Lina Ljungblom

Last updated

Lina Ljungblom
Born (2001-10-15) 15 October 2001 (age 24)
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight 79 kg (174 lb; 12 st 6 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Left
PWHL team
Former teams
Montreal Victoire
MoDo Hockey
HV71
Skövde IK
National teamFlag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
Playing career 2018present

Lina Elsa Ljungblom (born 15 October 2001) is a Swedish ice hockey player for the Montreal Victoire of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and member of Sweden women's national ice hockey team.

Contents

Playing career

From 2015 to 2019, Ljungblom played for Skövde IK, splitting her time between the club's boys' U16 and U18 teams, as well as the club's third-tier women's team. In October 2018, she was loaned to HV71 in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) for a game after HV71 suffered a number of injuries. She scored twice in her SDHL debut, as HV71 beat Brynäs IF 6–1. [1]

For the 2019–20 season, she chose to spend most of her time with HV71 in the SDHL, appearing in only four games with Skövde's boys' U20 squad – though she scored five points in that span. [2] She missed large parts of the season, however, after breaking her collarbone in October 2019. She finished the season with 5 points in 20 games for HV71, adding another 3 points in 6 playoff games as the club made it to the championship finals before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden. [3]

After voicing concerns about her development with HV71, she left the club to sign with Modo Hockey ahead of the 2020–21 SDHL season. [4] In November 2020, she was suspended for three matches for abuse of an official after shouting "fuck you" at the referee in a 5–3 loss to SDE Hockey. [5]

Ljungblom was drafted by PWHL Montreal with the final pick of the 2023 PWHL Draft. Ljungblom was obligated to finish her contract with MoDo Hockey, which extended through the conclusion of the 2023–24 SDHL season, as the club chose not to relinquish her rights early. [6] After her contract was up, she signed a three-year contract with Montreal and joined them for the 2024–25 season. [7]

International play

As a member of the Swedish national under-18 team, Ljungblom participated in the IIHF World U18 Championships in 2017, 2018, and 2019, picking up a total of 10 points across 16 games and winning silver in 2018. [8] [9]

Ljungblom made her senior national team debut during the 2018–19 Women's Euro Hockey Tour. [10] Her first major tournament representing Sweden was the 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship, at which she did not pick up any points in five games and the team was relegated from the IIHF Top Division for the first time in history. [11] [12] [13]

She contributed three goals in three games at the qualification tournament for the 2022 Winter Olympics, helping Sweden secure placement in the Games. [14] As a member of the Swedish delegation at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Ljungblom played in the women's ice hockey tournament and recorded one assist in five games. [15]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Note: GP = Games played; G =  Goals; A =  Assists; Pts =  Points; PIM =  Penalty minutes; 
Regular season Playoffs
Season TeamLeagueGP G A Pts PIM GPGAPtsPIM
2015–16Skövde HC Div. 2  [ sv ]
102610364
2016–17Skövde HCDiv. 2
61112232
2017–18Skövde HCDiv. 2
6239322
2018–19Skövde HCDiv. 2
487150
2018–19 Skövde IK J20 Elit
10000
2018–19 HV71 SDHL
1202243032
2019–20Skövde IKJ20 Div. 1†
43250
2019–20 HV71SDHL
20415662134
2020–21 Modo Hockey SDHL
3314163043212350
2021–22 Modo HockeySDHL
3020113120304422
2022–23 Modo HockeySDHL
32171330852240
2023–24 Modo HockeySDHL
36232346121082106
2024–25 Montreal Victoire PWHL
29336840000
PWHL totals29336840000

†Denotes men's junior hockey league

International

Note: GP = Games played; G =  Goals; A =  Assists; Pts =  Points; PIM =  Penalty minutes; 
Regular season
YearTeamEventResultGP G A Pts PIM
2017 Sweden U18 4th60114
2018 SwedenU18Silver medal icon.svg542610
2019 SwedenU185th52136
2019 Sweden WC 9th50000
2022 Sweden OG 8th50110
2022 SwedenWC8th511225
2023 SwedenWC6th773106
2024 SwedenWC7th52132
Junior totals16641020
Senior totals271061633

References

  1. Skoglund, Henrik (20 October 2018). "Lånades in inför matchen – 17-åringen blev tvåmålsskytt i debuten". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  2. Skoglund, Henrik (2 August 2019). "Jättetalangen till storsatsande klubben". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  3. Rönnkvist, Ronnie (14 May 2020). ""Säsongen var för jävlig"". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  4. "Lina Ljungblom byter till Modo – hoppas få spela mer". Sveriges Radio (Radio broadcast) (in Swedish). 11 August 2020. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  5. Almroth, Martin (18 November 2020). "Stängs av tre matcher – påstås ha sagt "fuck you"". SVT Sport (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  6. Kennedy, Ian (20 September 2023). "Swedish Officials: Ljungblom Won't Join PWHL Montreal This Season". The Hockey News . Archived from the original on 21 September 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  7. Canadian Press (16 November 2024). "From last pick to first-liner: Swedish star Ljungblom making waves with Victoire". Sportsnet . Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  8. Karlsson, Rasmus (4 April 2019). "Supertalangen laddar för VM – "Ska göra mål och täcka skott"". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  9. Rönnkvist, Ronnie (9 January 2018). "Lina satsar mot toppen genom att spela med killarna: "Det är roligare"". HockeySverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  10. Norberg, Simon (23 August 2018). "16-åringen som spelar med killar gör debut i Damkronorna". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  11. "Damkronornas trupp uttagen till VM". swehockey.se. 19 March 2019.
  12. "2019 IIHF Women's World Championship roster" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  13. Aykroyd, Lucas (9 April 2019). "Japan's sun shines - Sweden relegated!". International Ice Hockey Federation . Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  14. Houston, Michael (13 November 2021). "Hosts Sweden and Czech Republic top of Beijing 2022 ice hockey qualifiers". Inside the Games. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  15. "Beijing 2022 – Ice Hockey, Women – Player Statistics by Team: SWE - Sweden". International Ice Hockey Federation . 11 February 2022. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.