In 1982, Nacka HK lost one game. Throughout the remainder of the 1980s, they didn't lose again. It was a streak that spanned more than 100 games. In that time, Nacka went 99-0-1. The span included Nacka HK winning Sweden's first national championship in 1985, albeit an official title, and every title that followed for more than a decade.
At Sweden’s first national championship in 1985, Kristina Bergstrand led Nacka to a pair of wins over MoDo 8-3 and Diö 11-0. Bergstrand scored six goals and nine points in the two playoff games. “To be able to play matches where something mattered was absolutely fantastic,” Bergstrand recalled. Bergstrand captained Sweden that the first official World Championships in 1990 and starred for their national team through the 1998 Olympics, until she retired from the national team following the 2001 World Championships.
Bergstrand found hockey, and Nacka at the age of 19 in 1982 on a basketball court. In the suburbs of Stockholm, Bergstrand would skate at the neighborhood park. She loved orienteering, table tennis, and basketball. At basketball one day, a teammate of hers, Susanne Mörne invited her to try hockey in a tournament with a team known as Nacka HK.
“I put on the equipment and took part in that tournament. Then it was over because this was the funnest thing I've ever done,” recalled Bergstrand in a 2018 interview with Hockey Sverige . The tournament in question was the annual Gurka Cup in Västerås.
“I didn't know much… there were no series or particularly many tournaments at this time. It was once a year that the Gurka Cup in Västerås took place and you played against other teams,” Bergstrand explained of women’s hockey in Sweden at the time.
Nacka continued their dominance winning the 1986 and 1987 unofficial national titles.
In 1987, Nacka supplied Sweden with the bulk of their first national team as Sweden took part in the first unofficial women's World Hockey Tournament in Mississauga.
"Team Sweden consists of an all-star team of 17 players. Thirteen of the players are from the national championship Nacka HK team...Nacka HK is the dominent women's team in Sweden," The Orangeville Banner wrote previewing the tournament.
Sweden was provided no support to their women's hockey players to attend the tournament. It took a donation by Swedish star and Toronto Maple Leafs defender Borje Salming to get the team to Canada, where they finished fourth in that tournament beating Switzerland, Netherlands, and Japan, while falling to the two Canadian teams and USA.
“I knew they were having trouble getting a sponsor and I was pleased to be able to help them,” Salming told the Toronto Star at the time.
Returning to Europe, Nacka continued their dominance winning Sweden's first official national championship in 1988 beating FOC Farsta 11-0 in the final.
"Nacka Hockey is--with a few exceptions--the equivalent of the Swedish national hockey team," wrote the Los Angeles Times in 1989 .
Nacka won the Swedish national championship from 1988 through 1994. They lost to FOC Farsta in 1995 and 1997, but won in 1996 and 1998.
Following the 1997–1998 season, the women's team was disbanded. They'd lost support from Nacka and from the Swedish Ice Hockey Association. That same year at the 1998 Olympics, seven members of Team Sweden came from Nacka. The team however, was shut down receiving no support, financial or otherwise, and found themselves pushed out of their arena for men's and youth hockey.
"The week before this year's...final, we were not allowed to practice in the ice rink. Youth teams would have those times. Once we won, we didn't get a thank you from the club management," said Åsa Elfving, a member of Sweden's 1998 Olympic roster and member of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association's board.
Nacka and women's hockey's primary adversary in Sweden at the time was Rickard Fagerlund, who served as the chairman of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association from 1983 until 2002.
“There have always been prejudices and everyone has talked about that, but I'm not the kind of person who takes such things for granted,” said Kristina Bergstrand. At one point, Fagerlund tried to dissuade Bergstrand and her teammates from continuing in hockey. According to Bergstrand, he “said that we should do equestrian sports instead.”
"I absolutely think that women's hockey should exist and that it is sad that its flagship is going away," said Fagerlund in a 1998 interview. "But I would like to convey to the players that they should probably take the spoon in a good hand and learn to crawl before they try to walk. It is definitely not obvious that a women's team's training times should be ahead of a youth team's. Tre Kronor is Swedish hockey's only source of income, and we must secure regrowth there. Women's hockey only costs money. After the failure in the Olympics, I wonder if it makes sense to invest such resources as we have done now."
Nacka was finished, in the middle of a dynasty and after providing the lion's share of players for Sweden's national team, including at the inaugural Olympics. Many of the Nacka players were forced to find other clubs.
"Even if some now quit completely, there are many who want to continue playing in one form or another. Either we form our own association or play for other clubs," said national team and Nacka defender Pernilla Burholm. Most of the players from Nacka moved to Mälarhöjden/Bredäng Hockey.
Nacka produced many stars over the years including Bergstrand Elfving, Mörne, and Burholm, along with Line Baun Danielson, Ann-Louise Edstrand, Lisa Plahn, Tina Bjork, and Annika Persson, to name only a few.
It was a dynasty compared to no other in Swedish women's hockey history. Nacka HK served as the precursor to Sweden's national team, and was the driving force in popularizing women's hockey in Sweden. From more than 100 consecutive wins, to 10 straight national titles, Nacka was an unforgettable powerhouse and pioneering program in Swedish women's hockey.
View the original article to see embedded media.
Most Popular
Comments / 0