Sara Grahn
{{Short description|Swedish ice hockey player (born 1988)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox ice hockey player
| name = Sara Grahn
| image = Sara Grahn.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Sara Grahn
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1988|9|25|df=y}}
| birth_place = Örebro, Sweden
| position = Goaltender
| catches = Left
| height_m = 1.70
| height_ft =
| weight_kg = 67
| league = SDHL
| team = Luleå HF/MSSK
| former_teams = Brynäs IF
Oppala IK
Linköpings HC
Örebro HK
| sex = f
| ntl_team = SWE
| career_start = 2004
| career_end =
| medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Women's ice hockey}}
{{MedalCountry|{{ihw|SWE}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|World Championships}}
{{MedalBronze|2007 Canada|}}
}}
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 ({{Langx|sv|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 five times.
Career
Growing up in Hallsberg, Grahn began skating at the age of four and began playing as a goaltender at the age of ten.{{Cite web|last=Rönnkvist|first=Ronnie|date=2014-04-08|title="Hjälpen jag får av Pecka är en jättestor nyckel"|url=https://hockeysverige.se/2014/04/08/hjalpen-jag-far-av-pecka-ar-en-jattestor-nyckel|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128094645/https://hockeysverige.se/2014/04/08/hjalpen-jag-far-av-pecka-ar-en-jattestor-nyckel|archive-date=28 November 2020|access-date=2020-11-21|website=HockeySverige|language=sv}} 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.{{Cite web|last=Rönnkvist|first=Ronnie|date=2015-02-25|title=Landslagsmålvaktens galna slutspelsöppning – stoppade 55 skott|url=https://hockeysverige.se/2015/02/25/landslagsmalvaktens-galna-slutspelsoppning-stoppade-55-skott|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128015314/https://hockeysverige.se/2015/02/25/landslagsmalvaktens-galna-slutspelsoppning-stoppade-55-skott|archive-date=28 November 2020|access-date=2020-11-21|website=HockeySverige|language=sv}} She was named the Riksserien Goaltender of the Year for the 2014–15 season.{{Cite web|last=Rönnkvist|first=Ronnie|date=2015-03-19|title=Här de individuella pristagarna i Riksserien|url=https://hockeysverige.se/2015/03/19/har-de-individuella-pristagarna-i-riksserien|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411071459/https://hockeysverige.se/2015/03/19/har-de-individuella-pristagarna-i-riksserien|archive-date=11 April 2021|access-date=2020-11-21|website=HockeySverige|language=sv}}
In the 2015–16 season, she played two matches for Brynäs' U20 boys' team, posting a .971 save percentage.{{Cite web|last=Kamp|first=Fredrik|date=2016-06-04|title=Sara Grahn tränar med Brynäs herrlag|url=https://www.expressen.se/sport/hockey/sara-grahn-tranar-med-brynas-herrlag/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160606145951/http://www.expressen.se/sport/hockey/sara-grahn-tranar-med-brynas-herrlag/|archive-date=6 June 2016|access-date=2020-11-21|website=Expressen|language=sv}} 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.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2015-12-01|title=Sara Grahn höll nollan herrmatch|url=https://www.sydsvenskan.se/2015-12-01/sara-grahn-holl-nollan-herrmatch|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210014247/https://www.sydsvenskan.se/2015-12-01/sara-grahn-holl-nollan-herrmatch|archive-date=10 February 2023|access-date=2020-11-21|website=Sydsvenskan|language=sv}}
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.{{Cite web|last=Nilsson|first=Jonathan|date=2018-09-07|title=Grahn: "Var väldigt besviken hur allt var"|url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/a/kar67k|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418191937/https://www.aftonbladet.se/a/kar67k|archive-date=18 April 2021|access-date=2020-11-21|website=Aftonbladet|language=sv}}{{Cite web|last=Rönnkvist|first=Ronnie|date=2018-06-01|title=Lämnar Brynäs efter åtta år – nu blickar Grahn framåt i ny skrud|url=https://hockeysverige.se/2018/06/01/sara-grahn|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128100052/https://hockeysverige.se/2018/06/01/sara-grahn|archive-date=28 November 2020|access-date=2020-11-21|website=HockeySverige|language=sv}}
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.{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/gr/sara-grahn-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417210027/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/gr/sara-grahn-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2020|title=Sara Grahn Biography and Olympic Results|publisher=Sports-Reference.com|accessdate=15 April 2012}}{{cite web|title=Sara Grahn|url=http://www.swehockey.se/ImageVaultFiles/id_18760/cf_113/short_facts_wc_2012.PDF|accessdate=15 April 2012|publisher=Swehockey.se}}{{dead link|date=May 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}
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.{{Cite web|last=Nilsson|first=Jonathan|date=2019-10-15|title=Sara Grahn om lösningen: "Ingen är gladare än vi"|url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/a/BRn4jw|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210014244/https://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/hockey/a/BRn4jw/sara-grahn-om-losningen-ingen-ar-gladare-an-vi|archive-date=10 February 2023|access-date=2020-11-21|website=Aftonbladet|language=sv}}
Personal life
Grahn has studied at the Luleå University of Technology.{{Cite news|last=Hjertström|first=Anders|date=2019-12-22|title=Anpassad studiegång vid LTU hjälpte elitidrottaren Sara Grahn mot målet|language=sv|work=SVT Nyheter|url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/norrbotten/anpassad-studiegang-hjalpte-sara-grahn-mot-malet|url-status=live|access-date=2020-11-21|archive-date=23 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223150504/https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/norrbotten/anpassad-studiegang-hjalpte-sara-grahn-mot-malet}}
In August 2018, she launched the Sara Grahn Goalie Development Camp for young girls in Sandviken.{{Cite web|last=Karlsson|first=Måns|date=2018-08-29|title=Världsmålvaktens nya projekt: Startar målvaktsläger för tjejer|url=https://hockeysverige.se/2018/08/29/malvaktsstjarnans-nya-projekt-startar-hockeylager-tjejer|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831164547/http://www.hockeysverige.se/2018/08/29/malvaktsstjarnans-nya-projekt-startar-hockeylager-tjejer/|archive-date=31 August 2018|access-date=2020-11-21|website=HockeySverige|language=sv}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{icehockeystats}}
- {{Sports-reference}}
- {{Instagram|saragrahn25}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grahn, Sara}}
Category:Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics
Category:Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics
Category:Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics
Category:Olympic ice hockey players for Sweden
Category:Ice hockey people from Örebro
Category:Swedish women's ice hockey goaltenders
Category:Brynäs IF (women) players
Category:Linköping HC (women) players
Category:Luleå HF/MSSK players
Category:21st-century Swedish sportswomen
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