The first woman to be inducted into the Sweden Hockey Hall of fame will take over as head coach following the Olympics
The Swedish Ice Hockey Association announced on Friday that former player and team captain Erika Holst will take over as head coach of the women's senior national team following the 2026 Olympics in Milan, Italy.
"I have lived my whole life for Swedish ice hockey and for the blue and yellow jersey with the crowns on it. I feel a great passion to come back to the environment where we develop our top players and strive to challenge the best in the world," said Holst in a translated release on the Swedish federation website.
Most recently the head coach of Frölunda HC in the SDHL where she led the club to the 2025 Swedish championship and has started this season on a 15-game win streak, Holst appeared in 327 games for Sweden internationally, earning Olympic silver in 2006 and bronze in 2002. She played in four Olympics and 11 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships, earning bronze at the 2005 and 2007 Worlds. Holst played collegiately at Minnesota Duluth where she compiled 204 points in just 127 games, for a 1.60 points per game career average, and helped them win the first three NCAA women's championships in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
"We are very pleased to be able to present Erika Holst as the new coach of Tre Kronor women's national team. With Erika at the helm, Tre Kronor women's national team will have a leader with a strategic eye and unique experience from both playing and leadership at the highest level. Her understanding of the development of the game gives us good opportunities to strengthen Swedish women's hockey's position in the world," said Anders Larsson, chairman of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association in the federation release.
Per the Sweden Herald, it was Frolunda general manager Kim Martin Hasson, Holst's teammate with the national team and at Minnesota Duluth, that convinced Holst to focus on coaching, sending a text message that said, "Are you interested in becoming a coach? Please say yes."
Frölunda is Holst's only head coaching experience, but her record their speaks for itself - she was the first coach of the nascent club in 2022, signing players like Michelle Karvinen to play in the NDHL - a step below the SDHL. The team earned promotion the followin season, finishing fourth in the top tier and ultimately losing to Luleå in the semifinals. Last season they dethroned Luleå, winners of the previous six titles, winning the league in just their third season of existence. Holst said she is committed to finishing out this season with Frölunda.
"Being the coach of a Swedish national team is the most honorable assignment you can have, and I am very proud and happy to be leading Tre Kronor women from the spring onwards. There are a lot of exciting things happening in the coming years; many good players are coming, SDHL is getting better and better, and at the same time the international calendar is being redrawn. It requires some new thinking, I think. So I am looking forward to the assignment, while at the same time I am fully focused on Frölunda's season until then," said Holst in the federation release.
In an April 2025 article on IIHF.com, Holst spoke about the need for more women in coaching in support of the IIHF's new HER Coaching Network as well as why she loves being a coach.
“I think that in North America, women have been coaching for quite some time. For every other country, we have some catching up to do. With men coaching hockey, there's such a history, all these networks and old boys’ clubs," Holst told IIHF.com
“I get to work with young women that have set goals for themselves. It’s also seeing these young women grow as people, offering them guidance through life. Personally, I know how important some coaches have been in my career and my life. If I can be that person for a few players, or even one player, it’s all worth it.”
(Photo: Swedish Ice Hockey Association)
