The 2022-23 Premier Hockey Federation season featured 42 players who have represented 10 different senior national team programs.
Among them is Metropolitan Riveters defender Sarah Forster, the league’s only player from Switzerland, who brings a wealth of experience to the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championship.
The three-time Olympian thought about calling it quits after the 2022 Beijing games, and even sat out last summer’s worlds in Denmark, but the 29-year-old is back in Brampton, Ontario and excited to help her country compete for a medal.
“I am happy to be back with the Swiss team after one year off,” Forster said after the team’s preliminary round game against Canada. “After a great season with the Metropolitan Riveters, which was a new challenge for me playing in the U.S., I said let’s go and play a few more weeks and be back with the national team. It’s always an honor to have the Swiss jersey on me so I’m proud to be here.”
This is Forster’s eighth World Championship dating back to her 2012 debut when Switzerland won its first and only bronze medal in IIHF competition. She tasted success again in 2014 celebrating the program’s only Olympic bronze and is starving for that feeling once more.
“I was 17 and just enjoying the moment and my dream came true in my first World Championship, and then two years after it was also the bronze medal at the Olympics in Sochi,” she said. “Since then, we are searching for a medal again and I think this year everything is open and we know the details are going to make the difference and we need to be ready and show what Switzerland can do.”
Forster is the only player from the 2012 team on this year’s roster and embraces her role as a confident leader who is used to big stage pressure and can mentor the younger players.
“I’m 29 and I’m the oldest one on the team, which is crazy, but that’s the way it is,” she said. “I don’t put any pressure about that, I am happy to be here. Now there is a lot of experience with a big gap between the young players. I think when some girls come and are 16 or 17, they are just playing without stress and enjoying the moment. For me personally, the more I was becoming older the more I maybe put pressure on myself. It’s always a pleasure to give my experience on the ice or wherever I can help the team. I’m used to that now and I will keep pushing myself and also the team to go further in the tournament and fight for a medal again.”
Beyond her international resume, Forster believes she benefits her team with a season of professional hockey under her belt playing in North America and enjoyed what the PHF had to offer.
“It was better for me to be here playing the whole season on the smaller ice,” she said. “I’m a physical player on defense and I got stronger playing in my defensive zone. I was playing four years in Sweden so to be in another country, see another league, play in the smaller rinks, and to learn new things was something positive. I was really happy to get the opportunity and meet new people on and off the ice.”
Forster played 18 games in the PHF and recorded three points while skating with talent from five other countries on the Riveters alone. She enjoyed playing at the team’s new home at American Dream and recognizes the league’s potential for growth.
“Every game there were lots of people coming and we would meet girls and people who maybe had never seen a hockey game,” she said. “I hope there are a lot of Swiss girls going to the PHF and grow the league over there. It’s a really good option. The quality of the hockey was strong and all of the games were competitive and I think the next years the league is going to be much better. They are doing everything possible to show girls that they can step up and play. The league is taking forward steps, more than other leagues in Europe.”
Unsure of what the future holds for her in hockey beyond this year’s worlds, the Swiss alternate captain hopes it continues beyond the tournament quarterfinals and into the medal round.
“If I have pleasure playing ice hockey I will continue and I want to focus on these games and let’s see what happens for the future,” Forster said. “We know the tournament is long, step by step we need to pay attention to details because everything is faster, and we need to be ready for the next games.”
