Woman Olympic finalist plays in men's ice hockey league

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 ice hockey second division today against Bofors.

In the Turin Olympics semi-final against the US, Martin saved 37 of 39 shots and then stonewalled four American shooters in a penalty shoot-out. 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. "Naturally, this is also good PR and a boost for Swedish women's ice hockey going forward. But it is more than that.

"We think she deserves this chance... she is just that good."