Luleå and HV71 in 2019-20. Source.
It's the 2024-25 SDHL. Luleå host HV71.
Popular Ottawa player Akane Shiga has left the PWHL and signed with Luleå. But she's not the first Japanese national team player to go to Sweden. Let's follow Luleå and explore the SDHL and its links to the Japanese national team, the PWHL, and the rest of women's hockey.
The SDHL (Svenska damhockeyligan) was founded in 2007, though it went by the name Riksserien until 2016. There are ten clubs playing 36 games each from September to February, with three rounds of post-season playoffs, plus qualification playoffs to decide relegation and promotion. The ten clubs in the 2024-25 SDHL are Brynäs, Djurgården, Frölunda, HV71, Leksand, Linköping, Luleå, MoDo, SDE and Skellefteå. If you followed the Swedish men's Elitserien about 25 years ago, this set of team names will seem very familiar.
Luleå HF/MSSK, Luleå for short, was formed in 2015 through a merger of the women's section of Luleå HF with Monksund-Skuthamns SK from Piteå. The two cities are 20 miles apart on the Gulf of Bothnia coast in Norrbotten County. MSSK had finished the previous season in sixth place but the merger and the move into Luleå's SHL-sized arena supercharged the club and they have since won the regular season and playoffs six times. Though the club wears the Luleå uniform, if you look carefully you can spot the MSSK badge among the corporate logos.
Johanna Fällman played for Luleå from 2015-16 to 2022-23, signed with PWHL New York for 2023-24, and has now returned to Luleå. Minnesota's Michaela Cava played for Luleå in 2020-21.
The team has six new players this season and a new coach, Melinda Olsen. Read about it here. Cut and paste it into Google Translate if you don't know Swedish.
How to say Luleå. (When in Google Translate click on the listen symbol in the Swedish box.)
Today's tomorrow's opponent HV71 was founded as Jönköpings IF Queens in 2002. They merged with the HV71 organization in 2008, and earned promotion to the top league in 2012. They came first in the regular season in 2019-20. Last season they finished ninth, but successfully defended their SDHL membership against Södertälje. Jönköping is an old medieval market town in south Sweden and home to the Husqvarna chainsaw.
PWHL Boston's Sidney Morin played for HV71 in 2019-20 and 2020-21. Last season HV71 had a Japanese player, Kanami Seki, previously of Sapporo Infinitys, Daishin, Seibu Princess Rabbits and the Japanese national team. That player in the Osawa jersey in the photo above is Chiho Osawa from Tomakomai, formerly of DK Peregrine, who played for Luleå from 2018-19 to 2020-21.
How to say HV71 more or less.
[Luleå 13 - 1 HV71. A goal and four assists for Shiga.]
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