The Katja Riipi Award (Finnish: Katja Riipi -palkinto) is an ice hockey trophy, seasonally awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the best forward of the Naisten Liiga, previously the Naisten SM-sarja. Best forward in the Naisten Liiga was first awarded in the 2005–06 season, to Saara Niemi (née Tuominen). The award was named in honor of Katja Riipi during the 2010–11 season.[1]
Ten players have won the award and, of the ten, three have won it more than once. Young phenom Elisa Holopainen, a left winger, is the current title holder and has won the award in each of the past six seasons, making her the first player to win the award more than two consecutive times. Holopainen's win in 2023 broke the four-win record first set by Linda Leppänen (née Välimäki). Leppänen, a centre, first won the trophy in the 2009–10 season, while playing with Ilves Tampere – the team she would later coach during 2020 to 2022. Her later three titles were awarded while playing with the Kiekko-Espoo franchise, winning consecutive trophies in 2014 and 2015, when the team was called the Espoo Blues, and in the 2017, when the team was called Espoo United. Anne Helin, who won the trophy in the 2010–11 season and 2012–13, is the only other player to have been awarded the Katja Riipi Award more than once.
