Finland native takes spotlight on URI ice

12/04/08 - Freshman Johanna Leskinen has been to 20 countries and more than 100 cities in her life, but now she's on the ice playing for the University of Rhode Island women's hockey team. The Finland native spent nine years living with her family in Germany, but has also been to Thailand, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, France, Greece, Croatia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russia and Estonia, just to name a few. She also said her favorite vacation spot is Mauritius, a tiny island east of Madagascar.

"I love to travel," Leskinen said.

While living in Germany, Leskinen attended an international school. She had friends from many different cultures and has had American friends since the seventh grade.

With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that Leskinen left Finland to come to school in the United States.

"I've always known that I wanted to study in a different language," said Leskinen, who currently speaks Finnish, Swedish, German and English.

She began looking for schools on the East Coast of the United States, focusing on both academics and hockey.

"I stumbled across URI and sent coach [Beth] McCann an e-mail," Leskinen said. "She told me about the program and got me really excited to come here."

Women's hockey is a club sport at URI, so Leskinen could not be recruited or offered a scholarship.

She originally started as a figure skater at 5 years old, but when her brother wanted to try out for a hockey team, she decided to follow that path.

She began playing in Germany for a boy's team when she was 9 years old and it wasn't until her family moved back to Finland that she played on a women's team.

She was also involved in tennis and golf, but eventually settled on playing only hockey. Leskinen said adjusting to life on campus has not been very difficult because of her ability to adapt well to new situations.

She has had no trouble fitting into her role on the women's hockey team either. She is the starting forward and leads the team in assists with 18 she's also second on the team in goals (11), points (29) and power play goals (4).

With her help, the women's hockey team is ranked No. 1 nationally in the American Collegiate Hockey Association and has a national championship in its sights.

Leskinen said the team's goal is not unrealistic.

The Rams are currently 12-1 overall and stand undefeated at 10-0 against ACHA opponents.

While she is already experiencing success playing hockey, Leskinen has also set some personal goals for herself so that she can be just as successful in the classroom.

She is majoring in entrepreneurial management and plans to either pursue graduate school in the United States or further her hockey career back home.

Off of the ice, she is working hard completing assignments so that graduate school can become a reality.

"We have practice four times a week, as well as off-ice practice, so I have to stay on top of my schoolwork," Leskinen said.

In any free time she has, she said she enjoys drama and thriller movies, as well as listening to all types of music. Lately she has been listening to Akon, but said she will listen to anything with the exception of heavy metal.

"The whole team experience at URI has been great," Leskinen said. "[The team] takes great care of me."

Despite her positive experience at school, Leskinen said she misses being at home.

Her family is from Helsinki, Finland, some 4,000 miles away.

She lives with both of her parents along with two brothers, one who is 21 and one who is 17.

Leskinen and the women's hockey team play their next game at the Boss Ice Arena on Friday Dec 5 at 7 p.m.