Mira Jungåker is beaming with confidence as TT meets the Damkronorna ahead of their departure for Denmark and the World Championship in Herning.
And perhaps that’s no surprise.
Enjoys the spotlight
The 21-year-old defender is heading into the championship after a strong season. She has been named the best defender in the North American college league, the NCAA, for three weeks in a row. She plays for top-ranked Ohio and is among the league’s top scorers with 19 points.
“It’s super fun, of course. But I honestly don’t know if I’ve done that much extra. It’s probably more that the points have just kept coming,” she says.
Jungåker’s success at Ohio means she will be in the spotlight at the World Championship.
She doesn’t mind.
“You can take it in different ways. I’d like to say that I enjoy it.”
“But I haven’t felt that much pressure yet.”
Jungåker played at the Olympics in February, when Sweden narrowly missed out on a medal after losing the bronze-medal game to Switzerland in overtime. She doesn’t want to experience that disappointment again.
“We’re hungry for revenge after the Olympics, and we won’t settle for fourth place. The medal is coming home,” she says, explaining that the team can achieve that if all the players dare to use their strengths.
“For my part, I can contribute with creative play when I’m in that ‘flow’. Then I feel much more secure in the defensive zone here than I do over there. In Ohio, we’re a top team and spend a lot of time in the offensive zone, so when we play in the defensive zone, things get a bit messy.”
National team captain Erika Holst also believes a medal - which would be Sweden’s first since the silver in 2007 - is within reach, but says it will be tough.
“We need to play our best hockey. It won’t be easy; there are a lot of good teams. We’re ranked sixth, so we’ll have to perform better than we have so far this season,” she says.
“Helps me get going”
Sweden opens the group stage against Canada on Friday, and could face the United States in the playoffs later in the tournament. Mira Jungåker is ready for the usual North American hard checking from players she knows well from league games with Ohio.
“In those situations, if someone hits me or talks trash, I just get more excited and play better. So it would probably only help me get going,” she says.
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