loading . . . From last pick to first-liner: Swedish star Ljungblom making waves with Victoire The Montreal Victoire anticipated Swedish star Lina Ljungblomâs arrival from overseas for more than a year.
Theyâre confident it was well worth the wait.
âWe wanted a game breaker,â head coach Kori Cheverie said. âLina is a threat to score every shift. ⌠It really is a great addition to our lineup.â
First-line players arenât normally drafted in the last round, but thatâs what the Victoire have in Ljungblom.
The 23-year-old was selected with the final pick of the 2023 PWHL draft, but played out the final year of her contract with Swedish club MoDo before joining Montreal this fall. In 2023-24, Ljungblom won Player of the Year honours in Sweden with 23 goals and 23 assists in 36 games.
Now signed to a three-year contract, sheâs already making waves with her wicked release at training camp.
The sight of her ripping shots off the post and in quickly explained why she was skating alongside Victoire stars Marie Philip-Poulin and Laura Stacey on the teamâs top trio on Thursday and Friday at Verdun Auditorium.
âShe brings a lot as a power forward, sheâs eager to learn, sees the game very well ⌠You can see she has a powerful shot,â Poulin said of her new linemate. âSuper excited to see what sheâs got.â
Victoire players who also play for Canada have already experienced it on the international stage.
The 5-foot-6 Ljungblom scored seven goals in seven games during the 2023 world championships, including a second-period tally in Swedenâs 3-2 quarterfinal loss to Canada in overtime.
âLina has done a lot of damage against Team Canada in all of our matchups. Whenever I see No. 25 on the ice when I am with Team Canada, Iâm aware,â Canadian defender Erin Ambrose said. âTo now have that with our group is pretty incredible.
âI think (she) is going to take her game to the next level and take us to the next level.â
Victoire general manager Danièle Sauvageau didnât know Ljungblom wouldnât play in the leagueâs inaugural season, but is âvery happy that she just stayed availableâ anyway.
Ljungblom, meanwhile, wanted to join Montreal last season and said it was hard to watch from afar as the PWHLâs record-breaking crowds created a buzz in the MoDo locker room.
On Thursday, she was nervous about taking the ice. Not because she was skating with a living legend in Poulin, but because sheâd always dreamt of playing in a league of the PWHLâs calibre.
âIâve always been dreaming about playing hockey professionally, to have it as my job,â Ljungblom said. âNow you can see with this league, itâs really big, it has a lot of fans, itâs so professional.
âItâs a dream that I never thought I could have.â
Thatâs why sheâs making the sacrifice of leaving her family six time zones away, even though PWHL stars have far more modest salaries than NHL players (the PWHL minimum is US$36,050, while top players make around $70,000-80,000).
âYou miss so much that is going on at home. My sister has two kids and Iâm missing their life and growing up and everything. Thatâs hard,â Ljungblom said. âItâs hard to say goodbye to your family, but youâre living your dream.â
On the ice, Ljungblom will have to adjust to the smaller North American ice surface and the PWHLâs physical brand of hockey, but sheâs hardly concerned.
The gritty winger notes she skated with boys until she was 19 and has experience with body checking, something Swedenâs top league implemented in 2022.
âI feel that Iâm good in the battles, I feel that Iâm strong, and I like to go straight to the net,â Ljungblom said. âItâs other stuff than scoring that could fit me in this league.
âBut of course, Iâd like to score.â
Right now, Ljungblom is living in a downtown Montreal hotel, waiting to see if fellow Swede and roommate Anna Kjellbin cracks Montrealâs roster ahead of the season-opener on Nov. 30.
The 30-year-old Kjellbin, a right-shot defender whoâs also Swedenâs captain, was drafted by the Victoire in the sixth round of this yearâs draft but hasnât yet signed a contract.
Cheverie, however, is impressed by what sheâs seeing early in camp.
âSheâs a true pro,â she said. âWe had her playing on the left side today in practice, just to see what we have there, and she was all for it. Sheâs willing to do whatever it takes to try to make the team.
âSheâs got that smart IQ, sheâs able to move the puck, she can play a little bit of physicality. Sheâs kind of a little bit of a Jill of all trades.â
Kjellbinâs message to Victoire fans about Ljungblom?
âYou always know what youâre going to get. Itâs 100 per cent,â she said. âSheâs a physical player, but also a smart player who knows where to be at what time. Having high expectations of Lina is what you should have.â
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