After 17 years straight in Division 1A, Norway earned promotion back into the top tier of the IIHF Women’s World Championship. Although they lost their opening match 2-5 against Japan, it didn’t squander the emotion and excitement felt when Norwegian legend Andrea Dalen scored their first goal.
One of the people floored by that goal was Dalen’s teammate, forward Millie Sirum. Sirum is coming off a hot NCAA career that wrapped up with 179 total points between Holy Cross and Providence. The Ice Garden grabbed a few moments with her before the tournament to talk about the tough competition ahead.
TIG: What aspects of your team identity do you think will serve you best when facing the challenges of this tournament?
MS: I think we have a very fun and energetic group, and our locker room energy will also help us face adversity along the way. We’re also a hard-working team that doesn’t give up and especially with this tournament we have to keep pushing the pace and level of the games.
It’s not going to be easy and we will have to battle with everything that we have every game to have a chance which is a fun challenge and I think we will do great.
TIG: What’s been the most meaningful moment for you personally in Norway’s journey to the top division?
MS: What I value the most honestly comes down to spending time with this group whenever I do get to see them during tournaments and camps, because other than that we rarely get the chance to see each other. Most of us have known each other since we started playing hockey, and at this point, I think it’s over 10-15 years for some of us, which is truly special and something that means a lot to me.
But for one specific moment, I think when we realized that we won gold last year since we have been close for so many years and we finally did it. This was one of the best moments and feelings I have had in my career, and it felt so good to finally go up to the top division as it’s always been a goal for us. It was also pretty cool scoring the goal that allowed us to go up to the top division.
TIG: Is there something you cannot go without when you travel to international tournaments?
MS: I’d say my Squishmallow and my Nike game day shoes.
TIG: What are the keys to success in your opening game against Japan, and what other matchups are you personally excited for? And as this is Norway’s first time in the top division in over 20 years, what emotions are you experiencing with the opportunity to represent your country at this level?
MS: I think playing simple and hard as well as burying our chances. Japan is a very well-structured and consistent team and if we stick to our game plan we should be able to come out strong against them. I’m excited to play Germany because we don’t play them very often but I think we have a solid shot against them as well. We played very well against them at our camp in December and beat them in one of the games so that was exciting.
I always feel extra emotions when playing for Norway because it’s just such a special feeling. You aren’t just playing for yourself but our country and being lucky enough to do that is cool and I am very grateful that I get to do that. We also want to stay in this division.