– We knew we had built something good for Turin, and we had created a feeling that anything was possible. We had many leading players who led the team in a very good way, says Kim Martin Hasson 20 years after the historic match.
Before the Olympics in Turin, Sweden had taken great strides in development, and hopes that they would succeed in defending the very surprising bronze from four years earlier were high.
That the gold fight that would always be between the USA and Canada was a given.
An important part of the explanation for the positive Swedish development was a camp school in Landskrona.
To get so many days together as possible, the then confederation captain Peter Elander thought about the best way to get the money from the confederation and SOC, the Swedish Olympic Committee, to be enough for that.
The solution was to locate several of the team’s training camps in Landskrona, where the training opportunities were excellent, and where the accommodation in multi-bed rooms at the camp school a few kilometers from the ice rink was cheap but functional.
– Where we got the group together in a fantastic way. We got to know each other properly, and became very close. Nobody ever complained, we just drove, says Kim Martin Hasson.
– That group feeling was the key to success. A number of years ago, me and Holst (the team captain with Erika’s first name) watched the semi-final and then we were reminded of how much everyone sacrificed. The players threw themselves and covered one shot after another. It was quite fascinating to see it from a distance.
But despite all the positive things that have changed and improved, what happened in the 2006 semifinals was a hoax that is still talked about in hockey circles.
When the time came for the Olympic semi-final in Turin between Sweden and the USA, the USA were giant favourites. Until then, the two dominant players in the women’s hockey world, the USA and Canada, had met in all championship finals in both the Olympics and the World Cup.
Because even though it was possible to see with the eye how the Swedish game had improved, no one outside the team had really grasped the mental shift that had taken place in the players and how significant it was.
However, the start of the semi-final looked much like usual when the two teams had previously met in the championship.
USA took the lead 2–0, both goals scored on the power play. In that situation, there was a risk that the numbers would flow away and become large, but then Maria Rooth stepped into the action.
Rooth was the Swedish the team’s biggest offensive star and she scored both 2–1 and 2–2. That was the result after regular time. After a scoreless extra time, it was clear that the semi-final would be decided on penalties.
Even in the penalty shootout, Rooth showed class when she scored her penalty. So did the team’s youngest player, Pernilla Winberg. At the same time, Kim Martin Hasson – who was responsible for a number of good saves during regular time – stepped forward and stopped the American penalties.
Thus the sensation was a fact. Sweden won the semi-final 3–2 on penalties.
For the first time ever, Sweden would play in a championship final, and for the first time ever, the USA was already eliminated in the semifinals.
The goalkeeper hero Kim Martin Hasson’s (then just called Kim Martin) road to the medal in Turin had not been straightforward.
She was given the role of first-choice goalkeeper, but an injury to her left knee meant that she only stood the important first match of the group stage against Russia, and also missed some training sessions.
Did you ever worry that it wouldn’t work?
– No, I wasn’t. It felt like it worked well with the syringes, and the setup we had when it came to matches and training, says Kim Martin Hasson.
In the semi-finals, the match dragged on due to extra time and penalties. Did it affect the pain in the knee?
– No, I have no recollection of that. But it could also have been because I was on adrenaline in that situation. There was like no time to think. It was just a matter of driving. Not least because I felt we could win, says Kim Martin Hasson and laughs.
In the final met Sweden Canada, and although they put in a perfectly okay effort, it was clear that the Swedish players had not really managed to recharge after the dramatic semi-final. Canada won fairly 4–1.
After the final, Kim Martin Hasson received the award as the tournament’s best goalkeeper, and both she and Maria Rooth were included in the media’s All Star team.
The semi-final was watched by over two million television viewers, and after returning to Sweden, the silver ladies were celebrated together with the gold gentlemen at Medborgarplatsen.
– Considering that women’s hockey might not have been super popular at the time, it was really cool to experience how many people had opened their eyes to us, and realized that girls can actually play hockey.
– Then I thought perhaps that the upswing in the following years would be somewhat better than it turned out to be. But somewhere an interest was created.
Today Kim is Martin Hasson sporting director of the reigning Swedish champions Frölunda, and can see up close that even though it took time, good things happened in the end. The number of female hockey players in Sweden has increased rapidly in recent years, and is today roughly 11,000.
But to take the next step, a national team success would be important. It would increase the possibility of attracting even more girls to the hockey schools.
What can we expect from this year’s Olympic team?
– If you get all the pieces of the puzzle together, I think it can be something really good, says Kim Martin Hasson about what awaits in Milan.
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