Anna Linnea Christina Kjellbin (born 16 March 1994) is a Swedish ice hockey defenceman for Luleå HF/MSSK of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) and a member of Sweden women's national ice hockey team. The thirteenth longest-tenured player in SDHL history, she has won the SDHL championship twice. Kjellbin represented Sweden at the IIHF Women's World Championship in 2016 and 2017.[1]
| Anna Kjellbin | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Anna Kjellbin in 2016 | |||
| Born |
16 March 1994 Gothenburg, Sweden | ||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Weight | 63 kg (139 lb; 9 st 13 lb) | ||
| Position | Defense | ||
| Shoots | Right | ||
| SDHL team Former teams |
Luleå HF/MSSK HV71 Linköping HC Hanhals IF | ||
| National team |
 Sweden | ||
| Playing career | 2008–present | ||
Playing career
editKjellbin grew up in Mölndal, in Göteborg, and began skating at age four. As a child, she participated in various sports and games, including golf, swimming, football, and chess. From 2008 to 2010, she split her time between the Hanhals IF women's team and the U16 boys' team.[2] In her rookie Riksserien season, 2009–10, she picked up five assists in 28 games as Hanhals finished second to last.
In 2010, she signed with Linköping HC Dam, choosing the club over an offer from HV71 Dam. She won the Riksserien championship twice with the club in 2014 and 2015. In the 2015–16 season, she scored a career-high 21 points in 36 games. She scored 6 points in 36 games in the 2018–19 season and, before the beginning of the playoffs, announced that she would take a break from hockey for personal reasons.[3] She later revealed that she had sustained concussions in two different games, which caused
She joined HV71 in 2019, after nine seasons with Linköping, seeking a change in environment and because her job outside of hockey was based in Jönköping.[4] She scored 11 points in 36 games in her first season with HV71, as the club finished in first place during the regular season and made it to the playoff finals against Luleå HF/MSSK before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden. She criticized the league's decision not to award the championship to any team, despite HV71 having won the first and only completed match of the finals, stating that: "Considering the season we had, it feels very empty."[5] She returned to HV71 for the 2020–21 season and was the team's third highest scoring defenseman in the regular season.
In June 2021, Kjellbin signed with Luleå HF/MSSK for the 2021–22 SDHL season +1.[6]
On 10 June 2024, she was drafted in the sixth round, 35th overall, by PWHL Montreal in the 2024 PWHL draft.[7]
International career
editKjellbin was a member of the Swedish national under-18 ice hockey team at the 2011 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship, getting two assists in five games. She represented Sweden again at the 2012 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship, getting four points in six games as Sweden won bronze and scoring her first international hat-trick in their group stage match against Russia after being selected to take a penalty shot. She won a gold medal with Sweden at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics.
Kjellbin represented Sweden at the 2016 and 2017 IIHF Women's World Championships.
Personal life
editOutside of hockey, she works as Director of Customer Project Management for Senion, an indoor GPS technology company based in Linköping.[8]
She is in a relationship with Finnish national team defenceman Ronja Savolainen.[9]
Her father, Magnus, played ice hockey professionally in the Swedish Hockeytvåan in the 1970s.
References
edit- ^ "2017 World Championship roster" (PDF). IIHF. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 February 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- ^ Rönnkvist, Ronnie (20 January 2020). ""Det är där vi har tänkt att begrava våra hockeykarriärer"". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ Olausson, Robin (8 February 2019). "Linköpingsbacken tar paus från hockey – veckan innan slutspelet". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ Kågström, Rasmus (20 May 2019). "HV71 plockar in landslagsmeriterad back från konkurrenten". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
- ^ Josefsson, Samuel (20 May 2020). ""Jävligt orättvist – man känner sig väldigt tom"". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ Hedlund, Robert (1 June 2021). "Välkommen Anna Kjellbin!". Luleå Hockey (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ Kennedy, Ian (10 June 2024). "Full 2024 PWHL Draft Results". The Hockey News. Archived from the original on 11 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ "Familjetragedier och hockeypassion". HockeySverige (Podcast) (in Swedish). 24 June 2020. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ Leinonen, Tiina (7 March 2020). "Huippupuolustaja Ronja Savolainen pelaa rajusti, mutta rauhoittuu, kun vastapuolella on oma rakas: "Annan ollessa jäällä saatan varoa, etten ainakaan satuttaisi"". Yle (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 10 March 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
External links
edit- Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com
- Anna Kjellbin on Instagram