Erika Grahm

Erika Grahm
Born (1991-01-26) 26 January 1991 (age 33)
Kramfors, Sweden
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 75 kg (165 lb; 11 st 11 lb)
Position Forward
Shot Left
Played for Modo Hockey
Brynäs IF
National team  Sweden
Playing career 2006–2021

Erika Maria Grahm (born 26 January 1991) is a Swedish retired ice hockey forward and current general manager of Brynäs IF Dam in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL).[1] During her playing career, she was a two-time Olympian with the Swedish national ice hockey team.[2][3][4] She is the fourth highest scorer in the history of the SDHL and all-time leading scorer for Modo Hockey, who she captained from 2010 until her departure in 2018.

Playing career

Modo Hockey

Having grown up a Modo fan in Kramfors, Grahm joined the organisation in 2005 at the age of 14.[5]

On 8 June 2011, it was announced that Grahm and Swedish national teammate, Tina Enstrom, would join the University of Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs for the 2011–12 Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs women's ice hockey season.[6] However, she never attended UMD.

In July 2015, she became the first women's hockey player to be added to the database of the hockey statistics website Elite Prospects.[7]

She missed the large parts of the 2015–16 SDHL season, including the entire playoffs, after suffering a series of injuries, including a pinched nerve at beginning of the season and breaking her foot in the latter half.[8] She was still able to put up 22 points in 29 games, as the club finished in 8th.[9]

Off the ice, she held a job within the Modo organisation team office, including starting the MODO Women's Future programme, which organised practices for young girls in the region with Modo's professional women's players. For the 2017–18 SDHL season, she took a year of leave from her job with Modo to focus on playing full-time.[10]

Brynäs IF

In June 2018, Grahm announced that she was leaving Modo to sign a two-year contract with Brynäs IF Dam which would include an off-ice position as a manager for the women's side and training towards becoming future Sports Manager for the whole organisation. The move came as Brynäs had begun a wide-ranging rebuild after suffering poor results and numerous player complaints in previous seasons.[11] She would be named team captain ahead of the 2018–19 SDHL season.

In March 2020, after putting up 33 points in 33 games in the 2019–20 SDHL season and leading the club to the semi-finals for the first time in seven years, she announced that she had extended her contract with the team by another two years.[12]

International

Grahm took part in the selection camp for the Swedish national team at the 2010 Winter Olympics, but failed to make the team, being the last player cut from the roster. She would make her Olympic debut in 2014, scoring 4 points in 6 games as Sweden finished in 4th, losing the bronze medal game to Switzerland. She would score 5 points in 6 games, including her first Olympic goal, at the 2018 Winter Olympics, as Sweden finished in 7th.

An assistant captain for the Swedish national team and having made over 200 international appearances, Grahm was one of the leaders of the 2019 players' strike over lack of compensation for international games and sub-standard conditions, including the decision by the Swedish Olympic Committee to cut all funding for the women's team and the team's first-ever relegation from the top IIHF division.[13][14][15]

Personal life

In 2011, Grahm faced a major health scare after becoming partially paralyzed as a result of Guillain-Barré syndrome.[16] After going through months of treatment and rehabilitation, she was able to make a healthy return to professional hockey. In 2014, she published a book about her experience called From paralyzed to an Olympian.[17]

Career statistics

Note: Riksserien changed its name to the SDHL in 2016.

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2007–08 Modo Hockey Riksserien 13 3 3 6 8 4 1 0 1 2
2008–09 Modo Hockey Riksserien 20 10 10 20 30 7 5 1 6 0
2009–10 Modo Hockey Riksserien 25 8 15 23 20 5 1 2 3 2
2010–11 Modo Hockey Riksserien 28 20 12 32 8 2 1 1 2 0
2011–12 Modo Hockey Riksserien 22 10 9 19 8 3 4 2 6 0
2012–13 Modo Hockey Riksserien 24 15 9 24 14 3 4 1 5 12
2013–14 Modo Hockey Riksserien 27 18 21 39 46 3 3 2 5 0
2014–15 Modo Hockey Riksserien 28 13 22 35 16 5 5 2 7 2
2015–16 Modo Hockey Riksserien 29 11 11 22 18 - - - - -
2016–17 Modo Hockey SDHL 36 19 21 40 8 2 0 0 0 0
2017–18 Modo Hockey SDHL 36 23 19 42 14 5 0 0 0 0
2018–19 Brynäs IF SDHL 34 11 19 30 20 3 0 1 1 2
2019–20 Brynäs IF SDHL 34 12 21 33 4 5 4 5 9 4
SDHL totals 358 175 193 368 216 47 28 17 45 24

References

  1. ^ Djupenström, Hilda (30 June 2021). "Erika Grahm avslutar spelarkarriären: "Finns inte riktigt inom mig"". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). IIHF. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Turneringsseger för damkronorna". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  4. ^ "Fem MODO-damer till VM". Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  5. ^ Foster, Meredith (26 September 2017). "Erika Grahm goes all in". The Ice Garden. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Bulldogs Add Two Swedish National Team Members for 2011-12". University of Minnesota Duluth. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  7. ^ Clinton, Jared (23 July 2015). "Elite Prospects begins building women's hockey stats database". The Hockey News. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  8. ^ Rönnkvist, Ronnie (2 February 2016). ""Man blir rörd och det har kommit några tårar"". Hockeysverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 22 February 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  9. ^ Rönnkvist, Ronnie (31 August 2016). "Nu är mardrömssäsongen ett minne blott: "Jag har varit med om värre saker"". Hockeysverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 3 September 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  10. ^ "Modospelaren Erika Grahm elitsatsar på heltid". Sveriges Radio (Radio broadcast) (in Swedish). 1 September 2017. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  11. ^ Foster, Meredith (15 June 2018). "Erika Grahm's Next Chapter". The Ice Garden. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  12. ^ Kågström, Rasmus (18 March 2020). "Profilen stannar i Brynäs: "Otroligt spännande"". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  13. ^ "Swedish women hockey players boycott training, tournament over pay". CBC Sports. 15 August 2019. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  14. ^ Jay, Michelle (14 August 2019). "43 Swedish National Team players to sit out of upcoming training camp, upcoming tournament". The Ice Garden. Archived from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  15. ^ Karlsson, Måns (17 June 2019). "Attacken mot förbundet: "Mot oss spelare visar de inte ett skit"". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  16. ^ Graves, Wendy (8 November 2014). ""From paralyzed to an Olympian"". Hockey Canada. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  17. ^ Frank, Bella (23 January 2015). ""Från förlamad till olympier" – om passionen för ishockey". Feministiskt Perspektiv (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 9 September 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.