Tapani played ice hockey in Finland in the
Naisten Liiga with
TPS Naiset,
Lukko Naiset,
Espoo Blues Naiset, and
HPK Kiekkonaiset. In Sweden, Tapani played in the
Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) with
Linköping HC Dam. In the United States, Tapani played with the
North Dakota Fighting Hawks women's ice hockey program during the
2013–14 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey season. In Russia, Tapani played
professional ice hockey in the Russian
Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL) with the
KRS Vanke Rays during the later part of the
2021–22 ZhHL season. During the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons, Tapani played with the TPS Juniorijääkiekko men's under-18 (U18) team, known as TPS U18 Akatemia, of the U18 Mestis/U18 Suomi-sarja until scheduling conflicts forced her to choose between ringette and ice hockey in November 2020. When it became clear that the TPS U18 Akatemia was unable or unwilling to alter its schedule to accommodate Tapani, she chose to leave the team and continue playing ringette with RNK Raisio of the Finnish Championship ringette league, the
Ringeten SM-sarja (now known as SM Ringette), which is the ringette team she captains. Regarding the situation, Tapani stated, "I'm not commenting on the discussions [with TPS] or the way this came to be, but combining the two sports didn't fit when there were too many overlapping games." She signed a contract for the
2023–24 season in the
Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) with the
Metropolitan Riveters in May 2023. The PHF was bought out and dissolved in late-June 2023 and her contract voided before she was able to play in the league. Tapani was drafted in the fifth round, 25th overall by the
PWHL Minnesota in the
2023 PWHL Draft. She was the first Finnish player to be drafted by a PWHL team and, along with
Minttu Tuominen, was one of two Finnish players drafted in 2023. She later signed a two-year contract with Minnesota, through the 2024–25 season. On 11 February 2024, Tapani was traded to
PWHL Boston, along with defender
Abby Cook, in exchange for
Sophie Jaques in the PWHL's inaugural trade. Prior to being traded, Tapani had recorded two goals and three assists in nine games with Minnesota. During the
2024–25 season, she recorded 11 goals and seven assists in 30 games. She ranked third on the team in scoring with 18 points. On 17 June 2025, she signed a one-year contract extension with the Fleet.
Training Tapani trained with several men's professional ice hockey players during the extended pause between the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons due to COVID-19. Under the direction of
Ismo Lehkonen, the group – which included NHLers
Kaapo Kakko,
Artturi Lehkonen,
Mikko Rantanen, and
Rasmus Ristolainen, and several
Liiga players – trained on the ice together for two hours a day.
Jonne Virtanen, long-time Liiga player and member of the training group, noted that Tapani's strength and toughness would be well suited to a style of play that permitted
checking and enthused, "Suski is the best female player that I have ever seen."
International play Tapani made three appearances with the
Finnish women's national under-18 ice hockey team at the
IIHF Women's World U18 Championship, in
2009,
2010, and
2011, winning a bronze medal at the 2011 tournament. As of 2020, Tapani ranks sixth in all-time points scored with the Finnish women's national team, tallying 75 goals and 72 assists for 147 points in 179 top division matches. She has represented Finland at every
IIHF Women's World Championship since
2011, except the
2016 tournament. At the
2017 IIHF Women's World Championship, she was Finland's leading scorer and ranked fifth for scoring in the tournament overall with 3 goals and 6 assists for 9 points in 5 games. Tapani has also competed with the Finnish national team at the
Winter Olympic Games, debuting in the
women's ice hockey tournament at the
2014 Winter Olympics in
Sochi. Though Finland suffered their worst Olympic placement in team history, finishing in fifth place, Tapani saw individual success and tied teammate
Riikka Välilä for third rank on the Finnish scoring list, with 1 goal and 4 assists for 5 points in six games. In the
women's ice hockey tournament at the
2018 Winter Olympics in
Pyeongchang, Finland won bronze and Tapani finished fourth in the team's scoring ranks, with 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points in six games. The
women's ice hockey tournament at the
2022 Winter Olympics in
Beijing saw Tapani take another step in offensive production – she ranked first on the team in scoring with 6 goals and 2 assists for 8 points in seven games – and led Finland to another bronze medal victory. In 2021,
Pasi Mustonen, head coach of the Finnish national ice hockey team, called Tapani the team's best
forward on a roster that also featured internationally recognized forwards like
Michelle Karvinen and
Petra Nieminen.
Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Note:
Italics indicate postseason
relegation series; statistics not included in playoff totals.
International Source: == Ringette career ==