Julia Liikala

Julia Liikala (born 20 March 2001) is a Finnish ice hockey player, currently playing with HPK Kiekkonaiset of the Naisten Liiga and with the Finnish national team.

Julia Liikala
Born (2001-03-20) 20 March 2001
Peräseinäjoki, South Ostrobothnia, Finland
Height 166 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight 55 kg (121 lb; 8 st 9 lb)
Position Wing
Shoots Left
NSML team HPK Kiekkonaiset
National team  Finland
Playing career 2016–present

Playing career

Liikala was born and raised in Peräseinäjoki, which was merged with Seinäjoki in 2005. She began playing ice hockey with the local club, S-Kiekko, as a child. Her debut in a women's league came at age 13, in a Naisten Suomi-sarja game between S-Kiekko and the Kisa-Eagles on 7 February 2015, where she scored the sixth goal in a 10–0 whitewash.[1]

At age 16, Liikala considered joining Team Kuortane of the Kuortaneen urheilulukio in Kuortane, 42 km (26 mi) east of Seinäjoki, where a significant number of players from the Finnish national U18 team played and attended secondary school (Finnish: lukio). Ultimately, she felt that Kuortane was too close to home and opted instead to sign with HPK Kiekkonaiset and continue her studies in Hämeenlinna, 235 km (146 mi) away.[2]

International play

Liikala played with the Finnish national U18 team at three IIHF World Women's U18 Championships, winning a bronze medal in 2019.

Liikala was officially named to the Finnish roster for the 2020 IIHF Women's World Championship on 4 March 2020,[3] prior to the cancellation of the tournament on 7 March 2020 due to public health concerns related to COVID-19.[4][5] She previously appeared on the national team roster at all of the tournaments of the 2019–20 Women's Euro Hockey Tour.[6][7][8]

Finnish national team head coach, Pasi Mustonen, has described Liikala as having an extremely high potential of earning a roster position on the team for the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics.[9]

References
  1. "2014–15 Naisten Suomi-sarja, lohko 2: S-Kiekko – Kisa-Eagles". tilastopalvelu.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  2. Teiskonlahti, Kirsi (7 November 2019). "Julia Liikala on yksi Naisleijonien tulokkaista, jonka erityinen pelikäsitys voi tehdä hänestä tulevaisuudessa tähden – matkalla menestykseen HPK-hyökkääjää neuvoo liigan ennätysnainen" (in Finnish). Yle. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  3. Koivunen, Pertti (4 March 2020). "HPK-kaksikon kausi huipentuu MM-jäillä – Ida Karjalainen ja Julia Liikala debytoivat naisten arvokisoissa Kanadassa" (in Finnish). Hämeen Sanomat. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  4. Malmberg, Henna (4 March 2020). "Naisleijonien MM-joukkue valittu – Sukupolven vaihdos tuo MM-joukkueeseen seitsemän ensikertalaista". leijonat.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  5. Steiss, Adam (7 March 2020). "Women's Worlds cancelled". IIHF. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  6. "Player Profile: Julia Liikala". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  7. "EHT: 4 Nations Tournament 20.-24.8.2019, FIN: Kokoonpanot". tilastopalvelu.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  8. "5 Nations Tournament 6.-10.11.2019, Dmitrov, RUS: Kokoonpanot". tilastopalvelu.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  9. Virtanen, Samuli (18 November 2019). "Naisleijonien päävalmentaja tarkasti HPK:n – "Liikala ja Karjalainen potentiaalisia olympiapelaajia 2022"" (in Finnish). Hämeen Sanomat. Retrieved 22 June 2020.

Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com


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