HELSINKI, FINLAND - UVM junior Sini Karjalainen has been named to the Finland National Team for the upcoming IIHF Women's World Championships. The Finnish national program announced their roster on Wednesday. The 2021 IIHF Women's World Championships will take place in Truro and Halifax, Nova Scotia on the east coast of Canada from May 6-16.
 
RELATED LINKS
2021 IIHF World Championship Website
 
"We are all thrilled for Sini to have the opportunity to represent her country at the World Championships this spring," said Head Coach Jim Plumer. "Sini sets the bar for our team with work ethic and commitment and she is getting her just reward especially after getting named to the team last spring and not getting to compete because of COVID-19. We hope this is the first of many national team appearances for Sini!"
 
Karjalainen will skate alongside two other NCAA players with Finland as Mercyhurst goaltender Jenna Silvonen and St. Cloud State forward Jenniina Nylund made the team as well. Finland will be competing in Group A with the United States, Canada, Russia and Switzerland. Finland registered its highest finish ever in the last World Championships, earning silver as the host nation in 2019.
 
This year's tournament will be Karjalainen's first World Championship although she was selected to the team last spring before COVID-19 forced the cancelation of the event. The Posio, Finland native has skated in 90 games for the national program with 18 points including five goals. At the 2017 IIHF Women's U18 World Championship, Karjalaianen captained Finland to its first-ever pool win.
 
Karjalainen will be the seventh Catamount in program history to compete in the World Championships. She is also the second to represent Team Finland – Saana Valkama '19 competed in three World Championships and earned bronze in 2017. Current Catamounts Theresa Schafzahl (Austria) and Blanka Škodová (Czech Republic) have also competed in the IIHF World Championships.
 
The 2021 World Championships will be broadcast on TV5 and the Discovery + service in Finland. In Canada, all 31 games of the 2021 World Championships will be broadcast live on TSN and RDS. Streaming and television information in the U.S. has not been announced yet.
 
2021 Preliminary Round Schedule for Finland (all times ET)
May 6: Canada vs. Finland 6:30 p.m.
May 8: Finland vs. USA 2:30 p.m.
May 10: Finland vs. Switzerland 6:30 p.m.
May 11: Russia vs. Finland 2:30 p.m.