Sara Grahn

Sara Karin Maria Grahn (born 25 September 1988) is a Swedish ice hockey goaltender for Luleå HF/MSSK in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (Swedish: Svenska damhockeyligan, SDHL) and the Swedish national team. She is the longest tenured goaltender in SDHL history, the only to have ever played more than 300 games, and has won the SDHL championship once.

Sara Grahn
Sara Grahn
Born (1988-09-25) 25 September 1988
Örebro, Sweden
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 67 kg (148 lb; 10 st 8 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
SDHL team
Former teams		 Luleå HF/MSSK
Brynäs IF
Oppala IK
Linköpings HC
Örebro HK
National team  Sweden
Playing career 2004–present
Medal record
Women's ice hockey
Representing  Sweden
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place2007 Canada

Career

Growing up in Hallsberg, Grahn began skating at the age of four and began playing as a goaltender at the age of ten.[1] When Riksserien was founded as the top flight of women's hockey in Sweden in 2007, she signed professionally with Linköping HC.

After three years in Linköping, she left the club to sign with Brynäs IF, attracted in part by the more professional environment and the presence of goaltending coach Pecka Alcén.

In February 2015, she posted a 55-save shutout in a 1–0 victory over Leksands IF in the playoff quarterfinals.[2] She was named the Riksserien Goaltender of the Year for the 2014–15 season.[3]

In the 2015–16 season, she played two matches for Brynäs' U20 boys' team, posting a .971 save percentage.[4] That year, she was also loaned out to Hockeytvåan club Oppala IK, in the third division of Swedish men's hockey, for a game in late November 2015, posting a shutout.[5]

After eight seasons with Brynäs, she left the club to sign with reigning champions Luleå HF/MSSK ahead of the 2018–19 SDHL season, citing the greater investment into women's hockey in Luleå and the delays in addressing problems in Brynäs.[6][7]

International career

Grahn has represented the Swedish national team at three consecutive Olympics, making her Olympic debut at the 2010 Winter Olympics, and representing the country again in 2014 and 2018. She, however, didn't play a game at the 2010 Olympics, serving as the team's third goaltender.[8][9]

She made her IIHF World Championship debut for Sweden at the 2007 IIHF Women's World Championship, and has appeared in an additional nine World Championships since.

She took part in the 2019 Sweden women's national ice hockey team strike.[10]

Personal life

Grahn has studied at the Luleå University of Technology.[11]

In August 2018, she launched the Sara Grahn Goalie Development Camp for young girls in Sandviken.[12]

References
  1. Rönnkvist, Ronnie (8 April 2014). ""Hjälpen jag får av Pecka är en jättestor nyckel"". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  2. Rönnkvist, Ronnie (25 February 2015). "Landslagsmålvaktens galna slutspelsöppning – stoppade 55 skott". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  3. Rönnkvist, Ronnie (19 March 2015). "Här de individuella pristagarna i Riksserien". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  4. Kamp, Fredrik (4 June 2016). "Sara Grahn tränar med Brynäs herrlag". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 6 June 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  5. "Sara Grahn höll nollan herrmatch". Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). 1 December 2015. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  6. Nilsson, Jonathan (7 September 2018). "Grahn: "Var väldigt besviken hur allt var"". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  7. Rönnkvist, Ronnie (1 June 2018). "Lämnar Brynäs efter åtta år – nu blickar Grahn framåt i ny skrud". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  8. "Sara Grahn Biography and Olympic Results". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  9. "Sara Grahn" (PDF). Swehockey.se. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  10. Nilsson, Jonathan (15 October 2019). "Sara Grahn om lösningen: "Ingen är gladare än vi"". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  11. Hjertström, Anders (22 December 2019). "Anpassad studiegång vid LTU hjälpte elitidrottaren Sara Grahn mot målet". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 23 December 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  12. Karlsson, Måns (29 August 2018). "Världsmålvaktens nya projekt: Startar målvaktsläger för tjejer". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 31 August 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2020.


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