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Mika Zibanejad’s restaurant will donate to Swedish women’s hockey throughout year

<em>#FörFramtiden</em>

Mika Zibanejad, his older brother, and a few of their friends have a new restaurant in Sweden appropriately named Brödernas (Swedish for “brothers”). The restaurant, which appears to be part of a chain, promises high quality burgers and pizza to its patrons.

On Saturday, Brödernas announced that it will donate 10 kronor — approximately $1 USD — to Swedish women’s hockey for each Zibanejad burger sold throughout the year.

“Last night we did a commercial about Zibanejad burgers. For each sold burger at all our units, we will donate ten kronor to the women’s hockey all year out. The commercial will spin on social media.” | (Translated from Swedish.)

For those who aren’t aware, the Swedish women’s national team is currently boycotting its training camp and the upcoming Five Nations Tournament. At least 43 members of the Swedish women’s national team program have taken to social media to declare that they are boycotting #FörFramtiden — for the future. Needless to say, this movement bears a striking similarity to the United States women’s national team #BeBoldForChange movement, which boycotted USA Hockey’s gender inequity before the 2017 Women’s World Championship. The women of Team USA came away from that dispute victorious. Their counterparts in Sweden are hoping to do the same.

Members of Sweden’s women’s national team receive supplements that are past their “best used by date”, men’s clothes instead of women’s clothes, inadequate travel accommodations, and, according to an SVT report, no daily stipends. Players received around 200 kronor a day as recently as a few years ago. And all of this is just the tip of the iceberg. There is a disturbing amount of inequity in how Sweden’s female hockey players are supported compared to its male players.

To learn more about the historic boycott, there’s no better place to go than Meredith Foster’s piece for The Ice Garden. She does a great job of breaking everything down and providing context for those who are in the dark. There’s a lot of history behind this ongoing battle between the Damkronorna and the Swedish Ice Hockey Association.

For the future: How Team Sweden reached their limit

Although Zibanejad’s pledge of 10 kronor for each burger his restaurant sells will barely make a dent, the real value behind the pledge is that it helps to shine some light on a serious issue. Robin Kovács, the Rangers’ 62nd overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, was one of the first male players to speak out in support of the boycott. Buffalo Sabres goaltender Linus Ullmark has also pledged his support of the #FörFramtiden on Instagram, but the rest of Sweden’s male hockey stars have been silent on the issue thus far. Although, it is worth mentioning that Filip Forsberg and Mattias Ekholm have also voiced what our friends over at On the Forecheck coined a “slightly hazy support” of the boycott.

Editor’s note: Robin Kovács’ support of #FörFramtiden was added to this article after its initial publication.

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