Josefine Jakobsen (born 17 May 1991) is a Danish

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

and member of the Danish national team, currently playing in the

Swedish Women's Hockey League The Swedish Women's Hockey League ( sv, Svenska damhockeyligan), abbreviated SDHL, is the elite league for women's ice hockey in Sweden. It was established in 2007 as the by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association and was renamed prior to the 2016– ...

(SDHL) with

Brynäs IF Brynäs IF is a Swedish ice hockey team from Gävle. The club currently plays in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the top tier of ice hockey in Sweden. The club has played in the top-tier league since 1960, longer than any other team. History ...

. Known for her strong two-way play, she is the thirteenth leading scorer in SDHL history and the second leading scorer in Djurgården history. She has won the Swedish Championship three times and was the first player to be named Danish Women's Player of the Year twice by the

Danish Ice Hockey Union ('The Danish Ice Hockey Union') or DIU is the governing body of ice hockey in Denmark. It is a member of the National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark (DIF) and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The associati ...

Playing career

In 2008, at the age of 17, Jakobsen left home to sign with

Segeltorps IF Segeltorps IF is a Swedish football club located in Kungens Kurva. Background Segeltorps Idrottsföreningen is a sports club in Kungens Kurva in Huddinge Municipality in Metropolitan Stockholm. The club is well known for its women's ice-hockey ...

in Sweden. She would score 27 points in 20 games in her

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

SDHL season, fifth highest among all scorers in the league, as the team lost in the SDHL (then Riksserien) playoff finals. She would go on to win the Swedish Championship with the club in both of the following two seasons, leading the league in

goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...

and points in 2011. She was not only the first Dane to lead the Swedish league in scoring, but her 33 goals that year set an SDHL record for most goals in a single season that would hold until 2016. She moved to North America ahead of the 2011–12 season to study and play ice hockey at the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of ...

, a member institution of the

Western Collegiate Hockey Association The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

. Across the next four seasons of

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

play with the

North Dakota Fighting Hawks The North Dakota Fighting Hawks (formerly known as the Fighting Sioux) are the athletic teams that represent the University of North Dakota (UND), located in the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Originally in the Division II North Central Con ...

, she scored 137 points in 147 games, serving as the team's

alternate captain In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captai ...

in her

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

season. Peter Elander, the Fighting Hawks' head coach during Jakobsen's time with the team, has described her as “one of Europe’s absolute best two-way centres.” After graduating, she returned to Sweden to sign with

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is named ...

. In 2017, she would win her third SDHL championship, finishing first among all players for playoff points, as the team beat

HV71 HV71 (), often referred to as just HV, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Jönköping, playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the first tier of Swedish ice hockey. The team played in the 2008–09 Champions Hockey League s ...

in the finals.

International

Jakobsen has played for the Danish senior national team since 2008. She was named Best Forward of the tournament at the

2011 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships – Division II The following teams took part in the Division II tournament which was held in Caen, France. The winner of the group was promoted to Division I (renamed IA) for the 2012 championships, while the last-placed team in the group was relegated to Divis ...

, and would help the team earn promotion to Division IB in 2012 and to Division IA in 2013.

Personal life

Jakobsen experienced significant

hearing loss Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to Hearing, hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to Language ...

when she was four years old, which she identifies as a result of complications related to the whooping cough vaccine, and she uses hearing aids. Her four-years older brother, Julian Jakobsen, plays professional ice hockey with the

Aalborg Pirates Aalborg Pirates is a professional ice hockey team (previously known as Aalborg Ishockey and AaB Ice Hockey) playing in the Danish ice hockey league, Metal Ligaen. The ice hockey team first appeared in 1967 as AaB Ice Hockey organized under Aalbor ...

of the

Metal Ligaen Metal Ligaen is the premier league in Danish ice hockey. The league consists of 9 professional teams. The name of the league has changed many times, but is being sponsored by Dansk Metal and therefore got the name Metalligaen. History It is a ...

and with the Danish men's national team.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jakobsen, Josefine 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Aalborg Danish women's ice hockey forwards Danish ice hockey centres Expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Deaf sportspeople Djurgårdens IF Hockey (women) players North Dakota Fighting Hawks women's ice hockey players Danish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Danish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden University of North Dakota alumni Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players for Denmark Expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Danish expatriate ice hockey people