Anni Keisala

Anni Keisala (born 5 April 1997) is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender for HPK Hämeenlinna of the Auroraliiga and a member of the Finnish national team.

Playing career Keisala made her senior club debut at age 13 as the third goaltender and an occasional forward on the women's representative team of Lohjan Kisa-Veikot (LoKV) in the 2010–11 season of the Naisten SM-sarja (NSMs; renamed Naisten Liiga (NSML) in 2017). In the following season, the role of starting netminder fell on fourteen-year-old Keisala after the starter and backup goalies from the previous season left LoKV for other NSMs teams. The teen struggled in net behind the worst team in the league, as LoKV lost all 16 games in the preliminaries – managing to record just seven goals in the series – and were relegated to the Naisten I-divisioona after finishing the 15-game promotion/relegation series in last place.

LoKV's fortunes did not improve in the 2012–13 Naisten I-divisioona season. They were further relegated to the third tier Naisten Suomi-sarja at the conclusion of the promotion and relegation series. Keisala continued playing as both a forward and goaltender during the season. Though player statistics for the season are largely incomplete, she served in goal for a minimum of four games of the preliminaries and one game of the promotion and relegation series. She tallied at least 1 goal in the promotion and relegation series while playing as a forward.

Ahead of the 2013–14 season, Keisala relocated north of her hometown of Lohja to begin attending the Kuortaneen urheilulukio ('Kuortane Sports Academy'). The move was pivotal in her goaltending career, as she returned to playing in the Naisten SM-sarja with Team Oriflame Kuortane, the junior development team of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, the roster of which featured several future national team talents. She began her rookie season with Team Kuortane as third goaltender behind the 1A/1B duo of Eveliina Suonpää and Tiina Ranne and recorded a below-average .891 save percentage across eight games in the preliminaries. Despite the rocky start, Keisala came into her own during the promotion/relegation series, playing in five of ten games and leading all goaltenders in the series with a stellar .936 save percentage.

She was the recipient of the Tuula Puputti Award as the Goaltender of the Year in the 2014–15 and 2015–16 Naisten SM-sarja seasons while playing with Team Kuortane, and in the 2020–21 Naisten Liiga season, while playing with the Ilves Tampere; she was named to the league's All-Star team in the same three seasons. In 2017, she won the Aurora Borealis Cup with Oulun Kärpät.

International play As a member of the Finnish national under-18 ice hockey team, she participated in the IIHF U18 Women's World Championship in 2012 and 2013.

Her first match with the senior national team came during the 2015–16 Women's Euro Hockey Tour. She represented Finland at the IIHF Women's World Championship in 2016, where Finland placed fourth, and in 2017, where Finland won bronze.

A series of injuries kept Keisala from being named to the national team for several years until she made her triumphant return to the world stage for the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship, backstopping the team to a bronze medal and earning selection as Best Goaltender by the tournament directorate.

On 2 January 2026, she was named to Finland's roster to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Career statistics International Year Team Event Result GP TOI W L GA Sv SO SV% GAA 2014 Finland WC18 5th 4 243:36 1 3 15 156 0 .912 3.70 2015 Finland WC18 5th 4 240:00 3 1 5 90 1 .947 1.25 2016 WC 4th 1 20:00 0 0 1 8 0 .889 3.00 2017 Finland WC 0 – – – – – – – – 2021 Finland WC 5 294:09 3 2 7 129 2 .949 1.43 2022 Finland OG 7 374:34 3 4 16 173 2 .915 2.56 2022 Finland WC 6th 6 350:32 2 4 12 171 1 .934 2.05 2023 Finland WC 5th 4 237:01 3 1 6 69 1 .920 1.52 2024 Finland WC 1 58:42 0 1 5 40 0 .889 5.11 2025 Finland WC 1 39:42 0 1 1 21 0 .955 1.51 2026 Finland OG 6th 1 58:32 0 1 2 22 0 .917 2.05 Junior totals 8 483:36 4 4 20 246 1 .925 2.48 Senior totals 26 1433:12 11 14 50 633 6 .927 2.09

Awards and honors AwardYearInternational World U18 Top-3 Player on Team 2014, 2015 World Championship Bronze Medal 2017, 2021, 2024 World Championship Best Goalie 2021 World Championship All Star Team 2021 World Championship Top-3 Player on Team 2021, 2022 Olympic Bronze Medal 2022Auroraliiga Tuula Puputti Award 2014–15, 2015–16, 2020–21, 2021–22 All-Star 2014–15, 2015–16 Aurora Borealis Cup Champion 2016–17 (Kärpät) All-Star, First Team 2020–21, 2021–22 Player of the Month January 2021 Riikka Nieminen Award 2021–22 Kultainen kypärä 2021–22