350 kilometres (220 mi) north of her hometown of Lohja to begin attending the Kuortaneen urheilulukio ('Kuortane Sports Academy'). The move was pivotal in her goaltending career, as she returned to playing in the Naisten SM-sarja with Team Oriflame Kuortane, the junior development team of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, the roster of which featured several future national team talents. She began her rookie season with Team Kuortane as third goaltender behind the 1A/1B duo of Eveliina Suonpää and Tiina Ranne and recorded a below-average .891 save percentage across eight games in the preliminaries. Despite the rocky start, Keisala came into her own during the promotion/relegation series, playing in five of ten games and leading all goaltenders in the series with a stellar .936 save percentage.

She was the recipient of the Tuula Puputti Award as the Goaltender of the Year in the 2014–15 and 2015–16 Naisten SM-sarja seasons while playing with Team Kuortane, and in the 2020–21 Naisten Liiga season, while playing with the Ilves Tampere; she was named to the league's All-Star team in the same three seasons. In 2017, she won the Aurora Borealis Cup with Oulun Kärpät.[3]

International play

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As a member of the Finnish national under-18 ice hockey team, she participated in the IIHF U18 Women's World Championship in 2012 and 2013.

Her first match with the senior national team came during the 2015–16 Women's Euro Hockey Tour.[4] She represented Finland at the IIHF Women's World Championship in 2016, where Finland placed fourth, and in 2017, where Finland won bronze.[5][6][7]

A series of injuries kept Keisala from being named to the national team for several years until she made her triumphant return to the world stage for the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship, backstopping the team to a bronze medal and earning selection as Best Goaltender by the tournament directorate.[8]

Career statistics

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International

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Year Team Event Result   GP TOI W L GA Sv SO SV% GAA
2014 Finland WC18 5th 4 243:36 1 3 15 156 0 .912 3.70
2015 Finland WC18 5th 4 240:00 3 1 5 90 1 .947 1.25
2016 Finland WC 4th 1 20:00 0 0 1 8 0 .889 3.00
2017 Finland WC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 0 – – – – – – – –
2021 Finland WC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 5 294:09 3 2 7 129 2 .949 1.43
2022 Finland OG 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 7 374:34 3 4 16 173 2 .915 2.56
2022 Finland WC 6th 6 350:32 2 4 12 171 1 .934 2.05
2023 Finland WC 5th 4 237:01 3 1 6 69 1 .920 1.52
2024 Finland WC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1 58:42 0 1 5 40 0 .889 5.11
Junior totals 8 483:36 4 4 20 246 1 .925 2.48
Senior totals 24 1336:08 11 12 47 590 6 .926 2.11

Awards and honors

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Award Year
International
World U18 Top-3 Player on Team 2014, 2015
World Championship Bronze Medal 2017, 2021, 2024
World Championship Best Goalie 2021
World Championship All Star Team 2021
World Championship Top-3 Plyer on Team 2021, 2022
Olympic Bronze Medal 2022
Auroraliiga
Tuula Puputti Award 2014–15, 2015–16, 2020–21, 2021–22
All-Star 2014–15, 2015–16
Aurora Borealis Cup Champion 2016–17 (Kärpät)
All-Star, First Team 2020–21, 2021–22
Player of the Month January 2021
Riikka Nieminen Award 2021–22
Kultainen kypärä 2021–22[9]

References

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  1. ^ Asplund, Bubi (10 March 2013). "Storstryk för LoKV-damer i hemmahallen". Svenska Yle (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  2. ^ Asplund, Bubi (17 March 2013). "LoKV-damerna förlorade i Tavastehus". Svenska Yle (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Player Profile: Anni Keisala". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  4. ^ Urhola, Jukka (30 December 2015). "Keisala avasi maajouk kueuran nollapelillä". Länsi-Uusimaa (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  5. ^ "2016 World Championship roster" (PDF). IIHF. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 February 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  6. ^ "IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship – Player Statistics by Team: FIN - Finland" (PDF). IIHF. 4 April 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  7. ^ "IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship – Player Statistics by Team: FIN - Finland" (PDF). IIHF. 7 April 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 February 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Ice Hockey, Women". Team Finland: XXIV Olympic Winter Games, Beijing 2022 (PDF). Finnish Olympic Committee. 2022. p. 66. ISBN 9789527464137. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  9. ^ Isokoski, Riku (9 May 2022). "Pelaajat äänestivät Anton Levtchin kauden parhaaksi – Naisleijonien sankarivahdille historiallinen tunnustus". Iltalehti (in Finnish). Retrieved 22 March 2025.
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