Eveliina Mäkinen

Eveliina Mäkinen
Mäkinen with the Metropolitan Riveters in 2022
Born (1995-04-12) 12 April 1995 (age 29)
Kiukainen, Finland
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 68 kg (150 lb; 10 st 10 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
SWHL A team
Former teams		 EV Zug
National team  Finland
Playing career 2011–present
Medal record
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Pyeongchang Ice hockey
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Beijing Ice hockey
World Championship
Silver medal – second place 2019 Finland
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Sweden
Bronze medal – third place 2017 United States

Eveliina Mäkinen (née Suonpää; born 12 April 1995) is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender and member of the Finnish national team, She plays in the Swiss Women's League (SWHL A/PFWL) with EV Zug.

Playing career

Mäkinen was born in Kiukainen[1][2] and began playing ice hockey at the age of four. She started playing with her brother and learned the game at a local ice hockey rink. She played on boys minor ice hockey teams until 2011 when she joined Team Oriflame Kuortane, the women's representative team of the Kuortaneen urheilulukio, in the Naisten SM-sarja (renamed Naisten Liiga in 2017).[3] In the 2012–13 season, her second with Team Oriflame, she posted 3.02 goals against average and a .917 save percentage.[4]

Mäkinen joined the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs women's ice hockey program in January of the 2014–15 season.[5] She saw action in just one game, as the Bulldogs' starting goaltender, Kayla Black, started 36 of 37 games that season.

Rather than return to the NCAA, Mäkinen opted to remain in Finland for the 2015–16 season and played with Ilves Naiset.

Between 2016 and 2018, she played as the starter for Lukko Naiset in the Naisten Liiga and played with Lukko U20 A in the men's U20 Suomi-sarja. She was recognized as Naisten SM-saija Goaltender of the Year in 2017.

In May 2018, she announced that she was signing with Linköping HC in Sweden, taking over the starting position from the retiring Florence Schelling.[6]

After two seasons with Linköping HC, she left the club to sign with Leksands IF for the 2020–21 SDHL season.[7] In January 2021, she transferred to Brynäs IF and several months later signed a two-year contract with the club through the 2022–23 season.[8]

Mäkinen tended goal for the Metropolitan Riveters of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) during the 2022–23 season.

International career

Mäkinen played with the Finland women's national under-18 team during the 2013 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship, finishing a 2.77 goals against average and .905 save percentage.[4]

She made her debut on the senior Finland women's national ice hockey team in August 2013 with a 4–1 victory over Japan. She split goaltending for that game with Tiina Ranne, who was also making her debut with the team.[9]

Mäkinen was chosen to play in the 2014 Winter Olympics as the third goaltender, a selection that she said took her by surprise.[3] She was again named to Finland's roster for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

She has represented Finland at the 2015, 2017, and 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship.

Personal life

On the question of hitting in women's hockey, she has stated that "right now it’s really hard for the refs to differentiate what ‘contact’ means. Maybe there could be room for changes in the rules to allow more body contact without it overtaking the game."[10]

She married former Liiga defenceman Atte Mäkinen in 2021.

References

  1. ^ "Eveliina Suonpää". 2014 Winter Olympics. February 2014. Archived from the original on 6 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  2. ^ "Tällä joukkueella Naisleijonat hakee mitalia Sotshista". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). 18 December 2013. Archived from the original on 23 January 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  3. ^ a b Hanhikoski, Herkko (21 January 2014). "Opiskelijana olympialaisiin: Eveliina Suonpää". Jatkoaika.com (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  4. ^ a b "Eveliina Suonpää". Eurohockey.com. February 2014. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  5. ^ Grgas Wheeler, Kelly (23 January 2015). "No. 6 Bulldogs Offensively Brand Mavericks with 12-0 Rout". UMD Athletics. Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  6. ^ Foster, Meredith (3 May 2018). "From Lock to Lion: Eveliina Suonpää signs with Linköping HC". The Ice Garden. Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  7. ^ Bodin, Uffe (15 May 2020). "Leksands målvaktspar säkrat: "En ny utmaning för mig"". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  8. ^ Jibbefors, Martin (27 April 2021). "Eveliina Suonpää skriver på ett tvåårskontrakt med Brynäs IF". Brynäs IF Dam (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  9. ^ Mennander, Pasi (8 March 2013). "Naisleijonat kaatoi Japanin - Susanna Tapani hurjassa iskussa, maalivahtidebytantit onnistuivat". leijonat.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  10. ^ Oliver, Nathaniel (11 September 2020). "Hitting in Women's Hockey: Why Not?". The Hockey Writers. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.