Rodney Paavola

{{short description|American ice hockey player}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| name=Rod Paavola

| image = Rodney Paavola 1960 (cropped).jpg

| image_size = 180px

| caption = Paavola in 1960

| birth_date = {{birth date|1939|8|21}}

| birth_place = Hancock, Michigan

| death_date = {{death date and age|1995|12|3|1939|8|21}}

| death_place = Marquette, Michigan

| ntl_team = USA

| career_start = 1957

| career_end = 1966

| medaltemplates=

{{MedalSport | Men's ice hockey}}

{{MedalCountry|the {{USA}}}}

{{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}}

{{MedalGold| 1960 Squaw Valley |Team competition}}

}}

Rodney Earland Paavola (August 21, 1939 – December 3, 1995) was an American ice hockey player.

Paavola was of Finnish descent.{{cite web |url=http://www.sjhs.fi/amerikansuomalaiset/ |title=Yhdysvaltain jääkiekkoseurat, maajoukkueet ja niiden amerikansuomalaiset |last=Ruskeeahde |first=Jukka |publisher={{ill|Finnish Society of Ice Hockey History|fi|Suomen Jääkiekkohistoriallinen Seura}} |language=fi |access-date=August 26, 2021}} He played football in high school for the Hancock Bulldogs.{{cite news |title=Ontonagon Ends Grid Season with 27–0 Loss to Hancock |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114284926/rodney-paavola-1939-1995/ |work=Ironwood Daily Globe |date=October 24, 1955 |location=Ironwood, MI |page=5 |access-date=December 8, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}{{cite news |title=Corgiat is 5th in U.P. Scoring |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114284968/rodney-paavola-1939-1995/ |work=Ironwood Daily Globe |date=September 21, 1956 |location=Ironwood, MI |page=6 |access-date=December 8, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} He won a gold medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics as a member of the US Olympic Ice Hockey Team.{{cite news |title=Fort Welcomes Olympian Back |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114335808/rodney-paavola-1939-1995/ |work=The Manhattan Mercury |date=April 6, 1960 |location=Manhattan, KS |page=5 |access-date=December 9, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}