2024 Worlds Recap: Team Sweden

Damkronorna had a fair amount to prove heading into this year's World Championships in Utica, NY. After last year's tournament, highlighted by the emergence of a young star in net in Emma Söderberg, this year's contest was theirs to lose.

Of course, while they ultimately did lose Group B to juggernaut Germany despite their best efforts, they still were able to show up in a big way. They provided some of the best offense and special teams of the tournament, ending in the top three in scoring efficiency, tops on the power play, and second-best when it came to the penalty kill.

Record

Group B Preliminaries:

Game 1: Win vs. Denmark, 3-1

Game 2: Win vs. China, 8-1

Game 3: Win vs. Japan, 6-2

Game 4: Loss vs. Germany, 1-0

Quarterfinals:

Loss vs. Canada, 5-1

Final Placement:

7th overall in tournament

Team MVP

Hilda Svensson is in her second year with the senior national team, and she proved again that she is their star, with 6 points in 5 games played (4 G, 2 A).

Svensson displayed a strong, confident shot and plenty of strength on the puck — and she's only 17 years old, meaning there's nothing but room for her to grow. With her commitment to The Ohio State University commencing in 2025-26, I expect she'll grow exponentially in the next few years.

Key Moment

It sounds a little nuts after I said in the intro that Sweden displayed some excellent offensive prowess during tournament play, but it was definitely the loss to Germany that showed what they still need to work on to keep that consistent.

Against teams like Japan that severely underperformed, the offense was able to pick apart the neutral zone and get the space they wanted in front of the net, as well as dominate the puck for most of the game. Germany's forecheck, however, was stronger and able to hold Sweden in the zone for a little longer, providing the perfect opportunity for the one goal Franziska Feldmeier was able to score on Söderberg.

Sweden got a few key chances in close on Sandra Abstreiter, particularly earlier in the match; however, Abstreiter (as proven by her numbers) was damn near unbeatable all tournament, which clearly frustrated the Swedes throughout this game. I'll have more soon on Sweden's bright future as an offensive threat in any international tournament to come, but for once, I think the focus will need to be on the blue line and getting the entire team on the same page defensively. The great news is, this is a young team (average age 22 years old), so there's plenty of time to get this going.

What's Next?

Well, for a lot of them, this is it until the European pro leagues start up again; in fact, Söderberg is the lone player to have professional games still to play, with PWHL Boston. The SDHL finished their season entirely before the start of games at Worlds, and Anna Kjellbin's Lulea HC took the championship over MoDo, home to multiple national team members including Ebba Hedqvist, Mira Hallin, and Lina Ljungblom (for now — more on that in a moment). Svensson has spent the past couple of seasons with HV71 and will likely end up there again alongside Mira Jungåker and Finnish bronze medalist Anni Keisala. HV71 narrowly avoided relegation this past season and will remain in the top tier for 2024-25.

Ljungblom may end up making the leap to the PWHL next season. After being selected by Montréal with the final pick in the inaugural draft last fall, she honored the last season of her contract with MoDo; however, it looks like she intends to come to North America for 2024-25, and that will be a big boost for the Montréal.

Young guns like Josefin Bouveng and Ida Karlsson will likely be back with their respective university squads in the fall, set to wreak havoc in the NCAA's powerhouse Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Goaltender Tindra Holm has transferred from LIU to the University of Minnesota Duluth as well, likely to compete with Eve Gascon for a starting job.

Where to Watch Sweden's Stars

As mentioned, you can catch Söderberg with PWHL Boston, with games streaming live on YouTube and aired regionally via NESN. The SDHL has its own subscription service, where you can watch all games for the season; meanwhile, ESPN+ and YouTube TV have select women's NCAA hockey games in-season as well.