Martin to play with men

ByReuters

Published 07/03/2006 at 12:37 GMT

The goalie in Sweden's silver medal-winning Olympic team will become the first woman to play in a senior men's league game this week. Kim Martin, 19, will play for Malmo Redhawks in the men's second division on Wednesday against Bofors.

ICE HOCKEY 2006 Torino 2006 Martin

Image credit: Reuters

In the Turin Olympics semi-final against the U.S., Martin saved 37 of 39 shots and then stonewalled four American shooters in a penalty shootout. The Swedes lost to Canada in the final.

"Kim Martin has trained with us once a week for nearly the entire year and is well deserving of this chance," Malmo coach Lars Bergstrom said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Naturally this is also good PR and a boost for Swedish women's hockey going forward. But it is more than that.

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