Viivi Vainikka (born 23 December 2001) is a Finnish ice hockey player for Brynäs IF of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) and member of the Finnish national team. She was selected by the Minnesota Frost in the 2026 PWHL Draft.
Playing career Vainikka began playing hockey at the age of five. She made her debut in the Naisten Liiga, the top flight of Finnish women's hockey at the age of 15 with Team Kuortane. Across four years with the team, she scored 129 points in 112 games. After scoring a career-best 52 points in 30 games in the 2018–19 season, including 28 goals, she won the Emma Laaksonen Award for fair play.
She left Finland to sign a two-year contract with Luleå HF/MSSK in Sweden ahead of the 2020–21 SDHL season, joining the roster with the highest concentration of Finnish national team players in the world, Finland included. She scored twice in her first two SDHL games. In November 2020, along with four other Finnish national team and Luleå teammates, she was forced to miss several SDHL games while being quarantined under Finnish law after a national team camp where a player tested positive for COVID-19.
In the 2026 PWHL Draft, she was selected in the second round, 21st overall, by the Minnesota Frost.
International play Vainikka won silver with the Finnish national team at the 2019 Women's World Championship. She was officially named to the Finnish roster for the 2020 Women's World Championship on 4 March 2020, prior to the cancellation of the tournament International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) on 7 March 2020 due to public health concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 2 January 2026, she was named to Finland's roster to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM2015–16 Red Wings Naisten Suomi-sarja 12 18 7 25 6 — — — — —2016–17 Team Kuortane Naisten SM-sarja 28 5 7 12 4 2 0 0 0 02017–18Team KuortaneNaisten Liiga 24 9 15 24 2 8 4 7 11 02018–19 Team Kuortane Naisten Liiga 30 26 15 41 6 4 2 2 4 02019–20 Team Kuortane Naisten Liiga 30 28 24 52 6 8 12 6 18 8 2020–21 Luleå/MSSK SDHL 32 13 14 27 22 9 4 4 8 4 2021–22 Luleå/MSSK SDHL 36 17 22 39 4 12 5 4 9 0 2022–23 Luleå/MSSK SDHL 32 23 18 41 6 8 5 6 11 0 2023–24 Luleå/MSSK SDHL 36 23 29 52 0 9 5 1 6 2 2024–25 Luleå/MSSK SDHL 36 18 26 44 6 9 4 6 10 2 2025–26 Brynäs IF SDHL 36 11 29 40 4 10 7 6 13 2SDHL totals 208 105 138 243 42 57 30 27 57 10Naisten Liiga totals 112 68 61 129 18 22 18 15 33 8
International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM2017 Finland U18 5th 3 0 0 0 02018 Finland U18 5th 5 2 2 4 02019 Finland U18 6 2 4 6 22019 WC 7 1 3 4 02021 Finland WC 7 1 0 1 02022 Finland OG 6 2 1 3 2 2022 Finland WC 6th 7 2 2 4 0 2023 Finland WC 5th 7 5 5 10 0 2024 Finland WC 7 1 0 1 0 2025 Finland WC 2 0 0 0 02026 Finland OG 6th 5 1 0 1 0 Junior totals 14 4 6 10 2 Senior totals 48 13 11 24 2
Awards and honors AwardYearNaisten LiigaFinnish Championship Bronze Medal2018Emma Laaksonen Award2020All-Star – Second Team2020Player of the MonthJanuary 2020SDHLSwedish Championship Gold Medal2021, 2022InternationalWorld U18 Championship Bronze Medal2019World Championship Silver Medal2019World Championship Bronze Medal2021, 2025Olympic Bronze Medal2022
References
External links
Viivi Vainikka at Milano Cortina 2026