Emma Laaksonen Award

The Emma Laaksonen Award (Emma Laaksonen -palkinto) is an ice hockey trophy awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the fair play player of the year of the Naisten Liiga, called the Naisten SM-sarja until 2017. The award recognizes a player who best contributes to the scoring of their team while "playing fair," that is to say, while incurring very few penalty minutes. Winners typically exceed one point per game and are issued fewer than ten penalty minutes (PIM) over a full season.

It is named after defenseman Emma Terho (née Laaksonen), former captain of the Finnish women's national ice hockey team and general manager of Kiekko-Espoo Naiset. Despite being named after a defenseman, it has only ever been awarded to forwards.

The Emma Laaksonen Award was first awarded, to Christine Posa of the Espoo Blues in 2011. Johanna Juutilainen and Saila Saari are the only players to have received the trophy twice. Saari was awarded in 2013, while playing with JYP Jyväskylä, and in 2018, while playing with Oulun Kärpät. Juutilainen was the trophy recipient while playing with KalPa Kuopio in both 2021 and 2024. Emilia Vesa, recipient for the 2018–19 season, is the only honoree to have won the trophy while averaging less than one point per game. In 2022, French national team player Emmanuelle Passard became the first international to win the award and was also the first recipient to have incurred zero penalty minutes in the award season.

The trophy holder is Johanna Juutilainen, who won the award while serving as captain of KalPa for the 2023–24 season.

Award winners
Source: Elite Prospects