Having put together an exciting, albeit young defensive core throughout the expansion process and entry draft, PWHL Hamilton rounded out their blueline with a wealth of experience in signing Swedish national team captain Anna Kjellbin to a one-year contract.
“I had great conversations through my agent with Hamilton, with [general manager Meghan Duggan] and with the coaches,” Kjellbin told The Ice Garden. “From the beginning, honestly, I got really excited talking to them. I liked how they were sort of seeing themselves, building their team and what kind of hockey they want to play, and everything around the organization that they wanted to create as well.”
This is Kjellbin’s third Canadian team in as many years, each with a different path taken to get there. She was drafted in 2024’s sixth round by the Montréal Victoire, was dealt to the Toronto Sceptres at the following season’s trade deadline, and now joins Hamilton via free agency. Despite her varying methods of arrival, though, Kjellbin’s focus remains on the commonalities.
“In general, both Montréal and Toronto had a lot of Hockey Canada staff in their organization, so I think going from Montréal to Toronto, the difference wasn’t that big because of that,” Kjellbin explained. “Similar practices, similar days at the rink, similar ways of running their organization. Obviously, there’s some different details in how they play and stuff like that, but I’d say it was a pretty easy change.”
“And then, Hamilton,” she smiled. “Let’s see.”
Indeed, the expansion team has shades of Kjellbin’s previous clubs, but brings an additional dimension not present in those Victoire and Sceptres organizations. Coach Kris Sparre was recently added to Kori Cheverie’s Team Canada staff as an assistant, while Brianne Jenner, Emily Clark, Nicole Gosling, Kayle Osborne, Zoe Boyd, Alexa Vasko, and Jade Iginla have all worn the maple leaf in some capacity over their careers.
On the other hand, Hamilton also has the most unique international representation across their training camp roster in the entire PWHL (tied with the New York Sirens if you count Elle Hartje as Slovakian). Joining the North American contingent are Kjellbin (Sweden), Sandra Abstreiter (Germany), Nelli Laitinen (Finland), Alina Müller (Switzerland), Emma-Sofie Nordström (Denmark), and Anna Shokhina (Russia). 24-25 Montréal and 24-26 Toronto, meanwhile, drew from only three European countries across six players combined. Additionally, only half of that group (Kjellbin, along with national teammates Lina Ljungblom and Sara Hjalmarsson) actually played the full season for their respective team(s).
Laitinen and Müller, in particular, are players Kjellbin has seen her fair share of on the international stage thanks to the Women’s Euro Hockey Tour. The series of offseason round-robin tournaments ensures Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, and Czechia are well-acquainted heading into the World Championships, to say the least. Now, instead of being frequent foes in their countries’ colours, Kjellbin is set to play alongside Laitinen and Müller for the first time in Hamilton.
“Honestly, I don’t know [Nelli and Alina] very well yet, hopefully soon,” said Kjellbin. “But it’s always fun to play together with and against your Europeans. Different connections, you kind of create with your Europeans being over in North America, so I’m super excited to get to know them.
“Obviously, it’s always fun to play against them, but even more fun and even more exciting to play together with them.”
Having Euro Hockey Tour games interspersed throughout the offseason has become a staple in the four nations’ routines amidst the transition from one season to another, which Kjellbin described as “really helpful for all the PWHL players.” It’s also been vital for the Swedish national team during a time of major change in the program, highlighted by the arrival of new head coach Erika Holst.
“There’s many months being home during the summer [for practice], so having these Euro Hockey Tours gives us games, obviously, but also gives us time to be together with the team, spend a lot of time with our national team,” said Kjellbin, whose Damkronorna pitched a full-tournament clean sheet in Södertalje, beating both Czechia and Finland 2-0 and downing Switzerland 1-0 in overtime.
https://x.com/Trekronorse/status/2116604803941867734?a=FnlcFJ4uH8sT_2Qq8Ls&s=20“I’m super happy being able to have had three of those now, having the third one [last week]… It helps us to build our team, and with the new staff coming in it’s been a lot of valuable time to spend together. [Not just] playing games, but also a lot of meetings, organizing and building from scratch together with them. It’s been a lot of time together, and it’s been very valuable, I would say.”
Of course, there’s one last wrench that’s been thrown into her and her team’s usual preparations, and that’s the change in timing for the World Championships to better align with the PWHL’s schedule. While Kjellbin might be busier for it, though, she certainly isn’t fazed.
“It’s been way more ice time than usual in the summer, just to make sure you’re prepared for Worlds in November,” she said. “So that has been a difference, but y’know, it’s not us making those decisions.”
“You just gotta accept it and make the best out of it.”
Some quotes have been edited for length and clarity.
