Sweden unveils women’s hockey roster for 2026 Winter Olympics
Damkronorna is geared up for what should be an exciting tournament in Italy.
On Monday, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association announced its women’s roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics. The 23-player roster has many familiar faces, along with a couple of young stars hopeful to push the team back into the medal conversation.
There’s a scattering of PWHLers on the roster, led by defender Maja Nylén-Persson. After a rough first season with the New York Sirens, she’s slowly starting to find her footing in year two and hopes to carry that into the Olympics. Toronto Sceptres rearguard Anna Kjellbin is also ready to have a strong performance in Milan.
Sweden’s offense will be key to their success in the tournament. There are plenty of national team regulars, including Sara Hjalmarsson, Lina Ljungblom, and Sofie Lundin. The college kids will certainly be a driving force as well, especially if the Swedes want to be successful in the knockout stage. Hilda Svensson is having a monster freshman season at Ohio State, sitting tied for third in the country with 38 points in 22 games. Minnesota’s Josefin Bouveng has been a complementary player to Abbey Murphy this year, while Thea Johansson is doing her part in keeping Minnesota Duluth competitive in the tough WCHA.
In goal, expect Emma Söderberg to get the brunt of the work once again. After her time with the Boston Fleet flamed out, she returned to Sweden and is having a great year with SDE HF in the SDHL.
Forwards: Hilda Svensson, Josefin Bouveng, Lisa Johansson, Sofie Lundin, Sara Hjalmarsson, Hanna Thuvik, Thea Johansson, Ebba Hedqvist, Lina Ljungblom, Hanna Olsson, Felizia Wikner-Zienkiewicz, Mira Hallin, Nicole Hall
Defenders: Linnéa Andersson, Mira Jungåker, Jessica Adolfsson, Maja Nylén-Persson, Ida Karlsson, Jenna Raunio, Anna Kjellbin
Goaltenders: Ebba Träff Svensson, Emma Söderberg, Tindra Holm
The Swedes have competed in every women’s tournament at the Winter Games since its inception in 1998. However, it’s been a long time since they’ve been considered medal contenders. After winning bronze in 2002, and a Cinderella run to silver four years later, you’d have to go back to 2014 to find the last time Damkronorna made it to the semifinals at the Olympics. Sweden’s best finish in a major tournament since was a fifth-place result in the 2016 IIHF Women’s World Championship.
Here is Sweden’s schedule for its group stage games:
- Thursday, Feb. 5: Sweden vs. Germany, 6:10 a.m. ET
- Saturday, Feb. 7: Sweden vs. Italy, 8:40 a.m. ET
- Sunday, Feb. 8: France vs. Sweden, 10:40 a.m. ET
Tuesday, Feb. 10: Japan vs. Sweden, 6:10 a.m. ET
The quarterfinals will begin on Feb. 13 and conclude the following day. Both semifinals are taking place on Feb. 16. The tournament will wrap up on Feb. 19 with both the gold and bronze medal games.