Fairly early in the Montreal Victoire’s first practice, Marie-Philip Poulin came down the ice on a three-on-two drill. She skated into the zone and passed the puck to Lina Ljungblom. The 23-year-old Swede took the puck and within an instant, it was off her stick. Ping. Off the bar and in.
Teammates hooting and hollering after a Poulin rush in practice is nothing new. But there was something new about her having a teammate able to match her ability to score, and score quickly.
Lina Ljungblom had arrived.
“We wanted a game-breaker who has that international experience but plays physical and with physicality and with grit and she certainly plays that way,” said Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie.
The Victoire drafted Ljungblom with the final pick in the 2023 PWHL Draft (15th round, 90th overall). It was a gamble by Montreal, but one that surely paid off. If it was up to her, she would have made the move to North America last season.
“We did our best, but I had a contract and that’s it,” Ljungblom said. “I was looking forward to coming this year, and it was my plan.”
Ljungblom didn’t waste her year in Sweden. With MoDo, she had 23 goals and 23 assists in 36 regular season games and added eight goals and two assists in 10 playoff games taking her team to the SDHL final. She won pretty much every award available to her: Forward of the year, SDHL MVP, and was Sweden’s player of the year.
“Lina has done a lot of damage against Team Canada in all of our matchups,” said Montreal defender Erin Ambrose. “To be honest, whenever I see #25 on the ice when I am with Team Canada, I’m aware. To now have that on our team, to have that with our group is pretty incredible. I think she is going to take her game to the next level and take us to the next level.”
“We know what she brings for Team Sweden,” said Marie-Philip Poulin, who skated with Ljungblom and Laura Stacey on what is Montreal’s first stab at a top line. “To have her here, we’re really excited.”
Everyone who spoke about Ljungblom spoke about one thing in particular: her shot. It’s easy to see why she is considered one of the best players in the world. People looking back will wonder – and maybe even already are – how she wasn’t taken before the final pick of the draft.
“She has a really powerful shot, she’s able to change that angle right away,” said Poulin. “She’s a power forward with the puck, she sees the game really well.”
Lina Ljungblom 🚨 #SDHL #modose pic.twitter.com/y9EyrjDYAn
— SwehockeyGIFs (@swehockeygifs) October 15, 2023
While Ljungblom acknowledged she would have to adjust to the North American rink, players coming from the SDHL have one thing in their back pocket: they have been playing with body contact longer than those in the PWHL. Sweden started adding contact to their top league for the 2022-23 season, a pilot program that has since been extended.
She’s not worried about either change. She says having less time on the smaller ice allows her to trust her instincts more, and even before playing in the SDHL with contact spent years playing with boys. She also trains in the summer with men, so she’s used to preparing for a faster tempo.
Ljungblom signed a three-year contract with the Victoire, so the team will have her for the foreseeable future. Montreal essentially added three top-six forwards to their lineup this season in Ljungblom, Abby Boreen, and Jennifer Gardiner. That doesn’t even factor in 2024 first-round pick Cayla Barnes, who is currently injured. Barnes suffered a lower-body injury when being pushed into the boards accidentally by Poulin during Game 1 of the Rivalry Series.
The good news for Montreal is that general manager Danièle Sauvageau said that the injury did not look as bad as it appeared and the first reports they have received are positive and the team does not consider it a long-term injury. Also not skating at the team’s first practice was Catherine Dubois. Three players (Amanda Boulier, Kennedy Marchment, and Dominika Lásková) skated before the team’s practice and are in their return to play plan. It is likely that the three will not be ready to start the season. Marchment and Lásková had season-ending injuries last season.
The team held their first practice on Thursday, and it’s a quick ramp up to the season. The team will play two pre-season games next week before their season starts on November 30. The league announced on Thursday that all 90 games will be broadcast in Canada. Saturday afternoon games will be on CBC, Tuesday night games will be on Prime Video, and the remainder will be on TSN. All 30 Montreal Victoire games will be available in English and in French.
