Aino Karppinen (born 7 August 1997) is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national team. She plays in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) with SkellefteÃÂ¥ AIK.
Karppinen developed in the youth department of Rovaniemen Kiekko (RoKi), an ice hockey club in her hometown of Rovaniemi. She debuted at the women's senior level with RoKi Naiset in the 2013âÂÂ14 season of the Naisten Mestis, during which she played a total of six matches. Over the following seasons, she variously played with RoKi Naiset and the RoKi under-16 and under-18 men's teams. During the 2016âÂÂ17 Naisten Mestis season, Karppinen served as RoKi Naiset's alternate captain.
In the 2018âÂÂ19 season, she moved to Oulu to play with Kärpät Naiset of the Naisten Liiga. With Kärpät, she won Finnish Championship bronze in 2019 and the team qualified for the 2020 bronze medal game before the playoffs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After RoKi Naiset gained promotion to the Naisten Liiga at the conclusion of the 2019âÂÂ20 season, Karppinen returned to her home club for the 2020âÂÂ21 Naisten Liiga season. In addition to playing with RoKi Naiset, she also played 21 games with the RoKi U18 men's team in the 2020âÂÂ21 U18 Mestis season.
Karppinen was a member of the Finnish national under-18 ice hockey team during the 2015âÂÂ16 international season, which culminated with her participation in the 2016 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship. At the World U18 Championship, Karppinen was FinlandâÂÂs highest scoring defenseman, recording three points (1+2) in five games.
At the senior level, Karppinen has appeared with the Finnish national team at various tournaments in the 2018âÂÂ19 and 2019âÂÂ20 international seasons, including three of the four tournaments comprising the 2019âÂÂ20 Women's Euro Hockey Tour. She participated in the national team training camp in preparation for the 2020 IIHF World Women's Championship but was not selected to the final roster. The 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship was her World Championship debut. She was the first Rovaniemi-born product of the RoKi youth system and third woman from Finnish Lapland to be selected to the Finnish national team.