It is from an airport in Boston that SVT Sport gets to speak with the Women’s Crowns captain, Ulf Lundberg, before he continues on his journey.
– I am on a scouting trip in the USA. I’m here on American soil for ten days, moving around like a reel of bullets between different places. I have time to meet 13 Swedish players over here, see five matches and a number of training sessions. It is a useful journey in many ways and enriching for me, he says.
That sounds intense?
– That’s it, to say the least. People get absolutely giddy when you tell them about the program. But it’s going well and I get good help with the planning, so it’s well timed and works well with flights, rental cars and hotels.
Sweden currently has two players in the newly started professional league, the PWHL (Professional Women’s Hockey League), which today consists of six clubs.
“Makes high demands on the players”
It is goalkeeper Emma Söderberg in Boston and forward Johanna Fällman in New York. The teams met this weekend, New York won 4-1 and Ulf Lundberg was there.
– I think that league looks interesting and has started well. It is good for the players that there is a professional league that is really establishing itself that, in addition to the national team, you can also strive for, says Lundberg.
Is there anything that turns you off when you watch PWHL compared to SDHL?
– We have come quite far when it comes to the melee game. It is a natural melee game and you have to compete for the puck. It places high demands on being able to handle the puck with little time on a small surface.
WC in the USA in April
In April, the hockey World Cup awaits for the Women’s Crowns. A championship that takes place in Utica, USA. Something that Lundberg is already very much looking forward to.
– I like that it’s on a small rink, that it’s over here and that we have good memories from Brenton in Canada last year where we took Canada to overtime. We are really stretching the bow, concludes Lundberg.