After Sweden's quarter-finals defeat in the 2016 World Championships, 14 players on the team met in a hotel room in Norrtälje to discuss the team's poor moral and performance, and to attempt to address complaints over poor conditions such as being fed outdated food and strict rules of conduct intruding into their personal lives, including dictating what clothes players could wear.
[4][5] In August 2016, the players petitioned the Swedish Ice Hockey Association to have Boork fired as head coach of the national team.
[10] On 5 May 2017, Boork made a series of controversial tweets accusing players of compromising success, despite having earlier declared himself the "women's hockey knight" of Twitter.
[13] In December 2017, SVT Sport released the results of a survey showing that over half of national team players had considered quitting hockey.
[14] At the end of 2017, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association announced that it would not be renewing Boork's contract as head coach after the 2018 Winter Olympics.
[17][18] At the 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship, held in Finland in April 2019, Sweden finished 4th in Group B and 9th overall in the tournament after only managing to win a single game.
[23] After two weeks, the players were able to reach a four-year deal with USA Hockey, including increased pay and being paid wages outside of the Olympic period.
[29] Two days later, the players along with their union, SICO, published a list of issues they wanted addressed, listing:[30] The strike adopted the hashtag #FörFramtiden (For the Future) on social media, with players releasing coordinated social media posts stating that "Many of us have borne the frustration that led to today's decision for several years.
In September 2019, the 4 Nations Cup was cancelled due to the strike, as the Swedish Ice Hockey Association couldn't guarantee its participation.
"[38] Several NHL players and members of the Swedish men's national team spoke out in favour of the strike, including Henrik Lundqvist, who stated that he believed that the Association couldn't improve conditions "then there is no other way.
[42] SDE Hockey goaltender Sofia Reideborn, who had played for Sweden in two IIHF World Women's U18 Championship, criticised the strike, stating that the players should first "show that you are good before making demands" and that she wouldn't want to play in the Swedish national team because she wouldn't be welcomed by the other players.
[44] In March 2020, national team head coach Ylva Martinsen stepped down, being replaced by Ulf Lundberg.
In the summer of 2020, several national team veterans announced their retirement from hockey, including Erica Udén Johansson and Fanny Rask.