Erika Holst (second from left) speaks at a coaching symposium during the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Prague
In Erika Holst’s world, there is always room to grow and no room for complacency. The former Swedish national team captain (2002-12) coached Frolunda to the 2025 SDHL championship in March. That three-game sweep broke the stranglehold of a Lulea powerhouse that had won the last three titles and eight in total since this incarnation of the Swedish women’s hockey league launched in 2016.
Holst – who played in four Olympics and 11 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championships – would love to see more women follow in her footsteps by stepping behind the bench. Even in the progressive Nordic countries, female coaches of club teams remain a small minority. In Finland, for instance, you could point to Saara Niemi, another retired Olympian who is the longtime coach of HIFK in the Auroraliiga. Yet more needs to be done worldwide.
According to Holst, 45, the IIHF’s new HER Coaching Network is a step in the right direction. This online platform powered by Signal aims to bring together female coaches for support, mentoring, and community building. HER debuts during the Women’s Worlds in Czechia (9 to 20 April), and right now, coaches are invited to join the hundreds of others who have already signed up.
“It’s fantastic,” Holst told IIHF.com. “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. Having the IIHF start something like HER is a great initial step, and then I think the individual countries and clubs need to step up too to make things happen on a local level. The IIHF is making a statement, showing that it’s important to support women and get more women behind the bench.”
An elite attacker and faceoff specialist in her Damkronorna days, Holst has seen the value of surrounding herself with good people. When the gifted centre made Swedish Olympic history by winning a bronze medal in Salt Lake City (2002) and a silver medal in Turin (2006), she teamed up with future IIHF Hall of Famers like fellow forward Maria Rooth and goalie Kim Martin Hasson.
Today, Martin Hasson remains Holst’s collaborator as Frolunda’s GM. They have committed to building a strong culture in Frolunda with a well-integrated mix of veteran stars and emerging youngsters, from Swedish captain Hanna Olsson to Finnish ace Elisa Holopainen, who tied Lulea’s Petra Nieminen for the regular-season points lead (45). It was a thrill for Frolunda to clinch this year’s title in front of an SDHL-record crowd of 8,442 at Gothenburg’s Scandinavium.
Holst – who played in four Olympics and 11 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championships – would love to see more women follow in her footsteps by stepping behind the bench. Even in the progressive Nordic countries, female coaches of club teams remain a small minority. In Finland, for instance, you could point to Saara Niemi, another retired Olympian who is the longtime coach of HIFK in the Auroraliiga. Yet more needs to be done worldwide.
According to Holst, 45, the IIHF’s new HER Coaching Network is a step in the right direction. This online platform powered by Signal aims to bring together female coaches for support, mentoring, and community building. HER debuts during the Women’s Worlds in Czechia (9 to 20 April), and right now, coaches are invited to join the hundreds of others who have already signed up.
HER - Coaching Network : Overview | Register
“It’s fantastic,” Holst told IIHF.com. “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. Having the IIHF start something like HER is a great initial step, and then I think the individual countries and clubs need to step up too to make things happen on a local level. The IIHF is making a statement, showing that it’s important to support women and get more women behind the bench.”
An elite attacker and faceoff specialist in her Damkronorna days, Holst has seen the value of surrounding herself with good people. When the gifted centre made Swedish Olympic history by winning a bronze medal in Salt Lake City (2002) and a silver medal in Turin (2006), she teamed up with future IIHF Hall of Famers like fellow forward Maria Rooth and goalie Kim Martin Hasson.
Today, Martin Hasson remains Holst’s collaborator as Frolunda’s GM. They have committed to building a strong culture in Frolunda with a well-integrated mix of veteran stars and emerging youngsters, from Swedish captain Hanna Olsson to Finnish ace Elisa Holopainen, who tied Lulea’s Petra Nieminen for the regular-season points lead (45). It was a thrill for Frolunda to clinch this year’s title in front of an SDHL-record crowd of 8,442 at Gothenburg’s Scandinavium.
“To see the players on the ice after the game was over, celebrating with the fans, everyone staying around in the arena, that was like a dream come true,” Holst said. “Even just talking about it afterwards gives me goosebumps. I dreamed of it so hard since I started here three years ago, but I didn’t know it was actually going to happen within three years.”
She appreciates the top-to-bottom support that established clubs like Frolunda can provide. She also acknowledges the difficulty in creating training schedules that suit everyone from full-time SDHL pros to juniors who are still completing their schooling. And the PWHL has also created challenges for the SDHL, Europe’s premier women’s league, as talented players depart to try their luck in North America and other Canadians and Americans come over to compete for roster spots in Sweden.
There has recently been talk of the SDHL reducing the number of foreign players that clubs can ice. Even though Frolunda got big 2025 playoff performances from non-Swedish stars like Norway’s Andrea Dalen and Finland’s Michelle Karvinen, Holst is generally supportive of the potential restrictions. Sweden – although slowly reviving internationally – has not medaled in senior IIHF competition since capturing bronze at the 2007 Women’s Worlds and needs to develop more depth.
“I think that’s the right way to go,” said Holst, who played an all-time record 327 Swedish national team games. “I think that we should have imports, and I think that we should get really good players over here to help raise the level of our league. But I also think it's super-important to to have a lot of Swedish players, and to have Swedish players who actually get to see the ice when there are critical situations during a game, when there’s a power play or penalty kill or overtime.”
She appreciates the top-to-bottom support that established clubs like Frolunda can provide. She also acknowledges the difficulty in creating training schedules that suit everyone from full-time SDHL pros to juniors who are still completing their schooling. And the PWHL has also created challenges for the SDHL, Europe’s premier women’s league, as talented players depart to try their luck in North America and other Canadians and Americans come over to compete for roster spots in Sweden.
There has recently been talk of the SDHL reducing the number of foreign players that clubs can ice. Even though Frolunda got big 2025 playoff performances from non-Swedish stars like Norway’s Andrea Dalen and Finland’s Michelle Karvinen, Holst is generally supportive of the potential restrictions. Sweden – although slowly reviving internationally – has not medaled in senior IIHF competition since capturing bronze at the 2007 Women’s Worlds and needs to develop more depth.
“I think that’s the right way to go,” said Holst, who played an all-time record 327 Swedish national team games. “I think that we should have imports, and I think that we should get really good players over here to help raise the level of our league. But I also think it's super-important to to have a lot of Swedish players, and to have Swedish players who actually get to see the ice when there are critical situations during a game, when there’s a power play or penalty kill or overtime.”
Regardless of the position the SDHL adopts on this issue, Holst can always draw on the coaching principles she has absorbed from her mentors.
She will always look up up to former Minnesota-Duluth coach Shannon Miller and assistant coach Stacy Wilson, under whose guidance she won three straight NCAA titles (2001-03). Mel Davidson, a 2024 IIHF Hall of Fame inductee who coached Canada to Olympic gold in 2006 and 2010, has also provided valuable guidance.
She will always look up up to former Minnesota-Duluth coach Shannon Miller and assistant coach Stacy Wilson, under whose guidance she won three straight NCAA titles (2001-03). Mel Davidson, a 2024 IIHF Hall of Fame inductee who coached Canada to Olympic gold in 2006 and 2010, has also provided valuable guidance.
And Holst reveres the “passion for the game and belief in his teams” that Peter Elander brings. The current SDE HF bench boss, 65, is best-known for inspiring Sweden to edge the U.S. 3-2 in a semi-final shootout at the Turin Winter Games. Featuring Martin Hasson’s 31-save performance and shootout goals from Rooth and Pernilla Winberg, that result is still regarded as the biggest upset in women’s hockey history. Holst assisted on Rooth’s 2-2 shorthanded equalizer in the second period.
“I think our team chemistry – the way we had prepared, physically and mentally and tactically – just gave me this feeling that the Americans were not going to score [the go-ahead goal],” Holst said. “At one point, they had a 5-on-3. Before the faceoff, I looked at my teammate Gunilla Anderson, and I smiled. She was like, ‘Wow, why are you smiling?’ I was like, ‘We’ve got this.’ It’s a cool feeling that I’ve only had a few times in my life, almost like an out-of-body experience.”
For Holst, taking Frolunda all the way this season was another unbelievable high. But she knows she still has more to offer as a coach. She hopes that she – along with other female coaches who get motivation and camaraderie through the HER Coaching Network – can help the next generation of women’s hockey players become great human beings too.
“I get to work with young women that have set goals for themselves,” Holst said. “They're really motivated and driven to go somewhere. When you work with someone and then see them succeed, it’s a wonderful feeling. It’s not just about stuff on the ice. 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.”
“I think our team chemistry – the way we had prepared, physically and mentally and tactically – just gave me this feeling that the Americans were not going to score [the go-ahead goal],” Holst said. “At one point, they had a 5-on-3. Before the faceoff, I looked at my teammate Gunilla Anderson, and I smiled. She was like, ‘Wow, why are you smiling?’ I was like, ‘We’ve got this.’ It’s a cool feeling that I’ve only had a few times in my life, almost like an out-of-body experience.”
For Holst, taking Frolunda all the way this season was another unbelievable high. But she knows she still has more to offer as a coach. She hopes that she – along with other female coaches who get motivation and camaraderie through the HER Coaching Network – can help the next generation of women’s hockey players become great human beings too.
“I get to work with young women that have set goals for themselves,” Holst said. “They're really motivated and driven to go somewhere. When you work with someone and then see them succeed, it’s a wonderful feeling. It’s not just about stuff on the ice. 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.”