One of the top offensive talents in women's hockey, Finland's Riikka Nieminen led the Olympic tournament in scoring with 12 points, and was second behind Canada's Danielle Goyette with seven goals, in Nagano in 1998. Nieminen led Finland to a bronze medal that year after having played with Finnish teams that had placed third at the Women's World Championships in 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1997. She was named a tournament All-Star in 1992, 1994 and 1997 and was also named the Best Forward in 1994 after collecting 13 points (four goals and nine assists) in five games. Nieminen had nine goals and 14 assists in five games in 1995 when she led Finland to a gold medal in the European Women's Championship. She had also earned gold at the European event in 1989. She returned to the Olympics in 2002 with Team Finland, but finished out of the medal hunt. |
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