Noora Räty (born 29 May 1989) is a member of the Finland women's national ice hockey team and also plays for the Minnesota Golden Gophers

Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Minnesota Golden Gophers are the college sports team for the University of Minnesota. The university fields both men's and women's teams in basketball, cross country, gymnastics, golf, ice hockey, swimming, tennis, and track and field. Men's-specific sports include baseball, football, and...

 (University of Minnesota).

Playing career

Räty was named Finland's best women's ice hockey player in 2007 and 2008 and best goalie in 2006 and 2007. She was awarded the Rookie of the Year in 2005-06. In national league action in Finland, she has played in over 55 games, 12 of which were shutouts. Throughout her national league career, Räty has held a 1.45 goals against average and a .950 save percentage. In playoff competition alone had eight shutouts in 22 games played with a 1.24 GAA. Räty also played competititely in high school and was named the Haukilahti High School best hockey player of the year 2006 and 2008.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Räty enrolled as a freshman at the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

-Twin Cities in the autumn of 2009 and joined the Golden Gopher women's hockey team in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association

Western Collegiate Hockey Association

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is a college athletic conference which operates over a wide area of the Midwestern and Western United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference....

 (WCHA). Räty's first start for the Gophers came in the team's second game of the 2009-2010 season at home against Syracuse University

Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...

 (a 4-1 win). Through the WCHA conference tournament (3/7/2010), Räty amassed a 17-3-4 record in 24 starts with 7 shutouts, a GAA of 1.24, and a save percentage of .951.

Räty won a number of WCHA conference awards during the 2009-2010 season, being named WCHA Goaltending Champion (based on GAA), the goaltender of the All-WCHA First Team, and the goaltender of the All-WCHA Rookie Team. Räty was also named the WCHA Defensive Player of the Week four times and WCHA Rookie of the Week once.

In March 2010, Räty became only the second freshman to be a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award

Patty Kazmaier Award

The Patty Kazmaier Award is given to the top woman college ice hockey player in the United States. The award is presented during the women's annual ice hockey championship, the Frozen Four...

. She set a Golden Gophers club record for most assists in one season by a goaltender (3).

To start the 2010-11 season

2010–11 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey season

The Minnesota Golden Gophers attempted to win the NCAA Tournament for the third time in school history.-Offseason:* June 18: Six University of Minnesota players have been named to the United States Under-22 Team. Megan Bozek, Sarah Erickson, Amanda Kessel, Anne Schleper, Jen Schoullis and Emily...

, Raty had a shutout in the first three games of the season. On October 22 and 23, 2010, she recorded back to back shutouts against the St. Cloud State Huskies. She held the Huskies scoreless as Minnesota swept the series by scores of 5-0 and 3-0, respectively. Raty played the full 120:00 minutes of the series. She accumulated14 saves in the first game, while posting 18 in the second game. In the season, she has yet to allow a goal, holding a 1.000 save percentage and a 0.00 goals against average.

Team Finland

Räty has been a member of the Finnish National Team since 15 and has over 65 games in international play. At the age of 16, she participated for Team Finland at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. She helped Finland to their second-straight bronze medal at the 2009 IIHF World Championships.
During the 2008 World Championships, Räty shut out Team USA, 1-0, and had 30 saves. At the 2009 world championships with a 1.48 goals against average and a 3-1-0 record. She was named the tournament's best goalie in 2007 and 2008 and earned the most valuable player award in 2008.

She won a bronze medal at the 2010 Four Nations Cup

2010 Four Nations Cup

The 2010 4 Nations Cup was held in Clarenville, Newfoundland and St. John's, Newfoundland from November 9 to November 13, 2010. Games were played at the Clarenville Events Centre and Mile One Centre. The 15th edition of the international tournament was held in Newfoundland to help Hockey...

 in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Minnesota

Season	Games	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals against	Minutes	GAA	Shutouts	Saves	Save %
2009–10	26	18	4	4	36	1624	1.3303	7	663	.948

Torino 2006

Date	Result	Save	Save %
February 13	Finland 4, Switzerland 0	18	100.0%
February 13	Canada 6, Finland 0	14	87.5%
February 13	USA 4, Finland 0	7	63.6%

Vancouver 2010

• In the bronze medal game versus Sweden, at the 2010 Olympics, Räty made 16 saves for Finland. The Finnish team would win the bronze medal 2:33 into overtime.

Games Played	Minutes	Goals Against	Wins	Losses	Shutouts	Save %	Goals Against Average
5	302:33	15	3	2	0	88.5	3.00

International awards

• Most Valuable Player, 2008 IIHF Women's World Hockey Championships
• Best Goalie, 2007 IIHF Women's World Hockey Championships
• Best Goalie, 2008 IIHF Women's World Hockey Championships
• Directorate Award, Best Goaltender, 2011 IIHF Women's World Championship

WCHA honors

• WCHA Defensive Player of the Week (week of 19 October 2009)
• WCHA Rookie of the Week (week of 26 October 2009)
• WCHA Defensive Player of the Week (week of 30 November 2009)
• WCHA Co-Defensive Player of the Week (week of 7 December 2009)
• WCHA Defensive Player of the Week (week of 25 January 2010)
• 2010 WCHA Goaltending Champion
• 2010 All-WCHA First Team
• 2010 WCHA All-Rookie Team
• 2010 Golden Goldy Award as the University of Minnesota’s Female Rookie of the Year
• WCHA Defensive Player of the Week (Week of October 27, 2010)
• 2011 All-WCHA First Team
• WCHA Defensive Player of the Week (Week of November 8, 2011)

NCAA honors

• 2010 Patty Kazmaier Award
  Patty Kazmaier Award
  The Patty Kazmaier Award is given to the top woman college ice hockey player in the United States. The award is presented during the women's annual ice hockey championship, the Frozen Four...
  
  Finalist
• 2010 Women's RBK Hockey Division I All-America Team
• 2011 Patty Kazmaier Award Nominee
• 2011 Second Team All-America selection