China vs Sweden match time: 21:10 on February 7, 2022
The past 3 years have not been good for the Swedish women's ice hockey team. They were ranked ninth at the 2019 World Championships and relegated to Group IA of the 2020 World Championships, which were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and cancelled again in 2021. The top group of the 2021 World Championships is held in August, and since there are no teams promoted or relegated, the 2022 World Championships will still not have a Swedish women's ice hockey team, and they will not be able to return to the top group until at least 2023.
Fortunately, despite so many problems, Sweden managed to break through in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics qualifiers in November 2021. After being relegated from the top group in 2019, Ulf Lundberg succeeded Ylva Martinsen in charge of the Swedish women's national ice hockey team, which was the first time that the Swedish men's and women's teams were relegated from the top group.
But when it comes to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, they have reason to be optimistic, and one might think back to 2002, when the team barely made it to the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, and they eventually won the bronze medal when there was little expectation.
There is only one change to the big roster for the Beijing Winter Olympics and the roster for the Olympic qualification tournament. Defender Linnea Andersson was out, while veteran Emmy Alasalmi, who missed the Winter Olympic qualifying round with injury, returned. Despite last year's experience, this is still a young team, with only 9 players participating in the Winter Olympics. Fourteen players were born in or after 1998.
One of the most experienced players is Sara Grahn. The 33-year-old has represented the national team in every major tournament since 2007, and she and Switzerland's Florence Schelling are tied for the most women's World Championships (10 times). Sara Grahn gave the team a chance to win the game and she will undoubtedly be the team's number one goalkeeper. The other two goalkeepers have only U18 World Championship experience, emma Soderberg, 24, and Ida Boman, 18.
Despite being only 21 years old, Maja Nylen-Persson already has a lot of ITAF experience and will be a player to rely on in the backline. She participated in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and has also participated in three U18 World Championships and two Adult World Championships. Johanna Fallman, a veteran of the backline, has played for the national team since 2011 at the age of 31; her club teammate Anna Kjellbin, who has recently started to perform well, will also appear in Beijing.
The previously mentioned Alasalmi has competed in more competitions than Linnea Andersson, including winning bronze medals at the 2018 Winter Olympics and two World Championships in 2010 and 2012, Linnea Hedin is another veteran in the team, and Mina Waxin, 20, is the youngest player in the backline.
The frontcourt has a lot of outstanding young talents. Captain Emma Nordin, who has represented Sweden since the 2008 U18 World Championships, will be competing for the Winter Olympics for the fourth time, scoring points and assisting, gliding tirelessly and inspiring her teammates. Sara Hjalmarsson is another player who has competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics, and at just 24 years old she is still in the early stages of her career. She is one of only two players on the team currently playing in the NCAA. Goalkeeper Emma Soderberg plays at the prestigious University of Minnesota Dros, while Sara Hjalmarsson attends Providence College, which has just two European players.
But one player to watch out for in terms of star ability may be Hanna Olsson. At the age of 23, she has participated in four U18 World Championships, four World Championships and the 2018 Winter Olympics. She can glide, score, press opponents, and do anything. Michelle Lowenhielm, 3 years older than her, has the same resume, except that her Winter Olympics experience was in Sochi in 2014. After graduating from the University of Maryland, Lowenhielm became the first Swedish player to appear in the NWHL league and is now back in the squad after a five-year absence from the national team. She is also a player the team can rely on on on the offensive end.
Linnea Johansson, 19, is the youngest player since Boman. She competed at the 2018 and 2020 U18 World Championships and is currently entering her first coming-of-age competition. Josefin Bouveng, who is also a silver medalist at the team's historic 2018 U18 World Championships, will add to the team's depth of the field.
The text and pictures are from the official website of the International Ice Federation https://www.iihf.com/ and Weibo@IIHF the International Ice Hockey Federation