Meaghen Johnson: Sweden returns to the top tier of women’s hockey
For the first time in three years, Sweden is back in the top division of the IIHF Women’s World Hockey Championship.
Sweden will compete in Group B when the tournament kicks off on August 25 in Denmark. Once one of the top four teams in women’s hockey, the Swedes were relegated from the top division in 2019 after finishing ninth in the tournament that year.
– It feels good, and hopefully we will take care of this opportunity, says defender Maja Nylén Persson to TSN. “I think everyone is really excited to compete with the best teams in the world.”
Under normal circumstances, Sweden would have had a chance of advancement by playing in the Division 1 A World Cup, where the teams in first and second place qualify for the top division. But that tournament has been canceled for the past two years due to covid-19.
Sweden earned its place in this year’s tournament after Russia was expelled due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I think Sweden belongs in [top] group”, said Nylén Persson. “It’s been a bit frustrating that we haven’t had the chance to play to get us a chance to go up to [top] group.”
The promotion comes after a tumultuous time for Swedish women’s hockey and its confederation. After relegation in 2019, players in the women’s national team boycotted team activities in protest of their treatment by the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation.
The two sides were able to reach an agreement after a few months. Nylén Persson, who debuted with the national team in the 2016-17 season when she was a teenager, says there have been noticeable improvements since the boycott.
“I think we’ve had better communication when we go to camp and things like that,” she said. “And that’s what it’s all about – listening and having a two-way communication.”
Ulf Lundberg took over as head coach in 2020 and reiterated the importance of creating a better environment.
“We’ve worked a lot on communication to talk to each other instead of talking about each other,” he told TSN. “We work hard and we will always want to do the best for the players when it comes to facilities, environments to train in and so on.”
Sweden last won a medal at the World Championships in 2007, when the team took home bronze. The Swedes have not finished higher than fifth since 2011.
Lundberg leans heavily towards the next generation of players taking the step. The roster for this year’s World Cup has an average age of 22. Veterans such as goalkeeper Sara Grahn, forwards Lisa Johansson and Emma Nordin, who was Sweden’s flag bearer during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, were not named to the team.
“We have a lot of younger players coming up, but they need experience, and how do you get that experience apart from playing these international games at the highest level?” Lundberg said. “You always talk about the two poles, creativity and discipline. In ice hockey you have to do both, as I see it. I’ve seen where we have a better balance between the two right now because I really want the players to be brave and use their skills out there.”
Peter Elander coached Sweden for nearly a decade from 2001 to 2010, leading the team to two bronze medals at the World Championships and a historic silver medal at the 2006 Olympics.
Despite Sweden returning to the top division in the world market, Elander believes there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the team.
“I don’t think Sweden really knows where they are in the hierarchy of women’s national hockey teams,” he told TSN.
In particular, Elander disagrees with the decision to leave veterans like Grahn and Nordin off the current roster.
“There are too many rules [on] who should join…. We don’t have a Canadian population of women’s hockey players. You choose the best players. That was my philosophy, he said. – There are many question marks around Sweden. I hope it will be an exclamation point, but I’m not so sure.”
Although there may be question marks surrounding the senior team, lately it has been positive for women’s hockey in Sweden. The under-18 team finished fourth in the U18 World Cup after narrowly losing 3-2 to the USA in the semi-finals.
Several young players stood out for Sweden, including Tuva Kandell, who finished in the top 10 in tournament points and was named best defender.
Sweden also launched a program called the Olympic Offensive this year, which is designed to provide extra camps and ice time to replenish rising younger talent who are not yet on the senior team.
“The federation, after the debacle of 2019, they’ve really taken to their core – we’re going to be better on the women’s side,” Elander said. “Sweden has an extra ticket now and I hope they can use it to stabilize themselves. I think [Under 18s] showed that there are some young players on the way.”
The Swedes finished third in group B at the Beijing Olympics in February. They lost their first two matches against Japan and the Czech Republic but bounced back for wins against China and Denmark to advance.
“I think we started the tournament okay. But okay is not good enough,” Lundberg said.
In the quarter-finals, Sweden faced Group A winners Canada in their first Olympic meeting since 2010. The Canadians, who would go on to take gold, decisively beat the Swedes 11-0 while outscoring them 56-11.
“I think Nelson Mandela said, ‘I never lose.’ Either I win or I learn.’ And it was a really good game to learn for us, to feel that intensity, to face that level of competition in every second, says Lundberg.
Nylén Persson, 22, participated in her second Olympics in Beijing and sees it as a stepping stone for the team.
“Our goal was to make it to the quarterfinals, and we did that… I think it was a really good experience for the younger girls to see what it takes, how we have to play to compete with the best teams in the world , she said.
Sweden will now take those lessons with them to this year’s World Cup, where they will face some of the same teams. They will compete in Group B alongside the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary and the hosts, Denmark.
“We know we have to play with consistency,” Lundberg said. “The last medal was in 2007. The goal of this journey when we started is to reach back to that level, to play [for] those medals again.
– We have a goal to reach the quarter-finals. But I said I also want to reach high. We have a chance to win that group. We have to believe in what we’re doing.”