University of Minnesota Athletics
Photo by: Jerry E. Lee
Alumni Spotlight: Mira Jalosuo
10/22/2020 8:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
Gopher alumna Mira Jalosuo looks back on her time representing the Maroon & Gold.
MINNEAPOLIS -- The 2020-21 season marks the 24th season of Gopher women's hockey. Twenty-three years of student-athletes set the foundation for where the program is today, and it's time to reconnect with them. Up next in our alumni spotlight is Mira Jalosuo.
Jalosuo, a native of Lieksa, Finland, played for the Gophers from 2009-10 to 2012-13. She appeared in 153 career games for the Maroon & Gold, recording 57 career points with 19 goals and 38 assists. An All-WCHA Third Team honoree as a senior, Jalosuo was part of back-to-back national championship teams as a junior and senior. She was a three-time WCHA All-Academic honoree as well. Find out where life has taken Jalosuo since her days on the University of Minnesota campus.
Gopher Sports: Where has life taken you since you graduated from the University of Minnesota?
Mira Jalosuo: After I graduated in 2013, I kept playing hockey overseas (Russia, Sweden, and Finland) until the last Olympics in 2018. In 2015, I got accepted to Hamline University and studied Forensic Science there.
GS: Where do you currently live and work?
MJ: Now I am back in Minnesota full time. I bought a business called Minnesota Ice Cougars in 2018, so now I am a full-time hockey coach. During the winter season, I am also coaching girls hockey at Stillwater High School, and this fall I started coaching with the PWHPA.
GS: What personal or professional accomplishment(s) are you most proud of since you graduated from the University of Minnesota?
MJ: Making the 2018 Olympic Team and winning a bronze medal there.
GS: What is your favorite memory about your time as a Gopher on the ice? Off the ice?
MJ: This one is a hard one. I would say just overall seeing my teammates daily. On the ice, winning the 2013 championship was special since we had a target on our backs the whole season.
GS: What are you most proud of from your time as a Gopher?
MJ: As a team going undefeated in 2012-2013.
GS: What advice would you give your college self or the current Gophers?
MJ: Give back more to youth hockey. As a player, you don't even realize how many young players look up to you. I wish I would have known better how huge the Minnesota hockey community is.
GS: How did your college hockey career help prepare you for life after college?
MJ: The list is long but to mention few: time management, teamwork, how to handle pressure, giving back to the community, and more.
GS: Are you still involved with hockey and sports?
MJ: Yes, every day I get to coach between four and eight hours on the ice. It's kind of my hobby but pays the bills. :)
GS: Who is a Gopher Women's Hockey player you have enjoyed watching play after you graduated?
MJ: I have to say Amanda Kessel. Obviously we played together, but seeing her make her come back in 2015-16 was a special moment since it was very much unknown if she ever could play hockey again.
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Jalosuo, a native of Lieksa, Finland, played for the Gophers from 2009-10 to 2012-13. She appeared in 153 career games for the Maroon & Gold, recording 57 career points with 19 goals and 38 assists. An All-WCHA Third Team honoree as a senior, Jalosuo was part of back-to-back national championship teams as a junior and senior. She was a three-time WCHA All-Academic honoree as well. Find out where life has taken Jalosuo since her days on the University of Minnesota campus.
Gopher Sports: Where has life taken you since you graduated from the University of Minnesota?
Mira Jalosuo: After I graduated in 2013, I kept playing hockey overseas (Russia, Sweden, and Finland) until the last Olympics in 2018. In 2015, I got accepted to Hamline University and studied Forensic Science there.
GS: Where do you currently live and work?
MJ: Now I am back in Minnesota full time. I bought a business called Minnesota Ice Cougars in 2018, so now I am a full-time hockey coach. During the winter season, I am also coaching girls hockey at Stillwater High School, and this fall I started coaching with the PWHPA.
GS: What personal or professional accomplishment(s) are you most proud of since you graduated from the University of Minnesota?
MJ: Making the 2018 Olympic Team and winning a bronze medal there.
GS: What is your favorite memory about your time as a Gopher on the ice? Off the ice?
MJ: This one is a hard one. I would say just overall seeing my teammates daily. On the ice, winning the 2013 championship was special since we had a target on our backs the whole season.
GS: What are you most proud of from your time as a Gopher?
MJ: As a team going undefeated in 2012-2013.
GS: What advice would you give your college self or the current Gophers?
MJ: Give back more to youth hockey. As a player, you don't even realize how many young players look up to you. I wish I would have known better how huge the Minnesota hockey community is.
GS: How did your college hockey career help prepare you for life after college?
MJ: The list is long but to mention few: time management, teamwork, how to handle pressure, giving back to the community, and more.
GS: Are you still involved with hockey and sports?
MJ: Yes, every day I get to coach between four and eight hours on the ice. It's kind of my hobby but pays the bills. :)
GS: Who is a Gopher Women's Hockey player you have enjoyed watching play after you graduated?
MJ: I have to say Amanda Kessel. Obviously we played together, but seeing her make her come back in 2015-16 was a special moment since it was very much unknown if she ever could play hockey again.
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