Live Chat with Emma Laaksonen – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | General
Ohio State women’s ice hockey senior defenseman Emma Laaksonen held an online chat session at 2 p.m. EST Wednesday, March 3 at www.ohiostatbuckeys.com. Questions that were summitted and Emma’s response are located at the bottom of the page. Laaksonen will be competing in her final home game this weekend vs. Findlay. The Espoo, Finland, native is only two points away from the OSU career record for career points (98). This season, Laaksonen has posted three goal and 13 assists for 16 points. Laaksonen, a four-year letterwinner, is in her second consecutive season as an alternate captain for Ohio State. She became the first Ohio State women’s hockey player to claim All-America honors. As a sophomore, Laaksonen was one of two defensemen in the country chosen as a Top 10 finalist for the 2002 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. Emma holds the Ohio State career record for power-play goals and points by a defenseman and is ranked in the Top 3 in the OSU career record books in points and assists. She represented OSU at the 2001 WCHA All-Star game. The 2002 Best Female Player of the Year in Finland, Laaksonen made her presence felt in Finland, as she has been a member of the Finnish Team since 1997, competing in 79 games, recording eight goals and 13 assists. She was a member of Team Finland when they won an Olympic bronze medal in Nagano, Japan, in 1998. At the age of 16, she was the youngest Olympian to medal for Finland. Serving as co-captain, Laaksonen scored a goal and tallied an assist in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. Team Finland finished just shy of the bronze medal, falling to Sweden, 2-1, in the bronze medal game. She was the only Ohio State student-athlete to participate in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. A business finance major she also is a three-time OSU Scholar-Athlete, a two-time WCHA All-Academic Team and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection. |
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| Adam (Northwood): How do your experiences between Ohio State and the Finland National Team differ? | ||
| Emma: At Ohio State you live, eat and do everything with your teammates. Team Finland only gets together for some camps and big tournaments so you don’t really get the “every day life” feeling. | ||
| Jenna, Mendota Hts, MN: Hi Emma, This is Jenna. I like watching the Buckeyes. Say “hi” to Katie Sershen, my cousin. Are you going to stay in the U.S.A after you graduate or are you going home to Finland? Good luck in your last games. See you at the playoffs in Minnesota. Bye from Jenna and Barb | ||
| Emma: Hi Jenna, I will say Hi to Katie! I am not sure about next year yet, I might be here or in Cananda or in Finland. | ||
| Madison (Harrisonburg, Va.): Are you related to Antti Laaksonen that plays for the Minnesota Wild in the NHL? Do you know him, or any other NHL players? | ||
| Emma: No, we are not related although I could start saying that he’s my brother because it seems to be the first question people ask me. I do not know him, but I do know other NHL players. | ||
| Columbus: Will you try for a third Olympic medal? | ||
| Emma: By far I only have one, but I will definately aim for at least one other. And that one will hopefully be a brighter color as well. | ||
| angela jamestown: when you started playing hockey, did anyone ever teased you for doing it, mainly the guys? | ||
| Emma: Actually, I started playing with the guys. At the time I was five, and probably looked like a guy too. So they didn’t really care that I was a girl. | ||
| Mary (Dublin): What was you most memorable experience at OSU? | ||
| Emma: Probably the whole first year as we were living in the same dorm room with three other teammates. Living, eating, studying, traveling, spending freetime together and still being friends by the end of the year was quite the experience. | ||
| MIKE: Wassup! Ootko muistanu syöd¤ hyvin? (How’s the food there, and have you remembered to eat well) | ||
| Emma: Jep, olen syonyt erittain hyvin (I’ve remembered to eat very well here..) | ||
| Jen (Columbus): how will the OSU team do next year with five seniors leaving the team? | ||
| Emma: Hopefully they will do great as we won’t be slowing them down anymore! I believe we have real good players and great characters within the underclassmen, and I am sure that they will step up and keep the program rolling! | ||
| Columbus: What are your plans for playing hockey beyond the collegiate level? | ||
| Emma: My plans are still a bit open, but I hope to get it all figured out within the next month. I will continue playing as long as I enjoy the game, and at least till the 2006 Olympics. Possible places for me to play post-collegiate hockey would be in either Finland, Switzerland or Canada. | ||
| Vappu, Suomi: Mika on parasta Columbuksessa ja mika karhusuolla? (What’s best in Columbus, and what’s best in Karhusuo) | ||
| Emma: Best part of Columbus are the Buckeyes and all the people involved in OSU athletics. In Karhusuo there’s a great yellow house that has an awesome yard for playing sports. Also the ice-rink in the winter is a cool place. | ||
| Lukas and Lina Moe (Tartu, Estonia): What is the difference in the role you play on your Ohio State team and your Finnish team? | ||
| Emma: I think I’ve had more of an offensive role in the OSU in my first years, but now I think there isn’t a huge difference in my role between the two teams. | ||
| John Moe (Tartu, Estonia): What is the primary addition that you have made to your hockey game from your experience of playing in the United States? | ||
| Emma: I have become more aggressive and gained confidence with my offensive play. | ||
| Sara (Westerville): Emma, You are only two points away from tying the record for career points, do you think you will reach it? Will you be able to reach 100 career points? | ||
| Emma: Yes, I think I can reach it. The ideal time would be during the overtime of our last game of the season: WCHA playoff tournament Championship game. Well, I’ll take it any other time too, but the main focus is still to get a win as a team from every one of our five remaining games. | ||
| melissa: Where did you park your car before this on-line chat | ||
| Emma: Well, I was running late for this chat and could not find a spot. However, as I was getting desperate and was ready to quit, one very dear person came walking across the street and rescued me by taking my car and took care of it. I hope I will once see my car again, or that the same great person will come pick me up.. | ||
| Heather (Nashville): Emma, When did you start playing hockey? How did you get involved in the sport? | ||
| Emma: I started at five. I started because my brother played and I really admired him and used to always play sports with him and his friends. | ||
| Katharine (Defiance): Emma, What was your favorite memory from competing in the Olympic games? | ||
| Emma: Walking in the opening ceremony and feeling the Olympic spirit was unbelievable. | ||
| Sally (Schenectady): Emma…What do you plan to do with your business degree once you graduate? | ||
| Emma: I will work somewhere in the finance world. Or who knows, maybe I’ll end up coaching goalies one day. | ||
| Emma: Ok, we are starting practice so I have to go. But thank you very much for participating! I hope to see everyone at our final home game of the season Saturday at 2 p.m. We will be facing the Findlay Oilers for the final Ohio Cup in the OSU Ice Rink. | ||
